MR

Speaking of Greatest Hits/Anthology packages, here is my Styx anthology - feel free to burn this 2 CD set with these songs - I personally love the mix and feels it captures the essence of the band and has IMHO a better representation of the songs that defined Styx.

I put it together with the following rules
Since Styx was an album oriented rock band, the biggest Styx albums have the most representation. I created this scale -
1. Triple platinum albums obivously had the most impact, they get 5 songs apiece (The big four - GI, Po8, Cornerstone, PT)
2. Gold and Platinum albums get 2-3 songs each (Kilroy, EOTC, Styx 2, Crystal Ball, Equinox)
3. Anthology begins with Wooden Nickel
4. Anthology ends with the death of John P.
5. Try, if possible, to include all charted songs and rock tracks
6. Divide the 2 CDs into 2 themes - more hard rock/prog 70s vs. poppy 80s.

So, here goes

CD One - Stardom in The 70s

1. Best Thing
2. Lady
3. You Need Love
4. Light Up
5. Lorelei
6. Suite Madame Blue
7. Mademoisselle
8. Crystal Ball
9. Grand Illusion
10. Foolin Yourself
11. Come Sail Away
12. Miss America
13. Man In the Wilderness (or Superstars) - I like MITW better, but one could argue that Superstars is more well known
14. Blue Collar Man
15. Queen of Spades
16. Sing For The Day
17. Renegade
18. Pieces of Eight

CD 2 - Don't Look Now, But Here Come the 80s

1. Borrowed Time
2. Lights
3. Why Me?
4. Babe
5. Boat On the River
6. AD 1928/Rockin The Paradise
7. Too Much Time On My Hands
8. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
9. Best of Times
10. Snowblind
11. Mr. Roboto
12. Don't Let It End
13. Haven't We Been Here Before, High Time, or Heavy Metal Poisoning (the third song off KWH is a toss up)
14. Music Time
15. Love Is The Ritual
16. Show Me The Way
17. Love At First Sight
18. Dear John

Toph wrote:Speaking of Greatest Hits/Anthology packages, here is my Styx anthology - feel free to burn this 2 CD set with these songs - I personally love the mix and feels it captures the essence of the band and has IMHO a better representation of the songs that defined Styx.

I put it together with the following rules
Since Styx was an album oriented rock band, the biggest Styx albums have the most representation. I created this scale -
1. Triple platinum albums obivously had the most impact, they get 5 songs apiece (The big four - GI, Po8, Cornerstone, PT)
2. Gold and Platinum albums get 2-3 songs each (Kilroy, EOTC, Styx 2, Crystal Ball, Equinox)
3. Anthology begins with Wooden Nickel
4. Anthology ends with the death of John P.
5. Try, if possible, to include all charted songs and rock tracks
6. Divide the 2 CDs into 2 themes - more hard rock/prog 70s vs. poppy 80s.

So, here goes

CD One - Stardom in The 70s

1. Best Thing
2. Lady
3. You Need Love
4. Light Up
5. Lorelei
6. Suite Madame Blue
7. Mademoisselle
8. Crystal Ball
9. Grand Illusion
10. Foolin Yourself
11. Come Sail Away
12. Miss America
13. Man In the Wilderness (or Superstars) - I like MITW better, but one could argue that Superstars is more well known
14. Blue Collar Man
15. Queen of Spades
16. Sing For The Day
17. Renegade
18. Pieces of Eight

CD 2 - Don't Look Now, But Here Come the 80s

1. Borrowed Time
2. Lights
3. Why Me?
4. Babe
5. Boat On the River
6. AD 1928/Rockin The Paradise
7. Too Much Time On My Hands
8. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
9. Best of Times
10. Snowblind
11. Mr. Roboto
12. Don't Let It End
13. Haven't We Been Here Before, High Time, or Heavy Metal Poisoning (the third song off KWH is a toss up)
14. Music Time
15. Love Is The Ritual
16. Show Me The Way
17. Love At First Sight
18. Dear John

I'm sick of hits packages. I would rather see a best of non-hits package. Criteria being they have to be songs that have not been on any best of/greatest hits/anthology packages.

1. Great White Hope
2. Born For Adventure
3. Just Get Through This Night
4. I'm OK
5. A Day
6. Love In The Midnight
7. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
8. Everything Is Cool
9. Young Man
10. This Old Man
11. Goodbye Roseland
12. Half-Penny Two-Penny

Grotelul wrote:5. A Day
6. Love In The Midnight

7. Nothing Ever Goes As Planned
8. Everything Is Cool

9. Young Man
10. This Old Man

Good list. Bonus points for cheeky sequencing.

Still waiting on a real anthology set with unreleased tracks and outtakes, rare live tracks, etc.

LordofDaRing wrote:Still waiting on a real anthology set with unreleased tracks and outtakes, rare live tracks, etc.

I here ya on that one. Maybe when there all retired something like that will come out. How about a live track with the extra verse in crystal ball? That would be cool.

Thenightbull wrote:

LordofDaRing wrote:Still waiting on a real anthology set with unreleased tracks and outtakes, rare live tracks, etc.

I here ya on that one. Maybe when there all retired something like that will come out. How about a live track with the extra verse in crystal ball? That would be cool.

I'd love to hear demos and alternate takes, as well as live tracks from the prime years. That would be amazing, especially with any behind-the-scenes footage that might exist.

This is one of the few major bands of that era that hasn't properly overhauled its catalog, and it's something I really want to see, but I agree that it won't happen until the current lineup runs its course.


Sterling

Thenightbull wrote:I here ya on that one. Maybe when there all retired something like that will come out. How about a live track with the extra verse in crystal ball? That would be cool.

To my knowledge, Styx never recorded that version or played it live. The only official recording is on the Westwood One radio show from the GWG tour.

Rockwriter wrote:I'd love to hear demos and alternate takes, as well as live tracks from the prime years. That would be amazing, especially with any behind-the-scenes footage that might exist.

Yeah, I'd love to hear that too, but I doubt the band even knows where that stuff is.

StyxCollector wrote:

Thenightbull wrote:I here ya on that one. Maybe when there all retired something like that will come out. How about a live track with the extra verse in crystal ball? That would be cool.

To my knowledge, Styx never recorded that version or played it live. The only official recording is on the Westwood One radio show from the GWG tour.

Rockwriter wrote:I'd love to hear demos and alternate takes, as well as live tracks from the prime years. That would be amazing, especially with any behind-the-scenes footage that might exist.

Yeah, I'd love to hear that too, but I doubt the band even knows where that stuff is.

As far as "Crystal Ball" goes, yeah, Styx altered it and only ever played it without the third verse and with the new refrain and solo sections.

In terms of the band not knowing where stuff is, sadly, that may be true. As many times as the various companies have been re-acquired, who knows where some of the masters might have wound up? I sometimes wonder if Chuck still has the home movies he and John shot once upon a time. Those would be cool to see.


Sterling

Rockwriter wrote:In terms of the band not knowing where stuff is, sadly, that may be true. As many times as the various companies have been re-acquired, who knows where some of the masters might have wound up? I sometimes wonder if Chuck still has the home movies he and John shot once upon a time. Those would be cool to see.

I bet he does. And I bet there's some interesting video floating around that most of us just haven't seen. Knowing that the Cap Center filmed nearly every show, I bet there are a few pro shot Styx ones out there besides the well circulated PT one (NOT Japan). That's what's odd about Styx. With other bands, even some of that stuff has leaked to some degree.

Ah, but to dream ...