Worst Late 70's Band
 

Worst of these bands:
Kansas
Journey
Boston
Styx
Foreigner

Journey's singer turns my stomach and I have a certain nostalgia for Grand Illusion era Styx. But if I look at it rationally I would say Styx is the worst.
Boston is the best of the group and Foreigner is not half bad.

The Sex Pistols

I guess I'll go with Foreigner since they're the only band on the list that doesn't have at least one standout song for me.

YEAH!! :bowdown:

And among the bands you've listed, I'd say Kansas, because they haven't got anything else except "Dust in the wind" (which is very good though).

:laughing:

I actually think Styx to be one of the best bands in the history of rock. Huge fan of Journey, Boston and Kansas. Not crazy on Foreigner though but they do have some good albums.

I'm guessing that you Mr.Thread Starter are at the complete opposite of the musical spectrum to me in what's considered good and bad, but I do see that you're a Doors and Aerosmith fan.

A safe guess. However I am a Cheap Trick fan.

Yeah! Cheap Trick!

I don't dislike any of those bands so I can't pick a worst... even for shizengiggles.

I like Foreigner simply becuase their sound was odd and different. They were unlike most bands I like like the powerhouse bands of the early 70s like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and not New Wave enough like The Cars. It's like they had a little drop of New Wave and Power Pop influence in their music - which was the thing during the time, but weren't part of those so it was odd what sub-genre of Rock they belong.

Just because that was the only thing that sold in Bulgaria, no need to knock their rest of the output.

Foreigner were different because they were an AOR band that had a heavier edge to them and were rougher around the edges. They were geared up to selling millions of albums and had a great vocalist in Lou Gramm but I don't think they had the depth of a lot of their counterparts.

i voted "Kansas"

Leftoverture makes me wanna butcher and eat my neighbour's dog

I would have to narrow it down between Styx and Foreigner. But, Suite: Madam Blue is a damn good and underrated proggy song and living in the same city that Lou Graham is from means I can never escape Foreigner's constant below averageness. Foreigner wins this battle of so called losers, even though only 2 of them qualify to some degree.

Although, the Aqua Teen episode with Foreigner songs was awesome...

Does that mean you make the annual trip down to CMAC to see the packaged tour of 2 or 3 of the above bands (or similar)?

I don't even have to go that far. I can go to Waterstreet, Main St. Armory or any event that needs a last minute replacement for the National Anthem and see Lou himself. Or see his old band, which is now his newest band even though all the members are from the old original Lou Graham and the Black Sheep play pseudo-christian pseudo-arena rock.

Leftoverture is an American prog rock classic, sadly you and a few others on here can't see it.

it sounds like a cat being tortured

the only Kansas' stuff i like are Dust in the Wind and Carry on Wayward Son

otherwise, bleuurrgghh

Cold as Ice is a great track but apart from that they are not that great. I have a soft spot for Journey and their really early stuff is very underrated almost Progressive.

I will admit to not hearing a single album by Kansas, Boston or Styx.

As a point of academic interest I was going to listen to Leftoverture. Alas at some point it has disappeared from my album collection (probably about the same time as The Grand Illusion). I do still have Point of Know Return. Neato play on words. I don't know why it did not disappear with the other albums.

you never had The Grand Illusion

well, it was a grand illusion

...and a great grand illusion at that, from "Come Sail Away" to "Miss America" to "Man in the Wilderness" and finally onto "Castle Walls". Must rank as one of the best ever four songs in a row on any album. Just my opinion of course :finger:

These are all pretty good arena rock bands. When I'm in the mood, you can't top a Foreigner Comp., Infinity, Boston's S/T, Carry On Wayward Son. Not that these band didn't get sappy, but they were good at what they did.


Notice how I left Styx off, mainly because I don't like Dennis DeYoung's overly dramatic high-school theatrical delivery, but because of you, I finally gave in at the $4.99 copy of Grand Illusion constantly staring at me at the super market, and you know it's pretty good. Mainly because they wisely split vocal duties through out the album. So Styx doesn't suck either.

This thread should be retitled "who's your least favorite Stadium Rock band".

