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| "Don't Let It End" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Styx | ||||
| from the album Kilroy Was Here | ||||
| B-side | "(A.D. 1928) Rockin' the Paradise" | |||
| Released | April 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:53 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Dennis DeYoung | |||
| Producer(s) | Styx | |||
| Styx singles chronology | ||||
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"Don't Let It End" is the third track and the second top 10 single on the 1983 album Kilroy Was Here , by Styx. The song is also reprised at the end of the album. [1]
The song was written and sung by Dennis DeYoung. The track is a mid-tempo ballad about one who breaks up with a lover and pleads to get the person back. Styx guitarist James Young said that "it has sort of an underlying double meaning – music is what we love. It's obviously a love song between two people, but it's meant to carry over, and at the end in the reprise it is more blatant [that rock 'n' roll rather than romance is what the singer wants to keep alive]." [2]
According to DeYoung, the track was originally slated as the first single from Kilroy Was Here until the staff at A&M suggested "Mr. Roboto". DeYoung said:
["Don't Let It End" is] not gonna scare our audience. It's not gonna upset radio. It's not gonna make anybody crazy, because they'll say "Oh, we know that side of Styx. We've been listening to these assholes for over eleven years. We know what that is." [3]
But ultimately the band decided to take a chance that the power of "Mr. Roboto" would be a better choice as the lead single. [3]
The song reached number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 the week of July 2, 1983 [4] and number 56 on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached number 15 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart the week of July 2, 1983. At the time, it was the seventh Styx single to peak in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. [5]
Cash Box noted that the song is "a return to [DeYoung's] soft romantic side" after the more futuristic "Mr. Roboto" and that guitarist Tommy Shaw "breaks up the weak-kneed plea with sturdy rock guitar work." [6] AllMusic critic Mike DeGagne considered it one of Styx's best singles, saying that it "almost captures the same endearing qualities as their number one hit, 'Babe', did four years earlier." [1] The Morning Call said that DeYoung's lead vocal sounded like Neil Sedaka and the song was similar to previous Styx ballads. [7] Rapid City Journal critic Tim Gebhart called it a "beautiful ballad in the traditional Styx vein. [8] Midder rated it as Styx's 4th best song, calling it "a stirring ballad that showcases Styx’s softer side and explores the pain of a failing relationship" and praising the "haunting piano melody, soaring vocals, and poignant lyrics." [9]
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticized the compilation album Come Sail Away – The Styx Anthology for excluding this song. [10]
Despite the song's success, along with "Show Me the Way", "Babe" and "The Best of Times" it has not been performed live by the band since singer Dennis DeYoung was dismissed in 1999. DeYoung, however, still performs the song regularly on his solo tours.
The video of the track was directed by Brian Gibson. It starts out with Dennis portraying Kilroy looking at a picture of a girlfriend he lost (the picture is of Dennis' wife in real life, Suzanne) and then gets up to go in another room which morphs into the prison that his character of Kilroy was in. Then Dennis morphs into the Kilroy as prisoner character and joins the members of Styx who play prisoners in the video performing the track and then the end shows Dennis as he appeared at the intro.
The reprise of the track was more to do with not letting rock and roll die and had a teaser of the riff to "Mr. Roboto" before ending like a 50s rocker with Tommy Shaw singing the first section and DeYoung the finale. The live version ends with the ending guitar chords from "Twist and Shout".
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Styx is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1972. They are known for blending melodic hard rock guitar with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre. The band established themselves with a progressive rock sound during the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop rock and soft rock elements in the 1980s.
"Mr. Roboto" is a song by American rock band Styx, released as the lead single from their eleventh studio album, Kilroy Was Here (1983). It was written by band member Dennis DeYoung. In Canada, it went to #1 on the RPM national singles chart. It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on 12 February 1983, reaching No. 3 in April.
Dennis DeYoung is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist. 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 the band's most prolific and successful writer, having been credited as the writer of more Styx songs than any other band member. DeYoung penned seven of the band's eight Billboard top 10 singles as well as a solo top 10 single.
