Styx - Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)

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Possibly not quite as heavy as Renegade in some ways, the quicker tempo of Blue Collar Man does offer more punch in some other aspects. Blue Collar Man is the Yin to Renegade’s Yang. I actually have this ongoing internal debate over which of these two Styx songs is heavier. Like most other people, it pretty much just depends on my mood at the time. Blue Collar Man beats you over the head with that wicked synth riff and is in your face right off the bat. By contrast, the first time I heard the intro to Renegade, I thought it was gonna be a ballad. It started out sorta low and slow, so I turned it up. Man, it almost blew up the radio when it suddenly all kicked in on me ! What else would you expect from such classic rock icons like Styx, but music so good it could blow up your radio ?

The first few times I heard this, for some reason I didn't realize it was Styx. It was more like I thought maybe Deep Purple got a new singer or something, I dunno. I very soon realized—oh, these are the same guys that did Grand Illusion and all that other cool stuff—no wonder I dig it! The funny part is that at the time, this little youngster didn’t think that there could even BE anything heavier than Grand Illusion. This song and the Pieces of Eight album overall proved that there definitely was. It upped the game to the point where I was closing the door on all the radio gaga crap. Unfortunately, that would soon include Styx themselves. It's tragic really, because they were one of the biggest innovators of rock n roll at the time. They really are prog rock. They helped rock n roll progress way beyond where it currently was. If not for them, most people (including me as a kid) would only consider something rock and roll if it was that standard heavy blues or funk type of song. They brought a new level of artistry and creativity to music, and yet it was still commercially viable. Opening up a whole new world of music to people is what they do, I guess. I'm just glad I got in on it when I did. It's another example of why I'm grateful I grew up back in that era.