Styx: Wooden Nickel Era - Your Favorite Album?

I've been on a Styx kick lately. Liked them as a kid. Then I ignored their music for 20 years, but have really been enjoying their stuff lately.

What's your favorite of their pre-fame Wooden Nickel albums?

Mine was always Styx II, but I'm leaning towards Styx I now because "Movement for the Common Man" and "Best Thing" are just so darn good. I've also finally warmed to "The Serpent is Rising." I definitely think "Man of Miracles" is the worst one, and it's hard to believe "Equinox" came next, as it's 100x better.

 

I own two: Serpent and I. I thought Serpent was pretty good, haven't heard it in awhile though. I still haven't listened to the first one but I plan to very soon.

How rare is the original vinyl pressing of the debut? When I picked this up back in September of 2015 what immediately struck me is that I had never seen this album cover before. Like, not ever. And I've been a marginal fan of Styx since the late 70's when I saw them live.

 

I always wondered if their manager was trying to "push" one of them as the star on the first few albums. The debut is very JY-dominant, II is DDY-led, and Serpent has more Curulewski than the others. By Miracles, it seems like more of a balanced pitch ... of course, I could be way off base with that theory.

 

Styx II, for me.

 

Yep, II.

 

Tough pick for me but I picked MOM. First one gets played the least as there aren't many original compositions on it. Styx II was a big improvement. Serpent has its moments as well but today I pick MOM.

 

Man of Miracles

Back in '75 when "Lady" was a bit hit via Chicago's WLS 890 AM, I wanted to buy an album by them but in my little Indiana town the only album to be found for sale was Man of Miracles. I was very pleased with it and soon bought the rest of their albums when ever I got out of town to shop in the big "city"of Lafayette. But this one remains my favorite probably for simple sentimental reasons.

 

II for me by a long shot, followed by I.
I've never heard Serpent. I have Man of Miracles, but I don't like it much.

 

All good and highly enjoyable but II is clearly superior. It took 2 years to break, but it proved to be the winning formula. Equinox is essentially a higher budget version of II. "A Day" is an American prog-lite essential. Not unlike something that could fit well on The Yes Album. Replace "A Venture" with "A Day" and nobody would notice. Both great of course!

 

Serpent, because it features some decent heavy prog-oriented songs and minimizes the Broadway bombast.

One thing that certainly comes across on these albums is, Styx didn't seem to know what sort of band they wanted to be - prog like Yes, or maybe heartland rockers like Head East - and when you throw in DDY's musical theatre ambitions it can make for an uneasy mix, perhaps most apparent on Man of Miracles.

 

I've been trying to collect the Wooden Nickel albums of late. Not very easy in the UK... So far, I have a single sleeve reissue of Styx II and a copy of Man of Miracles with Best Thing opening Side 2.

I've heard the albums before (I have the small CD box) but they are patchy to say the least... Up to now, the old Canadian blue vinyl Best of Styx has done me, but I'm now looking to fill the collection...

 

I had the "Best Of Styx" album as a teenager wich comprised of only Wooden Nickel era material. I don't know if the selections were really the best from that era, but it was a decent collection. I did not vote as I never had the original albums.

 

The version with "Best Thing" is a second pressing. The first had the song "Lies" as the first cut on "Tails" side. At the time, "Best Thing" was their highest charting song so it was reissued with "Best Thing" in its place. In 1980 RCA reissued the first 4 albums with construction paper deco art (these are the versions I had when I was a kid) and the album titles were changed. Styx I, Lady, Serpent & Miracles. This go-round Miracles had "Unfinished Song" in place of "Lies" and/or "Best Thing".







Here is the original "Best Of Styx" artwork which was later changed to match those above.

 

And from "Serpent Is Rising", I love this song. JY gets the album opener again.



I wish Styx would dig this one up and play it sometime.

 

Easily Styx II. The only Wooden Nickel-era album that's genuinely pretty good.

