Customer Reviews

Equinox/Crystal Ball

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I am a hugh Classic Rock fan, and have been buying music since the late 70's when I was in junior high. Went from vinyl albums to cd's in the mid-80's. About 15 years after compact discs originally hit the market, consumers began to see newer "re-mastered" versions of the old classics. At first, re-mastering was usually reserved for the most popular titles, but from 2002 to 2005, there seemed to be a surge of popular titles available. Some artists, such as Rush, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin, had their entire catalogs of past albums re-mastered. Then again, some classic rock outfits seem to not know this is something the consumers want, or simply don't care.

Styx is one of those band's that are very popular, but you still can't get their early albums in the new re-mastered format. I don't understand why? They are just as popular with mainstream music buyers as KANSAS, who have almost all of their back-catalog re-mastered. Anyway, this is your opportunity to get two, early classic STYX albums on one cd, with good re-mastered sound. I bought mine when it was on sale for only $17.99 What a bargain! The London based record company, BGO Records specializes in re-issuing older music. BGO stands for the "Beat Goes On". As far as the sound goes, it's quite good. More over-all output, better bottom end, and no tape hiss!

Before this became available, I had purchased the 2-disc Styx Anthology, just to get a modern, better sounding compilation of Styx songs. It's good. Nice selection of tracks and great sound, but it still did not have all the songs I wanted. I wanted all the tracks from the Equinox album. I own an A&M copy, put out in 1987. Just has a simple gate fold insert listing the songs, production notes, and band members. That's it. This BGO version has a 14 page booklet, including all song lyrics, original album sleeve notes from 1976, and a 5 page historical review of the band by Alan Robinson (2006).

I just hope that BGO Records is planning on offering a Grand Illusion / Pieces of Eight two-for this year! That would be great, since A&M Records here in the states are too cheap to re-issue STYX's music.

The two albums that brought STYX to the arena rock circle they deserved the discs never sounded better. always dug LIGHT UP
LORELEI,and the enduring SUITE MADAME BLUE.The start of the STYX
as a teen i grew to love.Still with a progressive edge and the prelude to the TOMMY SHAW era.CRYSTAL BALL was another classic PUT ME ON may be the best song that the "weak link" J.Y.ever wrote probably because DENNIS sang with him.MADAMEOISELLE great
TOMMY and DENNIS collaboration a look at the great sounds to come
from SHAW and DEYOUNG.The title cut CRYSTAL BALL is a great song
one of TOMMY SHAWS best.then its all DENNIS DEYOUNG at some of his finest moments THIS OLD MAN the beautiful rendition of CLAIR DeLUNE and finally BALLERINA.The band was really working as aband together and this was just the start as there was so much more to come.Worth every penny to buy again the sound is so much better than the original lame A&M VERSIONS.

Two of Styx's best albums Equinox and Crystal Ball. Equinox being the end of the Curulewski era as we know he would leave the band to save his marriage. And Crystal Ball marks the beginning of the Tommy Shaw era. Every Song on here is awesome. The best songs off the two albums have to be "Light Up", "Lorelei", "Suite Madame Blue", "Put Me On", "Crystal Ball", "Mademoiselle", "Shooz", and "Clair De Lune / Ballerina". This is a great collection of music and any Styx fan should want to have these songs if not on this combination of the too then the individual albums. Because this some of Styx classic music.

This new edition, from BGO records, consists of two Styx albums on a single remastered CD. Running 77 minutes, it has superior sound quality and also features some of the band's better music. Equinox was Styx's breakthrough album, in which they perfected their vocal harmonies and honed their songwriting skills. This album is consistently strong: even the less well-known tracks are a pleasure to listen to. Crystal Ball was a bit uneven in places, but still contains some nice material. Several of the songs that did not receive much radio airplay, Jennifer, This Old Man, and Ballerina, hold up well many years later. All in all, this is a good value for the money.

EQUINOX/CRYSTAL BALL is a reissue of two great Styx albums on one CD. EQUINOX, as we all know, was guitarist John Curulewski's last album with the band before he left and was replaced by guitarist/singer/songwriter Tommy Shaw. There are many great songs here, including Dennis DeYoung's "Suite Madame Blue" and James "JY" Young's hot rocker "Midnight Ride", which is a far cry from the territory the band would later get into, whereas CRYSTAL BALL, Shaw's first album with the band, includes the stirring Shaw-written title track, a searching ballad which inspired me to put my dreams of looking good for various pretty actresses as a higher priority than food-related functions at my old school; this song is a far cry from the Barry Manilow territory DeYoung's later ballads would explore. This CD is a must own for anyone who's even remotely interested in Styx.

STYX showed the world that they were a genuine hard rock band with 1975's EQUINOX. They followed it up with a more cerebral, more soothing record with CRYSTAL BALL from 1976. The albums are well-known among STYX fans - those pre-dating Tommy Shaw's addition to the band and to those that followed after. To re-evaluate these two great albums would be futile as you have either purchased them before or will never do so.

What is to be evaluated is the quality of the reproductions as released by BGO records in Great Britain.

The vibrance of the tones is wonderful. The sound quality is sparkling clear. The release is inarguably vastly superior to all of the A&M releases, which until 20 bit editing was among the best sounding CD's on the market. Audiophiles can easily discern the superiority of these when compared to all of STYX' compilations, including THE STYX ANTHOLOGY (of which were remastered using the digitally stored files from the original compact disc releases.

The liner notes is great (though some confusion is built in with the lack of delineation between the notes (and pictures) for EQUINOX and those for CRYSTAL BALL. But the full sleeve note/ biography for the original CRYSTAL BALL album makes any problems simply inconsequential. The 1976 biography might seem tragically prophetic if one wishes to read more than was intended.

These two albums were available for re-release because A&M records held contractual distribution clauses for them. For all albums after, the band controlled the albums promotion and distribution. Sadly, according to two current members of the band, no one associated with the band has any knowledge of the whereabouts of the original master tapes for the albums and thus THE GRAND ILLUSION, PIECES OF EIGHT, CORNERSTONE, PARADISE THEATRE and KILROY WAS HERE cannot be re-mastered and re-released.

Let us hope that the original master tapes will someday be found (and usable.) Until then, our only treasure will be these two releases.

Cheers to great music... light up and enjoy your vision within the crystal ball.

This single CD contains perhaps the best two Styx records ever. A must for true 70s rock fans.

Bravo