Editing Styx (band) (section)

===''Kilroy Was Here'' and first disbandment (1983–1984)===
[[File:Styx (1983 A&M publicity photo).jpg|thumb|Styx in a 1983 publicity shot]]
The band continued to follow DeYoung's lead with their next project, ''[[Kilroy Was Here (album)|Kilroy Was Here]]'' (1983), another more fully realized concept album, embracing the [[rock opera]] form. It is set in a future where performing and playing rock music has been outlawed due to the efforts of a charismatic evangelist, Dr. Everett Righteous, played by James "JY" Young. ''Kilroy Was Here'' featured DeYoung in the part of Kilroy, an unjustly imprisoned rock star. Tommy Shaw played the part of Jonathan Chance, a younger rocker who fights for Kilroy's freedom and the lifting of the ban on rock music. This future society is served by robots. Called Robotos, these automatons perform many jobs and several serve as Kilroy's prison guards.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Part of the impetus for the Kilroy story was the band's reaction to the [[backmasking]] accusation.<ref name=clark /> The album included Young's song "[[Heavy Metal Poisoning]]", which includes lyrics sarcastically mocking the allegations against the group. Its introduction intentionally included a backward message, the Latin phrases, "annuit coeptis" and "novus ordo seclorum", from the reverse side of the [[Great Seal of the United States]]. Referring to the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] in 1776, these are translated, "''[[Annuit cœptis]]'' - He (God) favors our undertakings, and ''[[Novus ordo seclorum]]'' - A new order of the ages."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneyfactory.gov/document.cfm/18/2233|title=The Great Seal of the United States on Paper Currency
|publisher=US Bureau of Engraving and Printing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829233635/http://www.moneyfactory.gov/document.cfm/18/2233 |archive-date=August 29, 2008 |access-date=November 19, 2008}}</ref> Both choices also served the Kilroy story because the villain is an evangelist that seeks to expand his Vision of Morality movement via mass demonstrations.

The album ''Kilroy Was Here'' went [[Platinum certification|Platinum]] in 1983, boasting two Top Ten hits written and sung by DeYoung, the [[synthesizer]]-based "[[Mr. Roboto]]" (No. 3 US) and power ballad "[[Don't Let It End]]" (No. 6 US). The album earned a nomination as Best Engineered Recording for engineer and long-time friend [[Gary Loizzo]] and fellow engineers on the album Will Rascati and Rob Kingsland, for the 26th Grammy Awards (1983).<ref>{{cite news|url= http://theenvelope.latimes.com/search/env-past-winners-search,0,1243372,results.formprofile?Query=Styx&selectsearch=pastwinners&target=article&Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_01_num&SortBy=COMPOSITE_RANK+desc&PageSize=10&Page=1&MinCoarseRank=500&QueryType=CONCEPT&x=10&y=11.
 |title=Every show, every winner, every nominee - The Envelope - LA Times
 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]
 |access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref>

In 1983 the band mounted an ambitious stage show in support of ''Kilroy Was Here''<ref name=clark /> featuring theatrical presentations of three songs utilizing instrumental backing tracks, including "Mr. Roboto", which featured DeYoung singing live while disguised as a Roboto, "Heavy Metal Poisoning" with Young as the evangelist Dr. Righteous singing while the Panozzo brothers acted as his henchmen on stage and "Haven't We Been Here Before" with Shaw as Jonathan Chance and DeYoung (as Kilroy in Roboto costume) duetting. The elaborate show was expensive to produce and was not as profitable as previous tours.

''Kilroy Was Here'' brought the creative and competitive tensions within the band beyond the breaking point; this was further exacerbated following the band's performance of the ''Kilroy'' show at that year's [[Texxas Jam]], an all day, multi-band rock festival held at the [[Cotton Bowl (stadium)|Cotton Bowl]] in Dallas. While most of the other acts on the bill, in comparison, put forth their "hardest rockers" the theatrics of the ''Kilroy'' show were not well received and they were basically booed off the stage. A disillusioned Shaw departed the band for a solo career at the conclusion of the tour.

In 1984 the band released its first live album, ''[[Caught in the Act (Styx album)|Caught in the Act]]''. The project featured one studio track, "[[Music Time (song)|Music Time]]", which became a Top 40 hit. The concert was also filmed and released on VHS under the same title (and on DVD in 2007). By the time of the album's release, they had already parted ways.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}