“Lorelei” was one of Styx’s first hits — reaching No. 27 on Billboard’s charts — although a pretty minor one compared to those that came later. That doesn’t mean it’s inconsequential.
See, the song contains Styx’s entire DNA: Grand synthesizer sweeps, crashing dual guitars and, of course, Dennis DeYoung’s over-emotive singing all wrapped up in a pseudo-prog song structure — ingredients that later pushed Styx to the upper echelon of arena rock bands by the end of the 1970s. All those things were already present in “Lorelei.”
There were a few other things that made it a little more notable: the topic of a girlfriend about to shack up wasn’t all that uncommon in 1975, but it might have been a little out there to sing so openly and enthusiastically about it on a radio hit. And then, Styx’s soaring, overlapping vocals at the ending chorus put the exclamation point on a song that’s a lot like an American muscle car: Bigger and louder than it really needs to be, but they’re the very things that make your heart beat faster. Because, dammit, it’s made in America.
Tommy Shaw wasn’t in the band yet — though, as you can see in the video above, he would soon be. Still, this song put Styx on their way to sold-out stadium shows. Bombastic, over the top, and a little thrilling, it’s the kind of song you’d like about Styx, if you ever liked them at all.
Oh, and DeYoung dances worse than Elaine Benes.
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Elaine Benes
Um… Tommy is in the band here 😛 He joined in December of ’75 just as this tour was about to start.