Styx-Paradise Theatre (1981)

Few bands today could record an album as conceptually well-executed as "Paradise Theatre", a product of the American band Styx, a group voted one of the 10 most popular bands in the world in 1981. Although many critics and fans argued that Styx were beginning to diversify their style towards more commercial levels during those years, it's also true that they still possessed an impressive ability to blend catchy and accessible sounds with complex and daring structures. And while the concept itself hints at a more progressive direction, the entire repertoire here is geared towards melodic rock with a high level of compositional and instrumental skill. The concept, somewhat reminiscent of Broadway, is literally based on the closure and demolition of the legendary Paradise Theatre, located on the west side of Chicago. The music contained here includes some of the most refined melodies composed by the duo of Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw (vocals, keyboards, and vocals and guitar, respectively), who, along with the rest of the band brothers Chuck and John Panozzo (bass and drums) and James Young (guitar) closed their most glorious period with this album. Superb songs like the immortal "The Best Of Times", the powerful rocker "Rockin' The Paradise", the energetic danceable "Too Much Time On My Hands", the controversial "Snowblind", a daring track about cocaine addiction, and the outstanding "Lonely People" and "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned" place this album among the most remarkable releases in soft rock, achieving resounding success on charts worldwide.