1983’s Kilroy Was Here by Styx is the epitome of cheesy ’80s prog rock, but it has some good tunes and the message of the album is still quite relevant today.
What Is It?
This album presents a dystopian future when a fascist government has taken control–heavily influenced by the fundamental religious organization the “MMM (the Majority for Musical Morality)”–and outlawed rock music. The protagonist of the story is former rock star Robert Orin Charles Kilroy who has been imprisoned but who manages to escape (by disguising himself as Mr. Roboto) and plans on working with a group of rebels to bring rock and roll back to the world.
Artist: Styx
Original Release: 1983
Original Track Listing:
Side 1
1. “Mr. Roboto” 5:28
2. “Cold War” 4:27
3. “Don’t Let It End” 4:56
4. “High Time” 4:33
Side 2
1. “Heavy Metal Poisoning” 4:57
2. “Just Get Through This Night” 6:06
3. “Double Life” 3:46
4. “Haven’t We Been Here Before” 4:06
5. “Don’t Let It End” (Reprise) 2:22
Legacy:
This album delivered the cheesy 80s classic “Mr. Roboto” that has instant recognizability, but it had other good tunes as well, and it unveiled a sci fi rock opera with dystopian overtones warning of the dangers of censorship.
A Closer Look:
The progressive/hard rock band Styx first hit the scene in 1971 and had previously explored some genre themes in songs like “Come Sail Away” (from 1977’s The Grand Illusion) and “Lords of the Ring” (from 1978’s Pieces of Eight), but in the early ’80s the band focused their efforts on an all-out sci fi rock opera with 1983’s Kilroy Was Here. Mostly written by the band’s lead vocalist/keyboardist Dennis De Young, it was inspired by run-ins that Styx and other rock bands of the time had with several fundamentalist groups like the Moral Majority (and it foreshadowed the attempts at censorship later in the decade by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)).
Styx had been known to make statements with their music, even if those messages tended to get lost to the listeners as they air-guitared along with the grandiose compositions. But the band ventured full steam into dystopian territory with Kilroy Was Here, and did what the genre does when at its best by delivering a message masked in a sci fi setting. The ’80s saw a wave of conservatism as the Reagan era hit its stride, and rock music found itself in the crosshairs of religious groups as well as others trying to push their moral authority on others. The band saw the threat that this represented and used the album to deliver a message to those willing to listen to the words behind their catchy tunes.
But while the album definitely has good intentions, in a cheesy, prog rock sort of way, its grand statements do perhaps come up a bit short. And musically, it doesn’t quite measure up to peek of that band’s output like The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight with several songs falling flat (i.e., “High Time” and “Heavy Metal Poisoning”). But it’s still a fun listen for the most part and should stir up the brain matter at least a little bit. And it delivers more than a couple of stand-out songs along with a decent little sci fi story tacked on that genre fans should enjoy. Plus, who among you can resist standing up to sing along and do the robot when “Mr. Roboto”–the height of ’80s cheese-rock–comes on? To test that out, just start up the video above and see if you are capable of sitting still and not lip-syncing through the entire thing!
The Story Continues:
The short film Kilroy Was Here was directed by Brian Gibson (Poltergeist II) and was shown at the beginning of the concerts for the album tour. This film sets up the story, showing the protagonist Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (played by Dennis DeYoung) in jail while Jonathan Chance (played by Tommy Shaw) leads a rebel campaign to bring rock music back. Inspired by Shaw’s actions, Kilroy disables one of the robot guards at the prison and disguises himself with the machine man’s metal out layer. Taking up the name Mr. Roboto and escaping the prison, he then meets up with Chance on the outside. The music videos “Mr. Roboto”, “Don’t Let It End”, and “Heavy Metal Poisoning” draw from some of the film’s footage and continue the story to an extent. The band also took the album on the road, delivering a performance that emphasized the story contained in the music. But the shows drew some criticism as many in the audience were not there for a morality play and just wanted to dance along with the band’s greatest hits.
Should It Be Rebooted?
A complete reboot of the album would not make sense, but updating and expanding it is an exercise that is worth considering. The fact is that Kilroy Was Here was rather prescient with its themes of fascism, censorship, and moral authoritarianism. Much of commentary directed at events in the ’80s is still quite relevant in today’s politics, maybe even more so. A full-on rock opera done on the big screen might actually draw in some audiences and allow them to rediscover the album. Plus, leaning into the ’80s cheesiness of the songs just might be a good approach as long they keep the edge to the music that delivers a statement worth paying attention to. The band has since fractured, though, and all of the members are getting up there in age, so a reprisal of the album seems unlikely. But perhaps the the big screen rock opera could still happen if the right creative team got behind it.
Interesting Facts:
The title of the album is based on a meme that got started in World War II. U.S. Soldiers would draw a graffiti picture of a bald-headed man with a large nose looking over a wall with his fingers clutching it and it was accompanied by the words “Kilroy was here”. That was their way of indicating allied forces had been in that area.
One of the actions that influenced the creation of the album was the Arkansas State Senate passing a bill requiring that all records containing backmasking be labeled as such by the manufacturer (it was believed at the time that the technique could be used to pass subliminal messages to listeners). Styx included backmasking on the song “Heavy Metal Poisoning” using the Latin words “annuit cœptis, novus ordo seclorum.” Those are translated as the rather ominous sounding message “[he] has favored our undertakings, a new order of the ages”, but those are actually the two mottoes from the Great Seal of the United States on the reverse side of the United States one-dollar bill.
Some may think that the dance style known as “The Robot” originated with the song “Mr. Roboto”, but in truth that style dates back to the ’60s and there were versions of it as far back as the ’20s.
Where Can You Listen To It?
The album is available on vinyl, CD, and MP3, and the videos that were released as well as live performances are easy to find on YouTube.
