James Young with Jan Hammer - City Slicker (1985)

Towering Styx axe-man James Young hits the streets solo, following the leads of former cohorts Tommy Shaw and Dennis DeYoung. During the heady height of the Chicago platinum pomp band, Young was really only good for one song per record, and in most cases that cut was a keeper ("Miss America," "Snowblind"). First time alone, Young wisely gets help from moral booster Jan Hammer, whose consummate keyboard skills guided guitar-first giants like Tommy Bolin, Jeff Beck, and Neal Schon. The resulting collaboration contains some cool moments, such as radio track "Give Me Something to Remember You By" and quasi-classic Bolin reference "Wild Dogs in the Night." City Slicker might have made waves if someone heard it, but the album promptly disappeared, along with Young, who resurfaced in Styx and released another solo work almost ten years later. Young also teamed with admirers Enuff Z'Nuff in the 90s.