February 22, 1983 - Kilroy Was Here and Mr. Roboto

Happy New Year! A long three months since my last release and an even longer five years since the last song by them in my library, Styx released their eleventh album "Kilroy Was Here" on February 22, 1983, of which I have only the first song. This album was a rock opera and would be Styx's final platinum album as well as their final album with this classic line-up, spearheaded by the iconic first track "Mr. Roboto". Dennis DeYoung opens the song with some cool trippy synths and at the end of this epic opening we hear some high-pitched vocals in Japanese, starting with what would become the most memorable line from this song: "domo arigato Mr. Roboto", which simply means "thank you". They finally reach the verse as DeYoung sings some solid lead vocals and guitarists James Young and Tommy Shaw sing the catchy "secret secret, I've got a secret" in the background. This leads nicely into a new part where DeYoung plays some stop-and-start keyboards to lead this new riff. His vocals sound pretty good as he sings about being some form of human/robot hybrid in this sci-fi verse. Like most bands Styx seem to have forgotten about their guitars this decade as the keyboards are certainly the main instrument, but this song is very catchy and done quite well I think. They return to the "secret secret" verse again before things quiet down for the next part. All three singers sing "domo arigato Mr. Roboto, domo" followed by a computerized "domo" and some synthesizer effects. Young and Shaw continue the main line while DeYoung breaks off and sings a new part alongside them. He holds some long "thank you"s and tries to hit a really high note that I think sounds pretty hilarious. We hear a bit more synths before things quiet down once again and we really hear some guitar for the first time. This leads nicely into a final "secret secret" verse before the identity of the main character is revealed as Kilroy and we hear some more trippy synths to close it out. It's no surprise this would become a huge hit; I thought it was very catchy and a pretty cool song. It's also the last we will hear of Styx in my library, but as one bands leaves, another one takes it's place...

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