''Paradise Theatre'' is the tenth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

, released on January 16, 1981, by

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. It was the band's most commercially successful album, peaking at #1 for 3 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 in April and May 1981 (non-consecutively). It was also the band's fourth consecutive album to be certified triple-platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Four singles from the album charted on various charts, with two songs reaching the top 10 pop singles chart. The lead single " The Best of Times", written by

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...

, went to #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "

Too Much Time on My Hands "Too Much Time on My Hands" is a song by American rock band Styx (band), Styx, released as the second single from their tenth album ''Paradise Theatre (album), Paradise Theatre''. It was written and sung by Tommy Shaw, who also plays the lead guita ...

", written by

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

, went to #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Shaw's only top 10 hit for Styx. " Nothing Ever Goes as Planned", written by DeYoung, went to #54 on the US Pop Chart. "

Rockin' the Paradise "A.D. 1928 / Rockin' the Paradise" is a song by American rock band Styx, released as the fourth single from their tenth album '' Paradise Theatre''. The song peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Rock Chart. "A.D. 1928" is a short, piano-based son ...

"—written by DeYoung, Shaw and James Young—went to #8 on the Top Rock Track Chart.

Background

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, the album is a fictional account of Chicago's Paradise Theatre from its opening in 1928 to its closing in 1958 (and eventual abandonment), used as a metaphor for America's changing times from the late 1970s into the 1980s. (

, who envisioned and developed the entire concept, confirmed this in an episode of ''

In the Studio with Redbeard ''In the Studio with Redbeard'' is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill. The show is a weekly hour-long "rockumentary" interview with music program which looks ...

'' about the making of the album.Redbeard's Blog > STYX- PARADISE THEATRE 40TH- TOMMY SHAW, JAMES YOUNG (retrieved: 6 April 2021)
/ref>) DeYoung has said that the theme of the album is "one of hope and renewal in the spirit of the American people to understand the problems that confront the world and this country and find solutions themselves to those problems. Don't depend on heroes to do what you must do for yourself. If you hate your job but you have a dream, then pursue it. Just don't sit around and complain about it." ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' critic Wayne Robins stated that the songs "deal with people out of sync with themselves and their environment." For example, "

" is about a man who is unemployed and has given up, he regards "Lonely People" as a "contemporary rewrite of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

' '

Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to L ...

,'" and " Nothing Ever Goes as Planned" is about "the inevitability of failure."

Vinyl edition

Initial vinyl copies of the album have a design featuring the name of the band laser etched directly onto the vinyl on side 2 (some copies had a wax design of the cover art). The vinyl record sleeve was a gate-fold and was painted by the artist Chris Hopkins. On the back cover, label and spine, the title of the record is spelled "Paradise Theater", while on the front cover, the title is spelled "Paradise Theatre". Vinyl releases and initial CD pressings of the album had the musical segue between "Half-Penny, Two-Penny" and "A.D. 1958" indexed as the intro to "A.D. 1958". Subsequent pressings of the CD had the segue indexed as the fade to "Half-Penny, Two-Penny" instead.

Track listing

Personnel

Styx

– vocals, keyboards * James "JY" Young – vocals, electric guitars *

– vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

Chuck Panozzo Charles Salvatore Panozzo (born September 20, 1948) is an American musician best known as a co-founder of the rock band Styx. He is currently a part-time bass player in the band, sharing bass duties with Ricky Phillips. Panozzo suffers from HIV ...

– bass guitar,

bass pedals Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged ...

John Panozzo John Anthony Panozzo (September 20, 1948 – July 16, 1996) was an American drummer best known for his work with rock band Styx. Early life and career Panozzo grew up in the Roseland neighborhood, the south side of Chicago, Illinois, with hi ...

– drums, percussion

Additional personnel

* Steve Eisen – saxophone solos * Bill Simpson – saxophones * Mike Halpin – trombone * John Haynor – trombone * Dan Barber – trumpet * Mark Ohlson – trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

* Ed Tossing – horn arrangements

Production

* Styx – producers, arrangements * Rob Kingsland – engineer * Gary Loizzo – engineer * Will Rascoti – assistant engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound, NYC * Dennis DeYoung – original concept *

Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff (born January 20, 1947) is an American record executive who has worked for A&M, Warner Records, Virgin U.S., Work Group, Apple, and Shangri-La Music. He founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign aga ...

– art direction, design * George Beeson – art direction, design * Chris Hopkins – illustrations * Marc Hauser – photography * Greg Murry – photography * John Weizenbach – photography

Charts

Album Singles - Billboard (United States)

References

External links

Styx - ''Paradise Theatre'' (1981) album for sale
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Styx - ''Paradise Theatre'' (1981) album review by Eduardo Rivadavia, credits & releases
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Styx - ''Paradise Theatre'' (1981) album to be listened
as stream at Spotify.com {{Authority control 1981 albums A&M Records albums Concept albums Styx (band) albums