I have been around for quite some time. I listenend to Styx in high school. Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight were staples on my 8-track. So don't get all bent out of shape when I say that "Kilroy Was Here" was a natural evolution of Styx for me. When I heard "Paradise Theatre", I knew change was in the air.
We are talking of a time when people were just becoming aware of "machines,aka,computers" taking over the jobs of that were done by humans. Add to that, our government was trying to make Ozzy Osbourne responsible for teenage suicide because of his lyrics. I mean, come on, how many really believed that he "looked" at a plane and it crashed?
DeYoung wrote a story that spread over years of music writing, one album melding into the next, until he came to the logical conclusion of machines and censorship that made up "Kilroy Was Here".
I do not believe that "Kilroy" was the low point for Styx, but rather a very brave telling of a story that was prevelent for the times it was written for.
I was in my twenties when "Kilroy" was released. I loved it then and I love it now.
I only wish my children had the benefit of such amazing song-writing as we had then instead of the cursed saturated & sex drowning lyrics that they have today. I would much rather them listen to "Kilroy Was Here".