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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Sampling of Styx, June 12, 2002
Styx is one of those groups that many people seem to hate, and yet has always done well both in concert and on tour. One likely explanation is that Styx has sung songs that often almost "gimicky" or too cute for some fans. An example might be "Mr. Roboto." Furthermore, their commercial success may turn some critics away from Styx because there often seems to be an opinion that commercial success means little artistry. Regardless of why the opinions are what they are, Styx had a long successful career, and though they are generally classified as a rock group with numerous pop hits, occasionally they had songs that were very artistic and edged into progressive rock.Near the end of their career, Styx tried to experiment with their music, which is always dangerous for a long-established group, since their existing fans may feel betrayed and the genre they are trying to break into either reviles their music or doesn't recognize what they are trying to do. "Kilroy Was Here", from which "Mr. Roboto" was taken, was such an experiment. "Kilroy Was Here" was a concept album that told a story. I think that had Styx been a new group, the album may have worked. However, many longtime Styx fans felt betrayed by an album that appeared to diverge from Styx' traditional music. This album marked the end or the beginning of the end for a monster group that had churned out so many good songs. Styx had one more album release in 1990, "Edge of the Century", which yielded one top 40 song, "Show Me the Way." This CD also has a re-recorded version of "Lady" done in 1995. This CD captures many of Styx' better moments. I'm not sure that all of the songs on the CD are "greatest hits," but certainly they are representative of Styx from the beginning of their career to the end. I would suggest that if you like this CD and Styx that you should augment this CD with "Paradise Theater" and "The Grand Illusion," both of which represent Styx at their pop peak. Furthermore, "Kilroy Was Here" is a good album, but you must like that album for itself and not as another Styx album in the tradition of "Grand Illusion" or "Paradise Theater", because it is not either. I've seen some recommendations that "Pieces of Eight" is also an essential Styx CD, and it is rated 5 stars on Amazon.com. Some call the songs on this CD glam-rock. I guess I don't know the definition of glam-rock. I consider many of these songs to still have an edge to them. As an example, "Miss America" is a rocking song. "Crystal Ball" and "Renegade" are a couple more rockers on this CD. There are other fast-paced songs, but they are more pop, such as "Fooling Yourself" and "Lorelei". I would ignore the criticism of Styx if you are a fan of Styx. They created their own style of music, which added, not subtracted, from rock music. They didn't try to be like anyone else. I think most groups, including Styx, would rather be thought of as creating their own genre rather than fitting into an existing genre. I think in many ways they did exactly that. In the process they created detractors. Oh well. There will always be someone out there who wants to denigrate someone successful. If you like what you've heard of Styx' music, and are looking for a good sample of their career, this is the CD. Enjoy!
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by Styx 
