10 Perfect Albums That Broke Up The Band

10. Kilroy Was Here - Styx

Even for a band that was on the charts as much as they were, the public always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Styx. While some fans may have loved the proggy sounds of albums like the Grand Illusion and sang along to tracks like Come Sail Away, the critics were never all that impressed, chalking them up as the more corporate version of what real prog acts were trying to do. Then again, the critics don't really matter in the long run. It's all about chemistry, and Kilroy Was Here was where it all hit a brick wall.

For all of the drama surrounding this album though, not much has changed from the last few albums. From the sappy ballads like Don't Let It End to the harder rock of Heavy Metal Poisoning, this is still just a decent Styx album. What really messed this one up was the mindset behind it, as Dennis DeYoung took full control of the concept and had the rest of the band write songs that fit more in line with the sci fi rock storyline that he was pitching.

There's definitely an idea for a good prog album in here, but you can tell that the rest of the band were checked out by the time it was done, going on a disastrous tour and songwriter Tommy Shaw leaving to form Damn Yankees after the whole thing was over. So in the end it wasn't even the critics bringing Styx to an end. All they needed was DeYoung's reign of terror to collapse in on itself.