Though the 1980s eventually brought the decline of Styx, the decade began with the band riding a wave of commercial success with the #1 pop ballad "Babe" from their album, "Cornerstone" (1979), which was written by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. However, tension mounted within the band as Shaw and other band members, preferring the rock direction of the songs written by Shaw and guitarist James Young, expressed dissatisfaction with DeYoung's desire to pull the band into a pop radio direction. Although the band had released singles and achieved airplay on pop radio, up until this point they had done so by sticking to their progressive/hard rock roots. But the planned release of "First Time," another ballad much in the same vein as the previous single "Babe" brought things to a head within the band. Shaw threatened to quit if "First Time" was released, worried that two ballads in a row would damage Styx's rock cred. DeYoung and the record company argued for release, but were out-voted by the band. For this reason, unbeknownst to the public, DeYoung was briefly fired from the group in early 1980 but quickly rehired, and the conflict would arise again.