Kilroy Was Here (album)

The band created the album Kilroy Was Here partly to mockingly respond to Christian groups and other anti-rock-music activists who had previously influenced the Arkansas State Senate to pass a bill requiring that all records containing backmasking be labeled as such by the manufacturer. Cited in the legislation were albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, and Styx themselves. ELO similarly responded with its own 1983 album Secret Messages.

The hard rocker "Heavy Metal Poisoning," the fifth track on the album, begins with the backmasked Latin words "annuit cœptis, novus ordo seclorum."{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Holden|title=Serious issues underlie a new album from Styx|newspaper=The New York Times|location=New York City|date=March 27, 1983|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/arts/serious-issues-underlie-a-new-album-from-styx.html|access-date=May 21, 2016}} Translated from the Latin, these words mean "[he] has favored our undertakings,{{cite web|last=MacArthur|first=John D.|title=Annuit Coeptis – Origin and Meaning of the Motto Above the Eye of Providence on the Great Seal|work=Latin Mottoes |publisher=GreatSeal.com |year=2016 |url=http://greatseal.com/mottoes/coeptis.html|access-date=May 21, 2016}} a new order of the ages."{{cite web|last=MacArthur|first=John D.|title=Novus Ordo Seclorum - Origin and Meaning of the Motto on the Foundation of the Unfinished Pyramid on the Great Seal|work=Latin Mottoes|publisher=GreatSeal.com|year=2016|url=http://www.greatseal.com/mottoes/seclorum.html|access-date=May 21, 2016}}"The Great Seal of the United States", U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C., July 2003, p. 5. PDF of official brochure. These are the two mottoes from the Great Seal of the United States on the reverse side of the United States one-dollar bill.

The album's somewhat rock-operatic story tells of a future in which a fascist and theocratic government and the "MMM (the Majority for Musical Morality)" have outlawed rock music. The story's protagonist, Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (the initials of which spell out "ROCK", played by DeYoung), is a former rock star who has been imprisoned by MMM leader Dr. Everett Righteous (Young).{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |title=Serious Issues Underlie a New Album From Styx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/arts/serious-issues-underlie-a-new-album-from-styx.html |access-date=January 8, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=March 27, 1983 |page=27}} He escapes using a disguise (according to the album's song "Mr. Roboto") when he becomes aware that a young musician, Jonathan Chance (Shaw), is on a mission to bring rock music back.

Vocalist and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung conceived Kilroy Was Here as an album and accompanying stage show, which opened with a short film of the same name. According to the episode of Behind the Music featuring Styx, the early part of the supporting tour was a financial disaster, due to the fact that Styx had booked small, theater-sized venues for a more intimate experience, while later tour dates saw the group performing in large arenas to sold-out crowds. The album debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 in its first week and sold over 1 million copies (although some sources say 2.5 million copies) and peaked at No. 3 on the US charts; however, it broke the streak of multi-platinum albums for Styx, and ushered in a more keyboard-oriented, theatrical direction.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, James Young talked about the creative differences in the band, and what led to their breakup: "Dennis really wanted to do these soft, intimate love ballads, and that was against the grain for me and Tommy Shaw, so our differences got magnified, because Dennis was insisting on going outside the boundaries we lived with. He's an assertive and strongly opinionated guy."{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/12/26/styx-continues-to-defy-time-trends/|title=Styx interview|date=26 December 2013 }}

Despite the album's financial and chart success, after the Kilroy tour, the songs were not performed live by the band Styx (who fired DeYoung in 1999) in subsequent tours (with the exception of segments from "Mr. Roboto" and "Heavy Metal Poisoning" performed in the "Cyclo-medley"), until "Mr. Roboto" reappeared in full (in their encore) on May 30, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/styx/2018/fivepoint-amphitheatre-irvine-ca-73ed06bd.html|title=Styx Concert Setlist at FivePoint Amphitheatre|website=setlist.fm }} DeYoung does perform the songs "Mr. Roboto" and "Don't Let It End" regularly during his solo tours. The James Young Group performed "Heavy Metal Poisoning" and "Double Life" as well on their tour in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.styxtoury.com/articles/styx/1993/931022.html|title=Styxtoury: Articles}}

Three of the four videos for the album, "Mr. Roboto," "Don't Let It End," and "Heavy Metal Poisoning," were filmed at the same time and used footage from the minifilm. A fourth video, "Haven't We Been Here Before," was filmed a few months after the album was released; it did not interact with the album's story.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Mr. Roboto

| writer1 = DeYoung

| extra1 = DeYoung

| length1 = 5:28

| title2 = Cold War

| writer2 = Shaw

| extra2 = Shaw

| length2 = 4:27

| title3 = Don't Let It End

| writer3 = DeYoung

| extra3 = DeYoung

| length3 = 4:56

| title4 = High Time

| writer4 = DeYoung

| extra4 = DeYoung

| length4 = 4:33

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Heavy Metal Poisoning

| writer1 = Young

| extra1 = Young

| length1 = 4:57

| title2 = Just Get Through This Night

| writer2 = Shaw

| extra2 = Shaw

| length2 = 6:06

| title3 = Double Life

| writer3 = Young

| extra3 = Young

| length3 = 3:46

| title4 = Haven't We Been Here Before

| writer4 = Shaw

| extra4 = Shaw/DeYoung (duet)

| length4 = 4:06

| title5 = Don't Let It End

| note5 = Reprise

| writer5 = DeYoung

| extra5 = Shaw, DeYoung

| length5 = 2:22

}}

• Dennis DeYoung – vocals, keyboards, accordion
• James "JY" Young – vocals, electric guitars, vocoder
• Tommy Shaw – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, shamisen, vocoder
• Chuck Panozzo – bass guitar
• John Panozzo – drums, percussion

• Steve Eisen – saxophone
• Dan Barber – horn
• Mike Halpin – horn
• Michael Mossman – horn
• Mark Ohlson – horn

• Arranged & produced by Styx
• Engineers: Gary Loizzo, Will Rascati, Rob Kingsland
• Apprentice engineer: Jim Popko
• Mastering by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Styx|title=Kilroy Was Here|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1983|certyear=1983|access-date=April 5, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Styx|title=Kilroy Was Here|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1983|certyear=1983|access-date=April 5, 2022}}

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{{reflist|40em}}

• [http://www.allmusic.com/album/kilroy-was-here-mw0000191941 Styx - Kilroy Was Here (1983) album review by Mike DeGagne, credits & releases] at AllMusic.com
• [https://www.discogs.com/Styx-Kilroy-Was-Here/release/630888 Styx - Kilroy Was Here (1983) album releases & credits] at Discogs.com
• [https://open.spotify.com/album/4KQJWgjRfpQtqYNhfXCvKi Styx - Kilroy Was Here (1983) album to be listened] as stream at Spotify.com

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Category:1983 albums

Category:Rock operas

Category:Science fiction concept albums

Category:A&M Records albums

Category:Styx (band) albums

Category:Dystopian music