Regeneration: "The Grand Illusion"

[Boomchild]

So, here is link to a posting on YouTube. It's states that this version of "The Grand Illusion" is off the Regeneration album. First thing that hit me was how poor the harmonies or the lack of harmonies on this recording. Theres no passion in the performance at all. It pales in comparison to the original. If this truly a sample of what is on Regeneration, then they can kept it. For $30 bucks you have to be kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkC1rVlHj0

[pinkfloyd1973]

It sounds like someone doing it karaoke.........too much reverb




Robin

[Born4adventure]

sounds great. really thick sound when larry and tommy sing together in it

[Babyblue]

Sounds great & love the video.I will be getting mine when i go to the shows.

[Keiferb]

So, here is link to a posting on YouTube. It's states that this version of "The Grand Illusion" is off the Regeneration album. First thing that hit me was how poor the harmonies or the lack of harmonies on this recording. Theres no passion in the performance at all. It pales in comparison to the original. If this truly a sample of what is on Regeneration, then they can kept it. For $30 bucks you have to be kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkC1rVlHj0

Agreed. Sounds a little mangled to me. Gowan's voice is the worst solo. It becomes more listenable when others are harmonizing.

[froy]

So, here is link to a posting on YouTube. It's states that this version of "The Grand Illusion" is off the Regeneration album. First thing that hit me was how poor the harmonies or the lack of harmonies on this recording. Theres no passion in the performance at all. It pales in comparison to the original. If this truly a sample of what is on Regeneration, then they can kept it. For $30 bucks you have to be kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkC1rVlHj0

Good BYE STYX it's all over . You have killed the legacy
Thanks

[Born4adventure]

So, here is link to a posting on YouTube. It's states that this version of "The Grand Illusion" is off the Regeneration album. First thing that hit me was how poor the harmonies or the lack of harmonies on this recording. Theres no passion in the performance at all. It pales in comparison to the original. If this truly a sample of what is on Regeneration, then they can kept it. For $30 bucks you have to be kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkC1rVlHj0

Good BYE STYX it's all over . You have killed the legacy
Thanks

you're just biased. you can go listen to the original, the new, or both.

[bugsymalone]

I expected the usual suspects, including myself, to "review" this according to his/her own bias. Those who think Gowan has the best voice in recorded history will, of course, love this. Those, like me, who think he sounds liked warmed over Munchkin, will greet this with a cringe.

Musically (meaning instruments only) this version, and other versions, of Styx sound fine. No quibble there. These guys are all fine musicians and heaven knows this song, among others, are deep in their DNA by now. You don't perform it thousands upon thousands of time without that happening.

The harmonies and overall quality, to me, are just lacking and depthless without Dennis DeYoung there. Always have, IMO, since he was kicked out.


Bugsy

[Bearded Clam]

It does sound like a cover band, the guitars sound tinny and weak, as if they were recorded directly into a pc instead of miking an amp.

[Keiferb]

I expected the usual suspects, including myself, to "review" this according to his/her own bias. Those who think Gowan has the best voice in recorded history will, of course, love this. Those, like me, who think he sounds liked warmed over Munchkin, will greet this with a cringe.

Musically (meaning instruments only) this version, and other versions, of Styx sound fine. No quibble there. These guys are all fine musicians and heaven knows this song, among others, are deep in their DNA by now. You don't perform it thousands upon thousands of time without that happening.

The harmonies and overall quality, to me, are just lacking and depthless without Dennis DeYoung there. Always have, IMO, since he was kicked out.


Bugsy

Yup. You know, I've been struggling to correlate Gowan's voice to something annoying. The Munchkin idea as as good as anything. He's definitely whiney grinding hard on the ears head voice only (if that makes sense - like no support from the diaphragm). I also agree (re: harmonies and depth). At least he seems a good keyboard player, and doesn't appear to be the stoic "white boy w/no soul whatsoever" DDY is. I guess he's making a living, and who can blame him for that.

[Ash]

Putting aside the vocals for a minute.

The production of this is very thin. It just doesn't have the punch really.

Eh... why am I talking? It's a cheap-rate knock-off. And the production on the vocals is horrendous.

[Everett]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

[pinkfloyd1973]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

Are you tone deaf?

[Everett]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

Are you tone deaf?

Nope my hearing is just fine. It's because i like larry right?

[pinkfloyd1973]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

Are you tone deaf?

