Styx

Styx | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 24, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: One Way Records Inc
• ASIN: B00000IJG8
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,898 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Styx' debut is a great introduction to a legendary band, July 14, 2000

By 

Marc-David Jacobs (Portland, Oregon, United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Styx (Audio CD)

Some of the previous reviews have not been kind to this old 1972 album. In fact, even when it was still new it was criticized for it's "overblown pomposity" amongst other things. However, "Styx" is, indeed, one of Styx' LEAST pompous albums. When one compares it's songs to "Come Sail Away" or "Mr. Roboto" (both favorites of mine), one can see just how gritty their beginnings were. By '72, the band had been around for almost a decade (they formed in 1963), gone through 3 incarnations (first as The Tradewinds, then TW4 and finally Styx [which they settled on only a few weeks before "Styx,"], narrowly turning down another suggestion: Kelp), rigorous touring and constant refinement. With the recent departure of lead guitarist Tom Nardini and the addition of new lead guitarist James Young, the band now had the perfect foil to the rhythm guitar of John Curulewski (who sadly passed away in February of 1988). Combined with the three original band members; Dennis DeYoung on keyboards, Chuck Panozzo on bass and John Panozzo (who passed away in 1996) on drums; the quintet was finally ready to record their first album. The eponymous release contains their most gritty, guitar-driven music ever, before they struck gold with "Lady" (released the following year) and started leaning towards more progressive, synthesizer-driven music. The album kicks off with a prototype of the concept-album format which would succeed for later albums like The Grand Illusion (1977), Paradise Theater (1981) and Kilroy Was Here (1983). The piece (which lasts for over 13 minutes) is entitled "Movement For The Common Man" and is a tribute to the working class which the band comes from. It consists of 4 parts, the first being James Young's "Children Of The Land" which has Young singing lead to a chorus by the considerably higher voices of Curulewski and DeYoung (who, with Tommy Shaw [who replaced Curulewski in late 1975], would take over lead singing duties in later years, leaving Young only one or two songs per album). The song also features an interesting percussive solo by John Panozzo and a keyboard solo by DeYoung, betraying the grungy exterior of the rest of the song, which itself gives way to "Street Collage." A rarity for Styx and a strange addition to the album, it is somewhat akin to Simon and Garfunkel's 1968 piece "Voices Of Old People," featuring the silent majority on the Chicago streets complaining about things from welfare to the B.O. of hippies. This bleeds into "Fanfare For The Common Man" (later done by Emerson, Lake and Palmer) written by famous composer Aaron Copland. Young sings lead again as DeYoung's keyboard plays on, giving way to DeYoung's first solo vocal on "Mother Nature's Matinee," a DeYoung-Young co-write. The song is a dramatic departure from the rest of the "Movement," featuring only a acoustic guitar, bass, sparse drumming, flute and piano along with DeYoung's beautiful vocals. This, however, leads back into the rhythm of the earlier parts of the "Movement" in an instrumental that goes for a while before finally exiting, with a flash. Next up is "Right Away," a cover song with vocals by Young again, but with a chorus featuring a magnificent vocal trio by Curulewski, DeYoung and Young which would soon become the band's trademark. The song is a nice switch from the extravagant rock of the previous piece, featuring some background organ music by DeYoung. "What Has Come Between Us," another cover song, switches to glam rock, this time with vocals by DeYoung (who also plays the piano on the song's wonderful intro [the album's best]), who joins Young and Curulewski for the chorus. At one point, Young and Curulewski pair off for the guitar interlude which rarely appears on their later albums. I consider this to be my favorite song of the entire album, next to "Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart" and "Right Away." Next is "Best Thing," then the band's pet favorite and another Young-DeYoung co-write. As the band's first single (backed with "What Has Come Between Us," it went to #82 in Billboard, helped immeasurably by the band's non-stop touring and popularity in Chicago), it is the best representative of the band's later work, featuring nice acoustic guitar work by Young and synthesizer by DeYoung (with DeYoung and Curulewski singing the end refrain). Then comes the true rocker of the album: "Quick Is The Beat Of My Heart," another cover (the album features the least band-penned songs of any Styx album) sung by Young, who does a wonderful enough job as to make one wonder why he wasn't allotted more on later albums. The self-destructive tune also features a nice ending echo leading into the sixth and final tune of the album, a cover of a George Clinton song called "After You Leave Me" (a suitable ending, I think). It contains both keyboard- and guitar-driven portions. The song features lead vocals by Young (who sings a marvelous middle 8) but finishes out with the trio of Young, DeYoung and Curulewski, truly a portent of things to come. The album is a auditory treat for any Styx fan out there, even though there are some fans turned off by the lack of more songs by the band (only 1 and a half out of 6) or by the domination of lead singer James Young over fan favorite Dennis DeYoung, but I guarantee that any Styx fan will immediately add this one to their collection as one of their favorites. This being said, let me also state that I do not in fact, own the CD of this, but, in fact, the vinyl album, which features a completely different cover (the one advertised here is from a rerelease in 1980 and features an "art deco" cover, despised by many Styx fans), which is many times better than the later one (but much harder to find on CD) and features the band surrounded by flames and a scene of, what else, the river Styx.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums by any band ever, April 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Styx (Audio CD)

I refuse to believe that these negative reviews were written by fans of STYX...I suppose if your a big fan of "babe" and "Brave New World" you might not go for STYX I. If you are a STYX fan this CD is the Jewel in the crown. If you like their Early work (Serpent is Rising, Man of Miracles, Equinox, StyxII) or if you like James Young you will love this CD. Don't listen to those narrow minded preconceived reviews, you will miss out on a real hidden gem. Believe me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite good!, January 3, 2008

By 

W. STEVENS (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Styx (Audio CD)

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". But I never became a BIG fan until the masterpiece "Grand Illusion" came out. 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!