Sophomore year, I had a girlfriend for a few months. she was a sophomore too but was new to the school. That was how we met initially. As a returning student, I volunteered to help the new students as an orienation leader. Vermont Academy new student orientation was a pretty cool concept that gathered all the new students for a few days before school started. They would be grouped into teams and with the help of a few returning students, be put through a bunch of ice breaking ridiculous sports and activities culminating with a three day backpacking excursion on Vermont’s famed Long Trail.
So I met her as I gave her a tour of the campus. It was nice while it lasted but I felt that I was too young and had too much adventuring to do to devote that kind of effort to a relationship. It saddens me to say that I ended it but not because it wasn’t the right thing to do, I just hated the idea of hurting her feelings. I believe that I’ve had what I would call 6 serious girlfriends in my life. I’m not counting all the temporary crushes or date night girls. The 6 were the ones that had some degree of steady longevity and really reached me emotionally. While I’m still Having The Time Of My Life being married to number 6, chronologically, this was number 1.
She had seen my stereo and knew that I could tape albums onto cassettes. She had Styx – Cornerstone on vinyl and wanted a cassette version. We’ll talk about that concept next. Of course, I was familiar with Styx having been listening to The Grand Illusion for a year or two. So I made a copy for her and a copy for me.
Cornerstone did not disappoint. It wasn’t The Grand Illusion but it had those same melodic, multilayered compositions. I wondered how they wrote music like that. Take the first track Lights. Listening to it but just focus on the backing vocals. Somebody had to consciously decide when to add them and what they should say. The song could exist without them but they add a dimension that is so interesting.
I had been playing Dungeons & Dragons for a while at this point. Perhaps it was because I was immersed in Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks and adventure campaigns while listening to Cornerstone that to this day, I cannot help but think about all those books and the illustrations when I hear Cornerstone.
Lights
Babe
This was the big song from this album and nowhere near my favorite. I feel sorry for the kids who downloaded Babe and never considered the rest of this album.
Love In The Midnight
Boat On The River
Possibly my favorite from Cornerstone. It has that same sort of Old World feel not unlike Mary Kopkins’ Those Were The Days
Borrowed Time
First Time
This song reminds me of Carolyn in that it came from the album she introduced to me. It also spoke to our youth and the innocence of our uncharted relationship at 15.
I never was too crazy about the song Eddie. It is OK and I don’t mind listening to it, it just seems like it is out of place compared to the rest of the album. It is the Miss America of Cornerstone. It feels like the band concedes one song each album to a rougher more traditional guiatr rock song. It is like the exact opposite of KISS who put ballads like Beth and Hard Luck Woman on their albums.