DENNIS DeYOUNG – 26 East, Vol. 1 – Album Review
Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx has released his latest solo album, 26 East, Vol.1, via Frontiers Music Srl. Named after DeYoung’s former address where Styx formed in his basement, this album is full of nostalgia, hope and that voice that is still as strong as it was when Styx began. The album description lists all the many players involved, including DeYoung on, “keyboards, fake drums, fake bass, fake news, and some vocals. Oh, and Vuvuzela.”
The first track, East of Midnight starts off with a keyboard sound which is immediately reminiscent of Styx and speaks about the love of music for “just a lad of 17.” DeYoung then hits on more current events on With All Due Respect, with an intro talking about fake news and a chorus of, “With all due respect, you are an asshole.” Maybe a little out of character for what we expect out of DeYoung, but a catchy tune nonetheless. A Kingdom Ablaze starts out with children chanting “Ring Around the Rosy” before moving into a slower-tempo on You My Love. Run for the Roses and Damn That Dream are next, with the latter being an up-tempo guitar-focused tune.
Unbroken is another song with a very hopeful feel, urging us to “join together in the age of the great divide.” The Promise of This Land feels like it could be a musical theatre ballad in a show about America, which is fitting as DeYoung has ventured into musical theatre a bit as well. To The Good Old Days, a duet with Julian Lennon is a super sweet song, with an emotional video of personal videos spanning the course of the singer’s musical career as well as his marriage and family. The video is really a must watch. While it is listed as a seperate track, the video of the previous song ends with A.D. 2020, just a short track that sounds like a farewell to the fans after a lifetime of putting out music. BUT, we have to believe that this isn’t really the end, as the album is labeled Volume 1.
Not bad for a man that is over seventy years old, and it seems that fans of this singer and his iconic voice will eat this one up.
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