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Styx - Styx Audio CD

A fair review of the Styx "Styx" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Styx reviews here, or go back to the Styx tabs.

Styx Band: Styx
Title: Styx
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-11-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Movement for the Common Man: Children of the Land/Street ... 2: Right Away 3: What Has Come Between Us 4: Best Thing 5: Quick Is the Beat of My Heart 6: After You Leave Me

Wadeva


Amazon. Click the sample for Common Man and you hear 30 seconds of a cabdriver talking. . . sheesh

A good rule for critics is that if they hate something you'll probably love it, so if you have the jingle buy the album.

If it weren't for free shipping I wouldn't fool with Amazon at all - so I don't much care what their stable of hack music critics have to say.


Finally
I bought this album back when it was released. I just ordered this and am thrilled I found it. That was when you could go into a record store and buy new releases from Yes, ELP and Jethro Tull for $2. 99 each. I bought it because of the cover and just wore it out. Especially the epic on side 1. I've been looking for this for years and searched for it on a lark and waddya know its rereleased on CD. Can't wait to get it home.


Truly a must have for the true fan
Now finally getting it on CD. I've had this on LP for at least 20 years. I can't wait so I can rip it and put it on my iPod. I started listening to Styx with the release of The Grand Illusion and when I found their older stuff (Styx, Styx II, Man of Miracles), I was even more blown away. I consider this more serious rock than their "theme" albums of the 80's. .


Quite good!
But I never became a BIG fan until the masterpiece "Grand Illusion" came out. This is a very good album! To be honest, I heard it for the first time in full today! I wasnt expecting the best! I became a fan of Styx after hearing songs like "Lady", and "Suite Madame Blue". As I remember with casual listening, not all the early albums were that great! But the 1st Styx album is quite an accomplishment indeed! Every song is well written, well produced, and performed flawlessly! I can see now how Styx became the progressive rock giants they are! The potential and songwriting skills were there from the start. I dont agree this is an experimental albumm, this is Styx roots (the beginning of their trademark sound). All the elements are there, Dennis DeYoung's vocals, synthesizers, etc! To be honest, I enjoy listening to this album MUCH better than their 80's material after their progressive sound had become sappy polished "pop" styx. It's hard to believe that's what they became after the two masterpieces, "Grand Illusion" and "Pieces Of Eight". I also did not like "Cornerstone" and "Paradise Theatre" nearly as much as most fans who seemed to bite just for the big singles (catchy as they were). I appreciate more an album that is good as a whole (every song), with songwriting and quality production and the FIRST Styx album definatly has it. I wish I could hear some of the even older material Styx might have performed as The Tradewinds which I am sure would have been interesting just to hear! .


Good start
Mostly covering songs written by others, Styx shows a good rock & roll flair and indications of some of the great progressive rock that they would generate as their career advanced. For the typical listener, this may seem like a rather arcane addition to their music collection, but it does stand as the musical incarnation for what was to become the most popular band in the world within the decade. The first piece of the album is a fourpart composition of their own titled "Movement For The Common Man. " James Young's fast moving "Children Of The Land" is a hard-rocking call to be yourself containing the fulsome sound and multiple harmonies that would be part of the signature sound of Styx that lasts to this day. Like many of their songs, there is a message to it, an attempt to leave a little food for thought by encouraging the listener to be true to oneself and take a positive attitude, to "not wear a frown upon your face. " "Children" then segues into "Street Collage," which is just that - a montage of apparently middle-aged people commenting on the faults of long-haired and unkempt young people. One comment is even directed at the recorder. The collage reflects the generation gap of the time and can even be taken as a bit humorous. The next segue is into Aaron Copland's famous "Fanfare For The Common Man" and then into the Dennis DeYoung sung "Mother Nature's Matinee. " "Matinee" is sweetly played and sung and lighter instrumentally, bringing the entire movement to completion. The sound and sentiment of the entire piece are definitely reflective and evocative of the times. The merging of Copland's classic fanfare, the changes in pace, the street recording, and so forth are classic examples of typical progressive rock approaches that would be developed over the years by Styx and others of that genre. The other original, Styx-composed song is "Best Thing," which was released as a single and briefly cracked Billboard's Top 100 (it didn't rise into the top 40 though). For a long time, it served as their signature song. It contains those classic crisp, full harmonies and a strong guitar-driven structure. Unlike the movement, it is a straight-ahead love song. "Right Away" is a cover song that shows a bluesy side, something that Styx is not typically associated with but can indeed be found on occasion in their songs. Since they orginated in one of the great hotbeds of American Blues music - Chicago - this comes as little surprise. "What Has Come Between Us" and "After You Leave Me" are also cover tunes showing the same bluesy tendencies. "Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart" is more of a straight-ahead rocker featuring some galloping guiutar riffs. Though the album is heavy with cover songs, Styx's treatment of the music, both their own and otherwise, is well done and promises some great things to come. Definitely worth recommending.


You can see a complete list of all Styx discography, or go back to the Styx tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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