Paradise Theater | 
| Artist: Styx
Label: A&M
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.73
You Save: $4.25 (43%)
New (40) Used (28) Collectible (6) from $3.54
Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 2465
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 3240
UPC: 075021324022
EAN: 0075021324022
ASIN: B000002GBW
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Rockin' the Paradise | | • | Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx, Shaw, Tommy | | • | Nothing Ever Goes as Planned | | • | The Best of Times | | • | Lonely People | | • | She Cares - Styx, Shaw, Tommy | | • | Snowblind - Styx, Young, James [Styx] | | • | A.D. 1958 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
One album before Styx cut loose with an honest-to-goodness concept album, Kilroy Was Here, they flirted with the idea on Paradise Theater. The concept here has something to do with the decline of America in the '70s, based on the condemnation and destruction of the Paradise Theater, a famous showplace in the band's hometown of Chicago. Truth be told, the concept hasn't held together that well, though the individual songs have, led by the optimistic ballad "The Best of Times," and the rockers "Too Much Time on My Hands" and "Snowblind." Dennis DeYoung gives some of his most theatrical performances throughout, presaging his overly ambitious Kilroy concept, but also his successful run performing in the legitimate theater, as Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar. Paradise, meanwhile, was about as good as it got for Styx. --Daniel Durchholz
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 another in a string of greats June 9, 2005
S. R.
7 out of 15 found this review helpful
"Paradise Theater" came on the heels of a host of Styx Albums that kept getting better and better. One of Dennis DeYoung's more concept-laden efforts the diverse songs are all strong. Capped on each end by DeYoung's ditties sewing the songs together the band shifts gears easily between the hard-pop of "Rockin'The Paradise" and "Too much Time on My Hands" to the effortless pop of "She Cares" then again to the complex "Lonely People" the band is extremely gifted and at the top of their game. The often maligned and severely underrated "The Best of Times" is really one of the finest pop songs of the 1980s fitting in very nicely with the concept of a dying America. A heady concept no doubt done years before the actual damage of Reagan-era economics were known by the public. This is what makes this album so much more than just a collection of good songs. No matter what the band members may say about DeYoung and his domination of the direction of the band "Paradise Theater" hits the bullseye squarely in its concept was sooo far ahead of its time. Production is near perfect and the musicianship of above reproach, somthing the bands gets little credit for somehow. JYs "Half-Penny, Two-Penny" is powerful in its delivery and lyrically is one of the band's best. The transition to "A.D. 1958" from"Half-Penny..." works like a fine timepiece. Easily a top 10 album of the 80s and a top 20 album since its release. This is where concept and execution mate perfectly. A deserted island choice for sure.
This is a great album..... May 24, 2000
S. C. Smith (Dallas, Texas USA)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
and CD. I still have the old vinyl of this and it is worn out. I have to admit it was a bit overdone, but I still really like it. Snowblind remains one of my all time favorites. What a powerful tune. There are some cheesy tunes but I also still like them. For new fans this is something you may want to check out. Actually if you like Styx at all this is a definite one that you will want.
Not quite "Paradise," but still pretty good May 20, 2000
Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the best Syx album since "Grand Illusion," and contains most of the elements that made the band popular. Guitarist Tommy Shaw's unemployment anthem "Too Much Time on My Hands," is the best song he's written an one of the band's best hits. Even schmaltzy keyboardist Dennis DeYoung comes up with a listenable ballad with "The Best of Times." By the early 1980s, Styx was starting to fight against the trends that were taking rock'n'roll in new directions. In that regard, this album was a holding action. It is also their last good album.
 A DENNIS DEYOUNG MASTERPIECE January 21, 2002
Eric J. Weik (Dyersburg, TN)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Paradise Theater is a work of art, a labor of love, from vocalist, keyboardist, Dennis Deyoung. From the opening piano note, of A.D. 1928, to the closing note of A.D. 1958, Pardise will hold you in awe. Not since the Grand Illusion, has STYX made an album this good.
It all starts with A.D. 1928, witch goes into Rockin the Paradise, and that is what this cd does, ROCKS. It's not the heavy metal, of Grand Illusion, or the hard rock of Peices of Eight, but it comes over strong, even on the slow songs. With the fist pumping anthems of Rockin the Paradise, a song about America needing to stand up and be counted, to Half Penny; Two Penny, which deals with the decay of the American dream. The Best of Times, which starts out like A.D. 1928, and the disco-rock flavored Too Much Time on my Hands, have sing-a-long chourses, that has you humming along them all day. Snowblind, a rock radio classic, written by Dennis and JY, and sung by JY and Tommy, is a good song about drug abuse, and JY's singing on the beginning of it, is very haunting. The lesser known songs on this disk, Nothing Ever Goes as Planned, and She Cares, are both very good, and deserve repeated listenings, as does this whole cd.
This is the last "true" Styx classic, with the line up of Dennis, Tommy, JY, John, and Chuck. There would be other STYX cds with this line-up, and different line-ups, but no other cd this great, has come out since. GRADE A
 Melodramatic and Overblown.....a bit silly. June 5, 1999
Mark J. Koenig (Atlanta, GA United States)
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am 37 years old, and owned the original vinyl edition of this album. I used to think then that this was one of the greatest albums I'd ever heard. (EGAD!) Thank God my taste has matured since High School! While the production qualities of this recording are quite good, and the harmonies interesting, the lyrics are too often trite and ridiculous - melodramatic posturing - 70s 'corporate rock' at its worst. It's actually a bit embarassing to listen to this now and remember thinking it was great stuff. In retrospect, I think this recording is notable more than anything for its embodiment of everything that was wrong with much of the mainstream rock of the late 70's.
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