Customer Reviews

21st Century Live (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As a long time Styx fan, I was very disappointed at this CD/DVD combo. I was hoping for some different live versions of their songs, but we got a down-sized "Styxworld" release for the CD portion, and most of "Arch Allies" video on the DVD. Four new entries on the video include live versions of "A Criminal Mind", "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" and "These Are the Times", along with a standard music video for "Yes I Can". These are decent additions but it appears the production on these songs is not of the best quality. A better version of "KYAG" could have been extracted from the 2003 tour, as that song was always a dynamic part of the "Rock's Main Event" tour. "These Are the Times" showed way too much of the actual video backdrop seen during the live concert. It would've been nice to see a compilation of songs from the 2002 and 2003 tours, as Styx live is always a quality show! For example, it would have been a real treat to have a video for the song "Captain America", on this DVD, as it was my understanding it was only done in Milwaukee at the Harley-Davidson anniversary. Something special like that would have been a great nugget for this package. Instead, the boys just repackaged stuff from the past few years and threw in a couple fresh worms as bait to help hook us. And unfortunately, some of us bit! One gracious star for an effort that appears to be an after thought!

I'm going to keep my review quick. Do we really need ANOTHER live or greatest hits album from Styx? Styx have been repackaging old songs over and over again and there seems to be no end in sight.

Take my advice and buy Cyclorama. It's 95 percent new material that is worthy of the Styx label.

The entire CD is on STYXworld and Arch Allies and half of the DVD is on Arch Allies. The other 5 songs that have never been released on DVD before are worth the purchase. The live video for "Everything Is Cool" recorded in St. Louis but left off the Arch Allies video is great and so is the video for "Criminal Mind". The other three unreleased videos are pretty good but not as good as the previous two. A must for huge fans.

this cd/dvd is a pretty good effort, but they added too much old stuff, if they were gonna have all the songs from the arch allies dvd, they should've put them on from different concerts, and the KYAG video isint of reaally good quality, they shou have something like come sail away on the dvd side and not on the cd, which is a scaled down version of "Styxworld 2001" if you really want good performances of the current styx lineup, you shou get the styx&reo speedwagon arch allies dvd.the reason i give it 3 stars is because the video for a criminal mind and these are the times are really cool!!! if come sail away was on the dvd, i would give it 5 stars, so please, release come sail away on dvd with lawrence gowan singing it.

Some people are fans of the "classic" Styx of the 70's. I became a Styx fan, though I'm in my 50's, just recently. I find that I am more a fan of the newest incarnation of the group; so, on the suggestion of many reviews, I was drawn to this CD.

The pluses for this album is many. First, the fact that you get video as well as audio. Next, the music has a more upbeat feeling, compared to, say, the "Grand Illusion" CD which I also own. I agree with the fans who appreciate Dennis DeYoung's contributions to the band, but thought he was dragging them toward "show tunes," rather than the rock sounds they were famous for in the early days.

I love melodic music, but I also like the edgier feel this album has. The addition of Greg Burtnick to the mix definitely ups this edginess. I believe this was also the first (or second) year that Lawrence Gowan was in the mix as keyboardist. I like Larry's spirit and humor, as well as his excellent workmanship.

This is a great addition to your Styx collection!

This really is a good album. I know that Dennis DeYoung isn't on hear and that really bums me out but I do believe that Lawrence Gowan does a good job considering the shoes he has to fill in. I really appreciated Styx doing Tommy Shaw's Damn Yankees colaberation "High Enough" I thought that that was really cool. It has a lot of their hits on it. Unlike a lot of their other live albums. I mean this is the greatest band of all-time only band in the histiry of the world to have Top Ten's in 4 different decades. So if you want to hear what styx is like with Lawrence Gowan on the mic well get this cd. It is actually is surprisingly good.

Wow-sorry about all the whiners here about this release-but do you folks realize that this is most likely a 'cash-in' for the new label,Sanctuary Records,than the band itself? And I , for one, never purchased any of those other 'live' discs-so it's all good to me ( and anyone else that finds this as a first purchase).The cool thing here is the inclusion of a live DVD for only 2 or 3 more bucks-with ALL Different songs than the cd! And can these guys COOK in concert? Holy CR*P!! I saw 'em open the show for last years' Journey/Styx/ REO Tour,and I have to say that I've always loved these 3 bands equally. BUT-Styx blew the doors off the show-and they OPENED the show! And YEP-saw 'em in their heyday a few times with DDY. Guess what..they're just as good NOW with Gowan,Burtnik, & Suchermann-if not (dare I say it?)even BETTER! So don't miss out-these guys are STILL fabulous..and get a copy of 'Cyclorama',too-cuz It's simply GREAT!! Even with NO radio support!! ENJOY..

This CD/DVD combination shows the current line-up of Styx at the height of their powers, rocking out to filled venues, playing to near perfection, rolling out one hit after another. But that's where the fun stops. This material is a basic rehash of songs/performances/video that is already available elsewhere. I suppose there is some value to having it collected in one convenient package, but long time fans with a wide collection of their albums won't find much value in that.

While it is fun to see the band performing and to hear great new renditions of the classics we all know and love, I think the video misses what the fans want when they buy a "live" album or video. A "live" CD or DVD should capture the show and give the viewer the opportunity to see what they missed. This edited down version doesn't do that. It gives you 'songs', but it doesn't capture the performance.

If you want a single CD/DVD that shows that the current version of Styx is doing when they are out on tour, get this and you probably won't be disappointed. If you're a long time fan and collect up the various pieces and parts of the Styx catalog when they are released, chances are good that you probably have the bulk of this already and will find this mildly disappointing. But in a good way.

You know that I can't get crazy for the prog related world of the AOR/melodic and mainstream bands, but sometimes I like to make an exception, regarding of some "strong" live acts, like the present one by Styx...well I think of some new live acts by Asia, but also of the live in Houston by Journey dated 1981, regardless the AOR essence of Kansas in the middle eighties, when They turned from their hard /prog rock albums of the seventies to a more accessible style (like within "In the Spirit of things" for example..); but anyway, coming back to this new ensemble (note: I saw them live on stage in 2005 in Milan, when They supported Kansas in a fine gig and it was a real surprise!!), I think that their performance is always powerful and quite convincing too, above all by means of Greg Burtnick on guitars, as well as of that precious support from Lawrence Gowan, this latter involved in the keyboards (such a good job!!) , who is able to give this new "incarnation" of the band a more personal direction and an important cohesion too, regarding all the members!! Ok sometimes the lyrics are cheesy and their sense of patriotism a bit superficial, but actually We appreciate their sense of humor in any casell!! You can' t hear such a typical Dennis De Young's keyboard and it's not a defect here, cause the final output is diverse in comparison to the early albums by Styx and quite modern too!!
4 stars in a collection of AOR live music, three stars inside a collection of easy prog related music, cause it isn't worth as "completely essential", if compared to the best melodic but truly "progressive" live acts such as for instance "Coming of Age" by Camel; but this is the typical doubt regarding all the melodic pop bands "in the edge" and a minor defect after all, because We're talking about such an interesting music anyway!!

it would probably be pretty good if i could see it, whats the hold up here 1-1/2 months for one item thats rediculous, if you ain't got the item why advertise you do, it shouldn't take a month and a half to get any item there, the review is complete, its pathetic.