WOODEN NICKEL RECORDINGS

[yogi]

On Amazon.com it says the complete Wooden Nickel years will be released next Tuesday. The price is $14.99. Not bad for a 2 disc set!

Why have neither Dennis or Styx said anything about the release or the release date. Its not another budget hack job is it??

[sadie65]

On Amazon.com it says the complete Wooden Nickel years will be released next Tuesday. The price is $14.99. Not bad for a 2 disc set!

Why have neither Dennis or Styx said anything about the release or the release date. Its not another budget hack job is it??

Not another hack job that I know of. Dennis is promoting it to a small degree with his Lost treasures concerts.

As for Styx, I doubt they will promote it to a great degree. Their man singer (and I realize he isn't the only singer in the band these days) wasn't a part of Wooden Nickel recordings. Nor was Gowan. They would most likely want to focus their energies on promoting the upcoming covers cd..which as I understand it from another board has a tentative release date of Apr. 4...for those interested)

Sadie

[yogi]

Again if its all about the money for JY and the rest, I would think Styx would be plugging this.

Back in the Wooden Nickel Days JY sang lead on damn near half the songs. I bet its about 40/40 split between Dennis& JY with John C. picking up the last 20%.

I just hope its not a hack job, because Dennis is not really doing any promo for it either.

[sadie65]

Again if its all about the money for JY and the rest, I would think Styx would be plugging this.

Back in the Wooden Nickel Days JY sang lead on damn near half the songs. I bet its about 40/40 split between Dennis& JY with John C. picking up the last 20%.

I just hope its not a hack job, because Dennis is not really doing any promo for it either.

I never said it was about money for them. And while JY was the lead singer on nearly half the material, to be quite honest, in most people's inds (not all) he isn't the draw for Styx. Since half the band wasn't around for this material, I really don't think they will promote it. As I said, I think they will want to promote the covers cd, which features the current lineup.
It's a smart move on their part.

As for Dennis, he is doing some promotion for it, however I believe he has other things he is working on. I doubt it's a hack just because they aren't full blown promoting it. Only a few days and we'll find out.

But I think it's cool you have a release date for the covers cd now.

Sadie

[bugsymalone]

This Wooden Nickel years double CD has much more credibility than the Anthology, in my mind. In addition to all the tracks being remastered, it does contain a true rarity in "The Unfinished Song." Anthology seemed more of a mish-mash of song choices, in my opinion.

I do not know how much money any members who participated in these recordings will make off the deal, but I assume the individual songwriters will profit, in some degree, from the sale of this set.

Tommy Shaw would have zero interest in promoting the CD, so I doubt if we will see a "Hello Friends" about this one.

I am surprised that JY is not touting it some, and I think Dennis is gearing up to do so, as Sadie mentioned, with the Lost Treasures concert. How much he will talk about it is unknown at this point.

It will be interesting to see if any mention is made on either the Styx or the DDY websites of this WN collection CD.

Last speculation on my part here: I think this one may sell fairly well. It really is a collection of rarities, since all the WN recordings are out of production.
I certainly plan to buy it.

Bugsy

[ek88]

Is it just me or did JY seem to have a lot more noticeable vocal prowess on the Wooden Nickel stuff versus the A&M stuff? Or did the lower quality recordings just not expose his limitations as much?

[classicstyxfan]

ek, good observation indeed ! I am in complete agreement with you.

If you want even more contrast, compare JY vocals on as an example Jonas Psalter to those on his Cyclorama songs.

I believe his Singing ( screaming ? ) style in the early years, along with the normal aging process has taken it's toll on JY's voice....on the other hand, I'm not sure weather that is a good or a bad thing.....

I'm looking forward to the re-mastered Wooden Nickle release, I kind of have a soft spot for these low budget releases, in which the boys had to rely more on their god given talents vs the high tech / high budget releases that came later.

[styxfanNH]

I never thought that JY had anywhere near the vocal range of either Dennis or Tommy. And i would say that none of them have the range that they had 20-25 years ago.

As with many albums of the Wooden Nickel Era, there was more substance and less glitz in the production of the albums. That is what distinguishes music of that time.

[ek88]

I'm looking forward to the re-mastered Wooden Nickle release, I kind of have a soft spot for these low budget releases, in which the boys had to rely more on their god given talents vs the high tech / high budget releases that came later.

I've been listening to the older stuff of late (and regularly for the first time in my life) and I'm finding I really enjoy a lot of JY's older songs and vocals more than his more recent efforts (Kilroy-present).

I never thought that JY had anywhere near the vocal range of either Dennis or Tommy. And i would say that none of them have the range that they had 20-25 years ago.

I agree, although I think JY has experienced the most noticeable dropoff. I think Tommy's vocals really peaked with Damn Yankees, but I don't think he's lost much I thought he sounded terrific on their two albums. There are days, however, that I think Dennis has gotten only better with age.