Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!!!, April 26, 2005
Live recordings of some of the best bands in the world rarely, if ever, truly capture the essence of the live performance. Now meet the exception. Although Gary Loizzo is behind the mixing of this album, it is still truly one of the best produced recordings of Styx' career. I mention the above only because I thought that Styx' production values dropped considerably after Pieces of Eight, when they replaced Barry Mraz with Loizzo for Cornerstone and future albums, including the horrible Caught in the Act live album of '84. All of those albums sounded cheap and tinny with a production sound made for adult contemporary radio rather then rock. You can blame Dennis' songwriting from 79-83 for that as well.
But here on Return to Paradise, Styx is in the finest form of their career. Dennis and Tommy's vocals and instrumentals are spectacular. Chuck's bass lines are thundering, JY's guitar playing could set fire to a lake, and newcomer Todd Sucherman is a drum god! The highlight of this album is Suite Madame Blue. You can scrap the original recording and go with this version in a heartbeat.
I don't miss Dennis' egotistically overblown ballads, and the current Dennis-less lineup is a total joke. But for one magical night in 1997, Styx recaptured the magic and put on the best show of their career! And how lucky we are that they captured it on CD and DVD.
I do have to note one rather odd observation: I saw them on 3 different nights for this tour, and can tell you that every song intro and/or comment made between songs was rehearsed and repeated word-for-word at every show. You would think that a band who has been in the business for 30 years would be creative enough to ad-lib just a little bit.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely wonderful, worth it's price..., June 29, 1999
By A Customer
Return to Paradise was my first live Styx album, and it introduced me to Styx music completely. "On My Way" gets you moving right from the start, followed by the powerful song, "Paradise". These are two of the three new tracks featured on this '97 release. From there, we are taken back to the "hits", with the ever-familiar show opener "Rockin' the Paradise". Live, these guys can ROCK! No doubt, all through disc 1, and on to disc 2, it's new, but familiar. The song "Show Me The Way" is very emotional. Personally, this song is much better than the original. "Renegade" rocks like never before, and at the end of disc 2, we find the last new song, "Dear John". Written by Tommy Shaw, it is a very powerful tribute to the late drummer. This is a must get for any fan.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
High Energy with New Songs to Boot!, June 10, 1999
By A Customer
Compared to Styx's last live CD, Caught in the Act, Return to Paradise has a tad bit more to offer the listener. In addition to a well executed live performance, RTP gives us 3 new songs: "On my Way," "Dear John," and "Paradise," which is one of the most powerful ballads ever recorded by Styx. Anyone who has seen Styx live knows that they give their performances their all, and this album reflects just that. For anyone who hasn't seen Styx perform live, well, I'm sorry. However, this CD will be good conciliation for you if you haevn't.
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