MR

SO the Journey board is catching up, we need something to talk about. Since we don not argue like them, maybe we can catch up by talking about each Styx cd, giving our feelings about it. I'll make one each day or so, working my way up, unless someone else wants to start one. Way my computer is doing, I maybe off line for a few weeks Besides I'm snowed in and one of the kids is sick, so I'm bored.

STYX, their first cd is one of their worst. Almost all the songs were written by other people. It was basically a cover cd, just like their last cd. A lot of people said you could see the Styx style coming out in the first cd, but I can't. The only two songs I really care for are WHAT HAS COME BETWEEN US (they wrote this), and QUICK IS THE BEAT OF MY HEART (they did not write this). But even these two songs really do not capture the Styx spirit. In today's market, if the cd was just now released, Styx would not have seen the light of day on another cd.

They playing is okay, Dennis vocals, are as reassuring as they would later be, and production, even for that days standard, is weak. I'd say it is a D+.

Anyone else out there have a thought on their first cd?-ERIC

I like the 1st LP......but..... I dont hold it up to the same standard as the rest of the catalog. They were clearly cutting their teeth with this Album.
I suspect the budget was minimal. One of the things I really like about it is its simplicity.........just a bunch of guys playing early 70's progressive rock.

Think about it.....Including Fanfare For The Common Man on a debut effort showed a lot of chutzpah, and some original thinking. What has come betwen us and Mother Natures matinee were our 1st taste of what DDY could do with those amazing vocal chords of his.

For reference, compare Meet the Beatles to Say Sgt Peppers......The Beatles did covers while honing their songwriting skills, as did many other bands starting out.

So, putting it in perspective, its not their greatest work, far from it.....but I'll listen to it more than I will Kilroy !

It is kind of funny that their first and latest cds were both cover cds. Liked BBT a lot better than first one.-ERIC

I love the first one and it is also one of my favorites.
Classic pinned it down very well.
It is nice and gritty.A little clumsy with a lot of charm.They gotta start somewhere.
For you Dennis fans, there is a lot of great keyboards on here for your listening pleasure.
Later with their overproduced efforts they lost a lot of their personality and became too slick for my liking.
I wonder how long it took them to record this first album?Anybody know
Eric,yes Journey board is catching up with your help buddy.

I can hear raw elements of them and what eventually became their sound and style on the album. Must have been a heady experience...their first album...still trying to show the world who they were then...trying to find their own identity.

I agree that to include Fanfare for the Common Man was bold. While the album is not played all that often by me...I find I do like it reasonably well for I view it to be.

I would imagine they did those covers to demonstrate their range and scope...not to mention they may not have had enough of their own material yet. From all I have ever read about them...they always played a lot of other material during their early years. Great way to cut your teeth.

Peace

gr8dane wrote:Eric,yes Journey board is catching up with your help buddy.

Well.............I like Like Journey almost as much as Styx, so, uh so, I'm trying to help out here, with out the fuss -ERIC

Classic, you definitely nailed the description of this album.

There are some wonderful moments on it, but you can definitely hear this recording as a band feeling its way.

It does have one of Styx' most enduring rockers, though -- Best Thing. Dennis still rocks the house with this one in concert.

When I am in the mood, I still very much enjoy listening to Movement for the Common Man.

Bugsy

Outside of "What Has Come Between Us" and "Movement For The Common Man", this album doesn't do very much for me. Dennis' vocals are the saving grace on this album, but unfortunately, we only hear him a few times. The covers that they decided to go with here are just a little too repetitive; although, I do enjoy the groove in "Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart". The Styx original "Best Thing" has some decent music, but I think it suffers from some weak lyrics.

I always felt what has come between us was a good tune, I love the piano intro. Each time I hear it, I picture the bad guy tying the woman to the train tracks. I have not heard this album in years, didn't it contain some snippets of people talking too??

LordofDaRing wrote:I always felt what has come between us was a good tune, I love the piano intro. Each time I hear it, I picture the bad guy tying the woman to the train tracks. I have not heard this album in years, didn't it contain some snippets of people talking too??

There is a section in "Movement for the Common Man" where Dennis, JY, and John C, I believe that is correct, do a bit of dialogue as if they were old men from the Depression era commenting on these long-haired kids today and how they don't know anything about hard work.

Bugsy

bugsymalone wrote:
There is a section in "Movement for the Common Man" where Dennis, JY, and John C, I believe that is correct, do a bit of dialogue as if they were old men from the Depression era commenting on these long-haired kids today and how they don't know anything about hard work.

Bugsy

How far off the orginal is this song-ERIC

I've only listened to this a handful of times and would be hard pressed to recognize any of the songs if someone were to play them for me and not tell me it was Styx

I can pull Dennis' voice from anywhere...talking or not...

I really like Movement for a common man. Long song...great sound....not extremelly good quality Styx sound but it still exists.

Not my favorite album but I do find it interesting to listen to and pull Styx elements out of.