The high-school theatrical delivery of Dennis DeYoung was always an acquired taste and guess what, despite being big Styx fan I was never a huge fan of Dennis DeYoung as a vocalist. It was he as the group's leader that steered them into a more pop/rock commercial direction, but around the mid 1970s his song-writing was right on the ball and he was responsible for some of the bands best ever material, especially his grandiose stuff. What made Styx great though, was the creative loggerheads that the band members had. Dennis DeYoung was heavily focused on a threatrical/pomp rock style sound, whilst Tommy Shaw was a straight-up melodic hard rock man and provided a fantastic contrast to Dennis DeYoung and this was even more impressive, as his material kept itself firmly within the boundaries of the Styx style. He was always my favourite member of the band as well. Add into that the bands third vocalist James Young who was an out and out hard rocker and knew a great riff when he plucked one. He also had one of the most interesting voices around, such a pity that he never sang on more than one or two songs on an album.

Just looking at the list of "The Worst American Late 70s Band" brings a smile to my face!

Because just taking the very best album imo by each artist gives me the following:

Kansas- The Point of Know Return
Journey- Frontiers
Boston- Boston
Styx- Pieces of Eight
Foreigner- Foreigner 4

Now as far as I'm concerned, those albums rank amongst some of the very best American AOR/Prog albums recorded from the late 1970s to early 1980s. I own all five of them and would put all of them with the exception of the Foreigner album in a greatest albums ever list. In fact I could easily add another couple of Styx, Kansas and Boston albums to that list as well.

Like I said, I have soft spot for Grand Illusion. I can't believe it was sitting for sale at your supermarket. Take a listen to their later stuff esp. Mr Roboto era stuff. Also, IMO, Tommy Shaw is the worse songwriter to ever grace the FM airwaves.

:D His first solo album is an absolute classic.

This is my take also. I think Journey writes some great music and Steve Perry had that range that was untouchable vocally. Schon is a very underrated guitarist also, he doesn't wank off much but he has great tone and his leads while simple are always tasteful for the song.

I had the Foreigner argument the other day and I started naming off songs and people were amazed how huge their discography was and how many great songs were written by Foreigner.

Boston really only touched me with a few songs but More then a feeling and Peace of Mind are epic 70's stadium rock.

With regards to Kansas I think I agree with Howard Wayward son and Dust are about it for what I can listen to and only after a few beers at a bbq or party.

Styx was never my thing. They certainly had talent but it isn;t my kind of talent I prefer to listen to. Mr Roboto? ****ing horrible. I think I like Best of Times and a few off that album, but I could never get past their over use of dynamics. So yeah Styx is definitely worst on this list by a longshot.

Neil Schon is normally in most greatest guitarists ever lists.

Mr.Roboto was the song that got me mad on Styx in the first place.

domo arigato

I've often wondered if you're really "machine or mannequin" and I know you're really made up of "parts from Japan"

i only have Japanese blood

(joke flies over head as I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, even if I love the song)

I love these polls, Styx are top of the poll and proving that they're the best band here.

I rediscover their debut album quite lately. Didn't like it when it first came out, but I really appreciate it now.
I think they are a great band and Johnny Lydon is an huge Artist imho

sex pistols suck donkey balls

Do they?
Is unbeliavable how good they can still sound while they suck donkey ball.
Got to be a real fantastic combo to do 2 things so good at the same time.
God save the Queen and the Sex Pistols:thumb:

All of those are pretty bad. So I would have to say all of those + Queen and ABBA.

Worst on that list is Journey just barely worse than Foreigner. But all of those barring maybe Kansas and Boston are some of the worst, most generic bands that have managed to remain popular for so long.

If I were to rank them it'd probably be like: Journey < Foreigner < Styx < Boston < Kansas

To be honest, I put Journey in to give Styx some compitition. I think they really hit their (crappy) stride in the early 80s though. Maybe REO would have been more appropriate. Queen fits I guess but I would put them a step above the others (70's Queen that is).

I hate to admit it but I really like that REO Speedwagon song "Keep On Loving You", as cringeworthy as the lyrics are. I can't hate them cause that song kicks ass.

By comparison I can't think of a single Journey or Foreigner song that I'd go out of my way to listen to

This thread badly needs Queen, Rush, Fleetwood Mac & ELO.

I forgot Rush & ELO! Fleetwood Mac is average, but not the worst.

Queen were over the top, Rush were at least interesting and conceptual, ELO had some great Pop (especially in their first five years), and Mac had the Peter Green Years and 1979's WTF album Tusk.

Despite a few good tunes between the bands on the list to pick from, none of them really went that extra step. The worst among them is Kansas who were pretty bland and sometimes too preachy for me. All are talented, but never really stood out, so I can see why the choices.