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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Balanced, October 31, 2004
Tommy Shaw's arrival for the 1976 effort Crystal Ball completes the classic line up of the best band that bridged the 70s to the 80s, Styx. Shaw organic style of compositions compliments the rest of the group's style. Balancing the pomp of DeYoung and the fire of JY Shaw's songs fit like a glove. The voice of Tommy Shaw also took the band to another level giving them basically three lead singers. The songs are solid front to back with the freshman Shaw given the title track. Crystal Ball, to me, was more successfull than many othert Styx efforts because of the balance between the hard rockers (Put me On, Shooze), Dennis DeYoung's introspective "This Old Man" and "Ballerina", and Shaw's organic, soulful, rock rythms. Tag this to the overall quality of each song (there's no filler here) and you have one of the best the band ever commited to vinyl.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Of Styx Best Albums, January 22, 2000
This album is an excellent hard rock album. I bought this on 8-track in the 70's after hearing Lady Jennifer and Sweet Madmoiselle on the radio. I was blown away when I listened to it. Every song was rock at it's finest. This was Tommy Shaw's first album with Styx and was a big improvement. Crystal Ball and Ballerina are excellent hard rock tunes. After hearing this album I knew they were on the brink of superstardom which occurred with their next album The Grand Illusion.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tommy Shaw's arrival sure didn't hurt the band, January 24, 2006
Crystal Ball marked a turning point for the band, and that was the departure of John Curulewski and the arrival of a certain young Southerner named Tommy Shaw who would help the band launch them in to superstardom. Crystal Ball, although not selling as well as their previous album, Equinox, is still an excellent album. It's a mellower album. "Put Me On" is the opening cut, with band vocal harmonies, James Young, and Dennis DeYoung sharing vocal duties. The end part, with Dennis DeYoung singing is the mellow part. Dennis DeYoung's "Jennifer" is a great piece with nice vocal harmonies, I really like the synth ending. The album's centerpiece is the title track, fully written by Tommy Shaw. It starts off almost folk-y, but then Dennis DeYoung gives us some nice synth solos to go with it. This is the cut that receives FM radio airplay. "Shooz" is a more rocking-number that you might often find on one of their early Wooden Nickel albums, while Dennis DeYoung's "This Old Man" (luckily, it's not a cover of the nursery rhyme everyone had known since kindergarten), shows Styx at their most progressive. I am in to prog rock and this band had often got a bad rap in prog rock circles, but if you're a prog rock fan and don't run at the thought of the band, I can recommend this album (as well as any of their other major label efforts up to Pieces of Eight). The band had often did the occasional cover of a classical piece, like Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" off their 1972 debut, Bach's "Little Fugue in G" off Styx II, and Handel's "Halleljah Choras" off The Serpent is Rising. This time it's a short cover of Debussy's "Claire de Lune", which then segues in to "Ballerina". To me I think the album gets a bit ignored, especially when their following was none other than The Grand Illusion, which made them from only a locally known band (the Wooden Nickel albums) to moderately selling act (their first two major label albums) to major AOR arena rock act. Regardless this is a fantastic album and if you're a Styx fan, you need this album.
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