STYXSTORY on Amazon.com

[ek88]

This was posted on amazon.com. Not a bad read and offers yet another perspective of our favorite Stygians . . .

A STYXtory

Early Styx
'Styx'
Styx's first album isn't really Styx, because only three of ten songs are written by Styx members (I'm counting 'Movement For The Common Man' as the four songs it is). 'Best Thing' is my favorite song on this album, and the 'Movement' is pretty good, too, but all in all, this isn't as good as it could've been. 3/5.

'Styx II'
This is where Styx starts sounding like the late-70s, early-80s Styx most people like, with songs like 'Lady', 'You Need Love', 'Earl of Roseland', and 'I'm Gonna Make You Feel It', which all sound poppish, but Styx still sounds epic with the Curulewski penned song 'A Day', my personal favorite, or DeYoung's 'Father O.S.A.'. My other favorite song on here is 'Lady'. 4/5.

'The Serpent Is Rising'
Styx makes a huge turnaround from "'Styx II'", but this remains one of my favorite Styx albums. The best songs on here are 'Witch Wolf', 'The Grove of Eglantine', and the title track. The title track is a perfect Curulewski sound, 'Grove' is an example of how Dennis can rock, and 'Witch Wolf' is just a regular JY song. 4/5.

'Man of Miracles'
Now Styx starts getting back on the track that "'Styx II'" had them on, and Dennis writes two of the best ballads, in my opinion, that Styx has ever performed: 'Golden Lark', and 'A Song For Suzanne'. The title track is another great Styx song, and the rest of the album has a sort of pop-rock feel. 4/5.

GOOD NEWS: 'Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings' contains these first four CDs, which are out-of-print.

Classic Styx
'Equinox'
Styx's A&M debut is another one of my favorites (actually, I like all of Styx's albums enough for them to be favorites except 'Styx'). The best songs are easily 'Suite Madame Blue', 'Lorelei', and 'Mother Dear', but this album also rocks out with 'Midnight Ride' and 'Born For Adventure'. The weakest song (and only weak song) is 'Light Up', and I have no idea how that made it onto "'"Styx - Greatest Hits, Part II"'", but whatever. 5/5.

'Crystal Ball'
Tommy's debut into Styx created two of my favorite songs: the title track and 'Ballerina'. 'Mademoiselle' and 'Put Me On' are two great Styx songs, and 'This Old Man' is a great DeYoung Tune. 'Shooz', in my opinion, is weak, and 'Jennifer' is good filler, and all in all, this a decent album. 4/5.

'The Grand Illusion'
One of Styx's two best, "'The Grand Illusion'" has only one weak song, and it's a song that shouldn't've been put on in any case: 'Superstars'. Otherwise, this album has a great vibe, a great sound, and is just all-around perfect. 5/5.

'Pieces of Eight'
The other of Styx's two best, there isn't even a weak song on this album. The instrumentals would be a lot better if they had just been one song with their partner ('The Message' to 'Lords of the Ring', 'Aku-Aku' to 'Pieces of Eight'). My favorites on here are 'Queen of Spades' and the title track, and Shaw's two rockers, which have become the two songs that my friends think of when I mention Styx, but that's just me. 5/5.

Pop Styx
'Cornerstone'
A weaker effort by Styx, "'Cornerstone'" features Styx's only #1, 'Babe'. Much better songs are on here, particularly 'Why Me', 'Borrowed Time', and 'Love in the Midnight'. 'Lights' and 'Borrowed Time' are the two best on here, and what'd you expect if they're both written by Shaw and DeYoung? 4.5/5.

'Paradise Theater'
Styx's only #1 album is a loosely based concept album, and it features some decent songs. Once again, the two intro and outro songs should have just been made one in the same ('A. D. 1928' to 'Rockin' the Paradise', 'A. D. 1958' to 'Half-Penny, Two-Penny'. By the way, 'Half-Penny, Two-Penny' is way better than 'Snowblind'), but, once again, whatever. Besides the other songs I just mentioned, 'Too Much Time On My Hands' and 'The Best of Times' are worth a mention. 'She Cares' is my favorite song on here, by the way. 4.5/5.

'Kilroy Was Here'
God, don't get me started. This album isn't all bad, but its concept is terrible, and half the songs don't sound right when played out of concept. This album has my least favorite song ever, 'Heavy Metal Poisoning', but it isn't all bad; Tommy actually saves this album with his three contributions, and Dennis's 'Mr. Roboto' and 'Don't Let It End' were top ten singles. 3.5/5.

Solo-Styx
'Desert Moon'
This is a great effort and heralds back to the power ballads of Styx-yore, with the title track, 'Don't Wait For Heroes', and the closer, 'Dear Darling'. To be fair, Dennis just sounds...like a moron on 'Boys Will be Boys', but surprisingly, I still love that sound, because even that is a memory of old Styx ('Music Time', anybody?). 'Please', 'Fire' (a remake of the Jimi Hendrix song), 'Suspicious', and 'Gravity' are all good, too, and the album is pretty solid. 4/5.

'Edge of the Century'
This is the first of the most recent studio-Styx albums where it sounds like a solo-album by just one member (obviously, this one is DeYoung). 'Show Me The Way' and the other DeYoung power-ballad-esque are quite good, 'Homewrecker' is a decent rocker, but Glen's three songs are pretty sad. Actually, now that I think of it, they only sound bad when compared with the rest of the album, because they sound so out of place. 4/5.

