Cornerstone |
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Charted: October 13, 1979 Peak: 2 US, 36 UK, 11 CN, 21 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: classic arena rock |
Tracks:Click on a song titled for more details.
Total Running Time: 38:17 The Players:
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Rating: 3.584 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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Another HitStyx hit the big time with 1977’s The Grand Illusion when it went top 10 and multi-platinum on the strength of two top-40 hits. 1978’s Pieces of Eight replicated the feat, setting high expectations for 1979’s Cornerstone. Commercially, the album kept pace with its predecessors’ accomplishments. In fact, it became their highest-charting album to date, landing at #2. Styx was even named America’s favorite band in a 1979 Gallup poll. AZ“Cornerstone is Styx at their most accessible and melodic,” AZ emphasizing their “pop sound more than the progressive rock influences that dominated their first eight studio albums.” WK “The songs aren’t as tight or assertive as their last few albums” AM and the album “tends to sound a tad weaker than one would expect.” AM A Rift in the BandThe lead single, “Babe,” took Styx to the top of the charts but the song “irked longtime fans with its MOR sweetness” UCR and showed “the first fragmenting of the group’s collective artistic vision” WK eventually leading to their breakup after 1983’s Kilroy Was Here.Tommy Shaw threatened to leave the band and Dennis DeYoung was even briefly fired, although he returned to the fold before word got to the press or the public. WK The SongsHere’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs. |
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LightsStyx |
Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw Released: May 1980 as a single (UK), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 41 CL, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.93 streaming About the Song:Lights, “the album’s vibrant lead track,” SW “implement[s] silky harmonies and welcoming choruses” AM and showcased Tommy Shaw’s songwriting and vocals. The song was eventually released in the UK as a single but didn’t chart. Frankly, it seems an obvious choice as a single and would have been a better choice than “Why Me” or “Borrowed Time.” It’s hard not imagine it being a top-20 hit had it been released as the follow-up to “Babe.” An argument could even be made that, coming off Shaw’s success with singles from the previous album, it would have been a good fit as the lead-off single.
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Why MeStyx |
Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung Released: 12/15/1979 as a single, Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 26 BB, 19 CB, 18 HR, 12 RR< 9 CL, 10 CN, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.04 streaming About the Song:Why Me, another DeYoung-penned tune, was released as the second single. The more upbeat tune showcased the band’s experimentation with new sounds, such as horns, as did Borrowed Time. AZ
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BabeStyx |
Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung (see lyrics here) Released: September 1979 as a single, Cornerstone (1979), Caught in the Act (live, 1984), Classics (compilation, 1987) Peak: 12 BB, 13 CB, 12 HR, 13 RR, 9 AC, 1 CL, 6 UK, 16 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.25 UK, 1.25 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 20.0 video, 136.62 streaming |
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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About the Song:The album was propelled by Babe, Styx’s only #1 hit and “one of the best rock ballads ever.” AM Dennis DeYoung wrote the song as a birthday present to his wife Suzanne, thanking her for her patience with his life on the road. WK It “is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals.” AM It is “perhaps the prototypical I-love-you-but-I-just-gotta-go power ballad,” AZ which would “endear itself to a generation of prom-goers” AZ in the same vein as their “1975 slow-dance classic ‘Lady.’” AZ In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, arguably the four pillars of what has become known as “arena rock” or “corporate rock” found themselves in similar positions. Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon, and Styx all emerged in the 1970s as staples on album rock radio. The four also shared another commonality – their greatest commercial successes came because of power ballads. These slower love songs evoked eye-rolling amongst some die-hard fans who considered such fare schmaltzy and selling out, but gave the bands even greater followings. Styx singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung said, “According to some people, you’re either a rock and roll band, or you’re not. And anybody who plays ballads was looked down upon by the radio establishment.” FBREO Speedwagon topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Keep on Loving You” in 1981, Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You” spent a whopping 10 weeks in the runner-up slot in 1981 and ’82, and Journey nabbed six weeks at #2 in 1982. Before any of those three, however, Styx paved the way with their 1979 #1 hit “Babe.” DeYoung wrote the song for his wife Suzanne as a birthday present. The couple met in 1964 and married in 1970. As he said, “Being on the road…puts a strain on a relationship…I wanted to tell her how much I missed her when I was gone.” FB In the 2014 concert video Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx Live in Los Angeles, he joked that he hoped it would get him out of buying her jewelry, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t intended as a Styx song; he recorded “Babe” as a demo with Styx drummer John Panozzo and bassist Chuck Panozzo, singing all the harmonies himself. When the band decided to put it on their Cornerstone album, they overdubbed a Tommy Shaw guitar solo in the middle section. WK Suzanne herself said she thought the song was as good as, if not better, than “Lady,” the band’s first top-ten hit. FB When the record company heard the song, they echoed her feelings and pushed for releasing it as a single. SF Their instinct proved correct; not only was it the band’s only #1 in the U.S., but their only top 40 hit in the UK, where it reached #6. It was also a chart-topper in Canada and South Africa. |
Never Say NeverStyx |
Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.51 streaming About the Song:There’s nothing particularly memorable or adventurous about this rocker from Tommy Shaw. His definite highlights on the Cornerstone album are “Lights” and “Boat on the River.” |
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Boat on the RiverStyx |
Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: 3/16/1980 as a single (UK), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 35.43 streaming About the Song:Tommy Shaw had burst to the forefront in a big way on the band’s previous album, Pieces of Eight, with two top-40 hits in the way of “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade.” He sadly didn’t experience the same success on Cornerstone with Dennis DeYoung re-exerting his balladry skills on the #1 hit “Babe” and the follow-up single “Why Me.”Shaw, however, did helm two of the album’s best cuts in “Boat on the River” and “Lights.” The former added mandolin and accordion to the mix. Meanwhile bassist Chuck Panozzo played a bowed, stand-up double bass. He said, “It was something I hadn’t done before in the studio…Some people were skeptical about it, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying it. I thought it was the right thing to do for the song, and I think it worked out perfectly.” SW It was released as a single in the UK and, according to StyxWorld.com, is “the band’s biggest hit internationally, having topped the charts in Switzerland and reaching the top 5 in countries like Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.” SW It is also “the band’s most-covered track, with many of those covers having been done in languages other than English,” SW again, according to StyxWorld.com. Tommy Shaw said, “It still amazes me how much impact that song has had on people over the years, and how far and wide it has reached all over the globe.” SW
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Borrowed TimeStyx |
Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw Released: 3/29/1980 as a single (US), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 64 BB, 74 CB, 63, HR, 33 CL, 76 CN, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.60 streaming About the Song:This is one of the more rock-oriented tunes on the album. It was released as the third single. |
First TimeStyx |
Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.55 streaming About the Song:Initially, First Time was intended as the second single, but Tommy Shaw was concerned about the band alienating its fan base by releasing two ballads in a row. WK |
EddieStyx |
Writer(s): James Young Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.39 streaming About the Song:This James Young rocker offers a warning to Ted Kennedy not to run for President for fear that he’ll suffer the same fate as his murdered brothers. It was a weird topic for a song. |
Love in the MidnightStyx |
Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 38 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.55 streaming About the Song:Tommy Shaw wraps up the Cornerstone album with this fairly forgettable rocker. |
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First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/12/2025. |
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