Styx-OWE Review Classic Rock Mag January 2007

[gr8dane]

Styx Live bolstered with 115 piece backing band and 60 strong choir.7* out of 10 (cd review)

At the end of the album's barnstorming opener BCM TS announces" You may have noticed that we'we grown a little bit....".
Listening to this live cd you may not be immediately aware of the fact,but incredibly ,for one night only Styx were backed by the 115 piece CYO-and its 60 strong choir.That's right:as well as 5 men whose combined age edge ever closer to 300,,the stage at the BM Centre in Cleveland,Ohio was creaking under the weight of 175 15-19 year olds and their instruments.
The talented youngsters do make themselves agreeably audible here and there,but OWE remains very much a Styx album.In 2006 this means the same lineup as last years BBT of covers.Included here are 3 songs from that album It don't make sense,I am a walrus and I don't need,proving that anything W.A.S.P could do to a Ray Charles number 20 years ago,Styx can't do every bit as energetically today.
But Styx are clearly also keen to move forward,and they use this album to premiere 2 fine new numbers:EATT starts out like Rush before settling in to vintage Styx rock groove,while JB is a power ballad with a chorus that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a recent Pink Floyd album.But with that plus a bunch of better known numbers rounding out this 74 min. album,why is Classic Rock chewing it's lip?Well simply becuse Styx with sympho deserves to be seen as well as heard.There's been no shortage of Styx in concert product of late,so why not restrict this to a DVD?Buy that and in addition to what is on this cd you'll get 4 more numbers and a medley of 13 other hits.

Neil Jeffries.


The DVD was voted # 25 of best DVD's in 2006.

[Abitaman]

good review, liked the line about combined age creeping closer to 300 -ERIC