MR

I'm going to be honest and say that I can't find too much from the Wooden Nickel albums that really grabs me. One song that I've always felt was a good, underrated rocker was "Southern Woman". I've always thought that it would have made a good single, but I'm wondering if the meaning was a little too racy for top 40 radio back then? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Man of Miracles, Southern Woman, Golden Lark, Witch Wolf, Young Man, Lady, Unfinshed Song, and A Day are about the only things I care for from the WN years

Abitaman wrote:Man of Miracles, Southern Woman, Golden Lark, Witch Wolf, Young Man, Lady, Unfinshed Song, and A Day are about the only things I care for from the WN years

Grove of Eglantine, You Need Love, Jonas Psalter, Father OSA, Earl of Roaeland... there are a bunch of cool songs from that period.
Krakatoa, Serpent is Rising, The entire first album do nothing for me.

"Southern Woman" is a great song. Terrific rocking instrumental break in it, too. Ditto "Young Man." Two good JY songs for sure. "Young Man" has a killer keyboard break from Dennis.

I like nearly all of Styx II. I think it was their most tuneful, together album from the WN era.

Each album had one or two good tracks on it, to me. I like "Golden Lark," "Unfinished Song," "Winner Take All", and "Evil Eyes" from those various albums.

I liked "Best Thing" from Styx, and wish Dennis would go back to doing this one in his current concerts. It really rocked out the two times I heard it.



Bugsy

Well,not many will agree.But this is my favorite era of Styx though Equinox is my favorite album.
WN days was a band trying to find their feet and came up with some stellar shit.The albums may seem a bit 'all over the map' ,but there is some glorious stuff there.
It was raw ,gritty and adventurous.
Those were the days.

The songs I like from the WN era... Lady, You Need Love, 22 Years, Young Man, Unfinished Song and Golden Lark. So much of those four albums was garbage in my opinion but hey they were just starting out.

Add Gonna Make You Feel It to my list-ERIC

I have a major soft spot for Styx I. I know that a lot of the material isn't theirs, that the performances and production are raw, that the band was still years away from forging a solid musical identity, that some of the lyrics are deeply silly, and so forth. Don't care. I adore every idealistic, youthful, energetic second of it, especially the suite on Side A.

Styx II is both a band and fan favorite and I'll concede that it's well put together, but it doesn't speak to me the way its predecessor does. The only track I truly love from that album is "A Day" (in my Top 5 Styx songs for sure, definitely my favorite of the WN years.) I also like "You Need Love" and DDY's Bach fugue, but the rest doesn't do much for me. "Lady" is a classic, of course, but I'm numb to it now.

The darkness and weirdness of Serpent appeals to me, even if I don't think the whole is as good as the sum of the parts. I've read that DDY considers it his songwriting nadir, and he may have a point, but I think "Young Man," "As Bad As This" and the title track are fantastic, and "22 Years" is fun too. I find it odd that most of the songs that made it to the 1977 Best Of Styx comp weren't anywhere near the "best" songs from that era. IMO.

When I first heard Miracles I liked it better than Serpent, but that first impression has paled over time. At this point, the only things I really dig on that album are "Rock N Roll Feeling" (a great little anthem, would be a radio classic in the league of "Rock N Roll All Nite" and "We're An American Band" if there was any justice or civilization in this world) and the vocal outro to "Golden Lark" blending into the cello intro to "A Song For Suzanne." The rest slides right off me. Not great, not terrible, just....meh.

Overall, I'd say the WN years are terribly underrated, both by the band themselves and the world at large. Would be nice to hear more from this era in concert someday.

What I like most about the WN albums is you get to hear how the band evolved. THe varying influences of each member and what eventually became the Styx sound. You never get to hear that today, because if yuo don't have ten hits on an album, you'll never get a second albuim. The experimentaion was fun and the rawnesss of the songs is what gives them their charm.

If only they could have captured on record what they were like live......


Excerpt from Sterling's book....

Charlie Piper-Styx Crew....
Once again, I remember seeing them live and thinking, “Wow, these songs are heavy and cool.” Then when the record came out, it was like, ‘Oh my God. Is it the producer, is it the studio, the engineer? It’s not the band, because live the band rocks, the tunes feel good, they sound good.’ I felt they never came across well on their albums. The records were so cheesy. JC would give me copies and say, “I know how particular your mom is about getting rings on the cocktail table, so you can use this as a coaster.”

I always liked What has come between us. Great vocal and I love that piano intro.

My best of Wooden Nickel would be:

1.What Has Come Between Us
2.Lady
3.A Day
4.You Better Ask
5.Young Man
6.Rock And Roll Feeling
7.Golden Lark
8.A Song For Suzanne
9.Southern Woman

I just want to add what a great song I think "Young Man" is.. I wish it had the production of one of the A&M albums, but it still manages to be a pretty moving track; especially when you consider how much it still applies today.

stabbim wrote:I have a major soft spot for Styx I. I know that a lot of the material isn't theirs, that the performances and production are raw, that the band was still years away from forging a solid musical identity, that some of the lyrics are deeply silly, and so forth. Don't care. I adore every idealistic, youthful, energetic second of it, especially the suite on Side A.

Styx II is both a band and fan favorite and I'll concede that it's well put together, but it doesn't speak to me the way its predecessor does. The only track I truly love from that album is "A Day" (in my Top 5 Styx songs for sure, definitely my favorite of the WN years.) I also like "You Need Love" and DDY's Bach fugue, but the rest doesn't do much for me. "Lady" is a classic, of course, but I'm numb to it now.

The darkness and weirdness of Serpent appeals to me, even if I don't think the whole is as good as the sum of the parts. I've read that DDY considers it his songwriting nadir, and he may have a point, but I think "Young Man," "As Bad As This" and the title track are fantastic, and "22 Years" is fun too. I find it odd that most of the songs that made it to the 1977 Best Of Styx comp weren't anywhere near the "best" songs from that era. IMO.

When I first heard Miracles I liked it better than Serpent, but that first impression has paled over time. At this point, the only things I really dig on that album are "Rock N Roll Feeling" (a great little anthem, would be a radio classic in the league of "Rock N Roll All Nite" and "We're An American Band" if there was any justice or civilization in this world) and the vocal outro to "Golden Lark" blending into the cello intro to "A Song For Suzanne." The rest slides right off me. Not great, not terrible, just....meh.

Overall, I'd say the WN years are terribly underrated, both by the band themselves and the world at large. Would be nice to hear more from this era in concert someday.

Stabbim.
I must say, you just said exactly the way I feel about those albums.
Thanx.
A Day.What a gem.
Of the WN albums I play ,it is mainly 1 and 3.