Cornerstone is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Styx, released in 1979. Styx's third straight multi-platinum selling album, Cornerstone was Styx's first album to earn a Grammy nomination, which was for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. Like the four previous Styx albums, the band produced the album themselves. Styx recorded the album at Pumpkin Studios in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Paradise Theatre is the tenth studio album by American rock band Styx, released on January 16, 1981, by A&M Records. 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.
Kilroy Was Here is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band Styx, released on February 22, 1983. A concept album and rock opera about a world where rock music is outlawed, it is named after a famous World War II graffiti tag, "Kilroy was here." It was the last album of original material to be released by the "classic" lineup of Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw, James "J.Y." Young, John Panozzo, and Chuck Panozzo.
Caught in the Act is a live double album by Styx, released in 1984. It contains one new song, "Music Time," which was released as a single, reaching #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Tommy Roland Shaw is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups including Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades as well as releasing several solo albums.
"Renegade" is a 1979 hit song recorded by the American rock band Styx on their Pieces of Eight album. Although songwriter Tommy Shaw and fellow Styx guitarist James Young usually played lead guitar on their own compositions, Shaw asked Young if he could take the solo on "Renegade". Young agreed, and Young later returned the favor by allowing Shaw to play lead on his "Half-Penny, Two-Penny" on the Paradise Theatre album. When performed live from 1978 to 1983, drummer John Panozzo increased the tempo of the drum pattern during the guitar solo sections. Also, the track would serve as the drum solo spot for Panozzo during that time frame.
"Lady" is a 1973 power ballad written and performed by the rock band Styx. It was first released on Styx II and was a local hit in the band's native Chicago, but initially failed to chart nationally. The song gained success shortly after Styx left Wooden Nickel Records to move to A&M Records in 1974 as it began picking up airplay nationwide, eventually peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975. The power ballad was later re-recorded for the 1995 Styx compilation Greatest Hits due to a contractual dispute between A&M and Wooden Nickel.
"Babe" is a song by the American rock band Styx. It was the lead single from the band's 1979 triple-platinum album Cornerstone. The song was Styx's first, and only, US number-one single, spending two weeks at No. 1 in December 1979, serving as the penultimate number-one single of the 1970s. "Babe" also went to No. 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It additionally held the number-one spot for six weeks on the Canadian RPM national singles chart, charting in December 1979 and becoming the opening chart-topper of the 1980s. It was also the band's only UK Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 6. It also reached No. 1 in South Africa.
"Snowblind" is a song by Styx that appears on the Paradise Theatre album released in 1981. The song is about the helplessness of cocaine addiction, alternating between slow, brooding verses and a faster, harder-edged chorus, representing the addict's cycle of highs and lows.
"Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" is a song by American rock band Styx, released as the first single from their eighth studio album, Pieces of Eight (1978). Released in 1978, the single came in two 7" vinyl formats: one with the b-side "Superstars" (a track from The Grand Illusion) and a second single with the instrumental album track "Aku-Aku" as the b-side. Some printings of the single were also issued in a translucent blue vinyl, which are now highly sought after collectors items.
"Sing for the Day'" is the second single that Styx released from their album Pieces of Eight. It reached #41 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in February 1979. It was later the B-side of their next single “Renegade”. Tommy Shaw used the name ‘Hannah’ in the song, to represent his fans. Several years later, he named his newborn daughter Hannah. The album version that lasts 4:57, was edited down to 3:40 for the single version.
"Borrowed Time" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw that was first released on Styx's 1979 album Cornerstone and was also released as the third single from Cornerstone. It peaked at No. 64 on the U.S. chart in April 1980.
"The Best of Times" is a song by American rock band Styx, released as the first single from their tenth album Paradise Theatre. It reached No. 1 in Canada on the RPM national singles chart, their second chart-topper in that country, and No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in March and April 1981. In the UK, the song peaked at No. 42 on the UK Singles Chart.
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"Music Time" is the sole studio track released on the live Styx album, Caught in the Act. It peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of June 2, 1984.
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"Heavy Metal Poisoning" is a song by American rock band Styx. It was included as the fifth track on their 1983 studio album Kilroy Was Here.
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