'Brave New World'
This one is a Shaw-solo-Styx-album, and it could have lost 'Best New Face', 'What Have They Done To You', 'Fallen Angel', and 'Just Fell In' (it would've seemed much more of a team effort that way). Also, the song order could have been different, for no particular reason. It is a pretty weak disc, but it was rushed onto the market so it could coincide with the release of 'Big Daddy', and a few other things. It holds its own, but when compared to other Styx records, it sounds like...crap, there I said it! But don't be scared, just don't let this be an introduction to Styx. 3/5.

'Cyclorama'
Actually, this album isn't a solo effort by one member, and the group sounds great. It's incredibly solid, and plays well from front to back. All the songs are great, while some are somewhat jokes (Billy Bob, darn you!), and you can really tell that Styx has evolved from their Wooden Nickle days. I say this sincerely: Styx didn't disappoint me with this, despite no Dennis. 4.5/5.

Live Styx
'Caught in the Act', 'Return to Paradise', and 'Styx World: Live 2001' are the three live albums out of six that Styx has put out that have some different songs. These are the only three that should have been released, too.

Explanations
Just to explain a few things, Styx is my favorite band, I don't think they're the most underrated band or anything like that (Supertramp gets my vote for that), and the headings are pretty self-explanatory. Have fun with Styx, they are a great band.

By the way, there is one problem Styx seems to run into on each album: Some songs sound like filler. This is true of every album, except 'Pieces of Eight', so be prepared for a weak song on every disc (it's usually just one, so you can skip it each time through if you like).

P.S. If you've never heard Styx, start with the section 'Classic Styx', move on to 'Pop Styx', then 'Solo-Styx', and finally 'Early Styx'.

[Adam]

Thanks for posting this. It can be refreshing to see another point of view, and so well written and thought out.

It also makes me salivate to imagine Froy reading it.

Here's a guy who clearly knows Styx music and can intelligently state his opinions.

His point about "Edge of the Century" and 'Brave New World' sounding like compilations of solo-albums is excellent.

Which leads him to praise 'Cyclorama'.

Did you get that Froy?

"Actually, this album isn't a solo effort by one member, and the group sounds great. It's incredibly solid, and plays well from front to back. All the songs are great, while some are somewhat jokes (Billy Bob, darn you!), and you can really tell that Styx has evolved from their Wooden Nickle days. I say this sincerely: Styx didn't disappoint me with this, despite no Dennis."

I commend this review. Tick tick tick...

[classicstyxfan]

I think the reviewer nailed it when describing the Cornerstone-Kilroy period as "Pop Styx".............not to say that there wasn't some great music on these CD's, but clearly the overall sound of these releases was a vast departure form the era named "Classic Styx" earlier in the review.

I said at the time that Styx was selling out, which, with 20 + more years of life experience under my belt, seems like a rational thing to do....make as much $$$$ as you can while you are the flavor of the day.


I also found it interesting that Desert Moon was the only solo work included in the review. Was this because he found all of the rest were not up to Styx standards or because he never bothered to check them out ?

This person would be fun to draw into this group, it's an interesting, well thought out perspective by someone with a passion for Styx.

[sadie65]

I think the reviewer nailed it when describing the Cornerstone-Kilroy period as "Pop Styx".............not to say that there wasn't some great music on these CD's, but clearly the overall sound of these releases was a vast departure form the era named "Classic Styx" earlier in the review.

I said at the time that Styx was selling out, which, with 20 + more years of life experience under my belt, seems like a rational thing to do....make as much $$$$ as you can while you are the flavor of the day.


I also found it interesting that Desert Moon was the only solo work included in the review. Was this because he found all of the rest were not up to Styx standards or because he never bothered to check them out ?

This person would be fun to draw into this group, it's an interesting, well thought out perspective by someone with a passion for Styx.

Would be interesting to get this person's take on what normally gets discussed around here.

Perhaps Desert Moon was the only mentioned because it was the only one to get any notice...at the time. And I am NOT saying the other solo work was better or worse, just that this one got noticed.

I think most, not all, but most bands/artists eventually end doing what they think will hook the listener. Heck JY has commented quite often about how he prefers a much harder sound. Yet, he plays in a band that doesn't cater to his personal taste because he knows that you need to cater to an audience as much as possible. In the end, the decisions that were collectively made, gave them an audience, lost as audience, and split them. And life goes on.

Interesting synopsis of their career by the reviewer.

Peace,

Sadie

[yogi]

Very good review. I sure wish he/she would of reviewed Boomchild, City Slicker, Raised by Wolves, Seven Deadly Zens, and Welcome To Hollywood.

[Ash]

It also makes me salivate to imagine Froy reading it.

Here's a guy who clearly knows Styx music and can intelligently state his opinions.

Honestly... can you STOP being an asshole long enough not to turn every one of your posts into something about froy? You're starting to sound like the spiteful moron you constantly insinuate that others are.


The review is great.... I don't agree with some of his comments regarding the songs in particular... but thats just the details. I frankly thought Desert Moon was a weak album aside from the title track, Please and Don't Wait For Heroes. Back to the World and Boomchild were much stronger from the perspective of being complete albums. Dennis achieved in Back To The World what took Tommy Shaw until Seven Deadly Zens to achieve ... an all around solid solo record.

[ek88]

Here's a guy who clearly knows Styx music and can intelligently state his opinions.

My sentiments exactly.

This person would be fun to draw into this group, it's an interesting, well thought out perspective by someone with a passion for Styx.

I had the same exact thought, Classic.