Nope my hearing is just fine. It's because i like larry right?

I'll give you that Larry is a fine singer in his own right, BUT I agree above that the sound is weak and tinny and it sounds like a cover band or karaoke night at the local bar


Robin

[Everett]

So, here is link to a posting on YouTube. It's states that this version of "The Grand Illusion" is off the Regeneration album. First thing that hit me was how poor the harmonies or the lack of harmonies on this recording. Theres no passion in the performance at all. It pales in comparison to the original. If this truly a sample of what is on Regeneration, then they can kept it. For $30 bucks you have to be kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkC1rVlHj0

The cd is $15-$20 the $30 is for the autographed album.

[StyxCollector]

A bit disappointed. I'm pretty sure they're going to do it that way live on the upcoming tour, but even on the GI tour they did the double riff. Listen to Mantra Studios - they were even doing it that way live before the album came out. I would have rather heard them do a studio version more in line with the live one. You can tell Todd is mimicing John's part. Heck, they even slowed down the tempo to be the same as the album. I know the point is to be faithful to the original, but I was expecting more. If you've heard the Squeeze "Spot the Difference" CD, it's very similar in approach. Having said that, Gowan's voice sounds better here than it does live on the tune. It's still not Dennis, though. I'll buy it for the collection, but I only really forsee playing it once.

[Born4adventure]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

[StyxCollector]

The production of this is very thin. It just doesn't have the punch really.

I'm not going to form an opinion of the production until I hear it on a CD - not some compressed stream over the 'net. As I said, it's like the Squeeze project. While close, you can hear that it was recorded digitally and while faithful, some notable differences can be heard due to the changes in technology. Whether you perceive that as good or bad is your own bias

[Babyblue]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

You got that right.

[Everett]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

[Babyblue]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

[pinkfloyd1973]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

Some of Dennis' versions of the song (both with the band and solo) I don't care for either, to me it has nothing to do with that. Mebbe it is true what Allan said about it being streamed and compressed and not on the album why it sounds poor in quality


Robin

[Boomchild]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

Some of Dennis' versions of the song (both with the band and solo) I don't care for either, to me it has nothing to do with that. Mebbe it is true what Allan said about it being streamed and compressed and not on the album why it sounds poor in quality


Robin

It just lacks any emotion in the performance. Like they are going through the motions. The harmonies on this recording compared to the original are so weak. I chuckle at the folks who think this is great or better then the original. Some people must be easy to please or they are so desperate to get anything new recorded from Styx that they start hearing quality that isn't there. When they announced the release they stated "You know the songs but not like this", so I ask what am I supposed to hear?

[Babyblue]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

Some of Dennis' versions of the song (both with the band and solo) I don't care for either, to me it has nothing to do with that. Mebbe it is true what Allan said about it being streamed and compressed and not on the album why it sounds poor in quality




Robin

It just lacks any emotion in the performance. Like they are going through the motions. The harmonies on this recording compared to the original are so weak. I chuckle at the folks who think this is great or better then the original. Some people must be easy to please or they are so desperate to get anything new recorded from Styx that they start hearing quality that isn't there. When they announced the release they stated "You know the songs but not like this", so I ask what am I supposed to hear?

Fine music at its best.

[Bearded Clam]

Sounds fine to me probably even better then the original

it doesn't matter how good it is these internet fans will never admit it

Only cause they can't get out of the past and can't get the dennis is god thought out of their minds. A shame really

Truly, the three brightest lights on these boards. their collective IQ almost reaches triple digits.
Here's a lesson for you troglodytes, you don't have to be a Dennis DeYoung fanatic to realize that this version of the song sounds like dog shit. And all of the emoticons in the world won't change that.

[mr.v]

Not as good as I had hoped but I think the "Dog Shit" review is a bit harsh. This is not STYX of the 1970's so expecting to sound like that is a bit of a stretch. The recording does sound a bit thin but as stated above that could be a net compression thing. Gowan sounds much better here than he does live but if you don't like Gowan then your not going to like this version so why even bother to listen. I really like the guitar solos here they are punchy and in your face, The harmonies work but if I were mixing Tommy's part would be a little more forward. My biggest disappointment is that Todd seems to be holding back to match John's original tracks. Todd is one of the truly shining stars in this line-up and for him to hold back seems a bit of a waste of great talent. All that being said I can see myself enjoying this CD and will pick it up at the show in November.

[brywool]

Can't say I'm digging the HEAVY processing on Gowan's vocals especially at the start of the track at all. Funky doubling effect is super distracting, not to mention unnecessary... It just sounds like a way over-processed version of the live version.

I won't get into the Gowan vocal versus Dennis vocal other than saying that Gowan just sounds better on stuff that Dennis did not sing originally. "Criminal Mind", "Salty Dog", "Fields of the Brave", "I Don't Need No Doctor"- are all killer tracks from Lawrence. They just are. But for fans to expect him to sound like Dennis on Dennis' own songs is just silly. Then again, if he did sound like him, he'd be blasted as being an imitator (see the anti Arnel posts on the Journey board- neither guy can win).
Just because Gowan doesn't sound like DeYoung is no reason for fans to toss unnecessary crap at him. The alternative is to have Shaw handle Dennis' tunes ala the version of Borrowed Time that's out there now, which works fine, but won't do anything to erase the original. I wish the band would stand behind Larry a bit more and let him be his own man with his own songs. They're great songs and he does them well.
But because Styx has really has become this trip down memory lane, that won't happen.

Take it for what it is...
An over-priced version of something that really should've been a concert give away. It's almost the same idea as the live Beatles at the BBC recordings, except for the over processing.

I'm sure in the next interview, someone in the band will blast the "so called fans" for giving their honest opinion. I feel that the band will continue to get pummeled by "so called fans" as long as they try and recreate magical tracks. Hey Styx, you've already created the magic once with the originals. Move on and create new pieces of recorded magic. I know that some fans here who can't get past 1983 have missed the boat on the new stuff, but things like "Everything All the Time", "Do Things My Way", "More Love for the Money", etc. were really great moves ahead for the band and it's too bad the band doesn't believe in itself and it's "so called fans" enough to quit looking to the past. I guess that since the band is just touring on it's legacy instead of trying to clear a new path, this is the just the way it's going to go and longtime fans will continue to bitch about trying to erase Dennis' memory, etc.

Cheap Trick is working on a new album (they seem to be doing one every year and a half or so). Heart has some great songs on their new record coming out this week.
Loverboy's (?!?!?) last album stood right up with their best albums. This band called Styx produced a great record of new music called Cyclorama 7 years ago that kicked ass. If they can do it, why can't Styx?

[Bearded Clam]

ok, maybe not dog shit, but they should be ashamed to release it with that level of production quality.
It's lazy, pump everything through a laptop while on the road, then a hopeless mixing job because you have nothing to work with.

Just being a fan shouldn't let them off the hook for this garbage. If they were a band like the Ramones, who just blasted out three chords and release the album ( which was awesome in it's own right), then it would be no big deal. But they have a history of outstanding production and attention to detail that is lacking in this release. And again, it has nothing to do with Gowan's voice.

[StyxCollector]

Can't say I'm digging the HEAVY processing on Gowan's vocals especially at the start of the track at all. Funky doubling effect is super distracting, not to mention unnecessary... It just sounds like a way over-processed version of the live version.

IMO the reason they are doubling is to thicken up his voice because it isn't Dennis and it needs it. Not a bad thing - classic recording technique.

I won't get into the Gowan vocal versus Dennis vocal other than saying that Gowan just sounds better on stuff that Dennis did not sing originally. "Criminal Mind", "Salty Dog", "Fields of the Brave", "I Don't Need No Doctor"- are all killer tracks from Lawrence. They just are. But for fans to expect him to sound like Dennis on Dennis' own songs is just silly. Then again, if he did sound like him, he'd be blasted as being an imitator (see the anti Arnel posts on the Journey board- neither guy can win).

Just because Gowan doesn't sound like DeYoung is no reason for fans to toss unnecessary crap at him. The alternative is to have Shaw handle Dennis' tunes ala the version of Borrowed Time that's out there now, which works fine, but won't do anything to erase the original. I wish the band would stand behind Larry a bit more and let him be his own man with his own songs. They're great songs and he does them well.
But because Styx has really has become this trip down memory lane, that won't happen.

I've been saying something similar for a long time. I like Gowan when he's not having to sing Dennis' songs. Some of his contributions to the band on Cyclorama and such are stronger in cases than what TS or JY brought to the table. And allowing TS to do songs like "The Best of Times" is not really such a bad idea. Tommy arguably has the best voice in the band.