 

I have read DDY saying that when "Lady" flopped initially, they thought they should avoid doing songs like it, so that may be why Serpent has more JC and less DDY.

 

CRR Interview (pieces):

Dennis: Let’s give the devil his due – I was influenced by Keith Emerson. He made being a keyboard player on par with being a guitar player. Guitar players had the advantage, as the guitar is the instrument of rock n’ roll. You can see what they are playing on it and it has a sexual connotation by the way it is played. It is the instrument of advantage to Rock music, there is no question about it. Keith Emerson suddenly made it reasonable for keyboard players to be in a band. I was heavily influenced by Jimmy Smith, Jon Lord and Keith Emerson. We came together at the moment that Emerson, Lake & Palmer hit the scene. Yes was another band that was out then. We used to play a song by Yes that Richie Havens wrote called “No Opportunity Needed, No Experience Necessary.”

Styx I, by the way, should have been Styx II with the “Movement for the Common Man” on it. The first album was a total manipulation by [Wooden Nickel Record Company President] Bill Trout. It had little to nothing to do with the band.

“Lady” was written for the first album but it was kept off the first album by Bill. Bill was the record company President and he made us record four songs that we had no interest in recording. We had very little control at that point. “Movement for the Common Man” was a three-minute version that was cut down by John Ryan. In our estimation, that song was going to begin the record and be three minutes long but John cut it down and put all of that weird stuff on it. The first album we really had no power at all and we did what we were told. “Movement” was recorded in its entirety. I don’t know where those tapes are but we did it.

In 1970, we felt no allegiance to any particular musical style. Throughout Styx’s career, I tried to, as the shadow producer of the band, to adhere to one simple principal: Put the best songs on the album. That really is the mantra I followed.

Jeb: Prog Rock really didn’t have the label that it has today.

Dennis: It was just what the people were doing at the time. Those influences showed up in our music because we liked it. When you think about “Lady,” which is the song that the world first came to know us by, it’s not Prog Rock. I guess it does have the Bolero in it but, truthfully, it’s a pop song with a hard rock chorus. We were never a Prog Rock band in the purest sense, and that’s okay. All of the Prog Rock aficionados who see us as not a Prog band…good for them as that was not our intent anyway.

Jeb: Did Wooden Nickel push you to be a certain type of band?

Dennis: They made us do George Clinton songs; they didn’t know what they were doing. It was one of the worst songs of all time for us to record. That was not our idea.

Jeb: Why don’t you like The Serpent is Rising?

Dennis: Here is the problem: When you denigrate the music that you create it is not a good thing. There has been a lot of that going on in this band for the last eleven years. Styx II, and every other album we did, I’m very proud of. We had no control over Styx I but other than that, I hold myself and the band collectively responsible for The Serpent and Man of Miracles.

I believed that “Lady” was a hit record. I also believed that Styx II was really a record worthy of an audience. It failed when it was released. For almost three years, in the time of which Serpent, and Man of Miracles, were written and recorded, I was convinced that what I did, people hated. I didn’t have enough knowledge to understand that musical success is completely dependent on business success and promotion. They go hand in hand and you have to have it or the tree falls in the forest and no one hears it.

On Serpent is Rising, I tried to be anyone but myself. We did “The Grove of Eglantine” and “Jonas Psalter,” which was a song about Pirates – good lord.

Jeb: Did you realize you were not being true to yourself?

Dennis: I didn’t know it at the time. I was just scared because I thought I wasn’t good enough. I was insecure.

If you can hit the outside jumper at the top of the key and that is your shot, then if you start missing that shot then you lose your confidence and try another shot. I was trying another shot. I had no confidence in my jump shot.

 

I had the original cover -I like it more than the garish replacement.

 

Not insanely rare, but as you said, I never saw it in stores until a few years ago myself. What IS rare is finding one in NM condition, especially the cover. I realize that people don't take care of their records, but the die-cut cover is always torn.

If I'm not remembering incorrectly, that true first pressing is noticeably audibly superior to later pressings. I did find one with the same matrices in a single sleeve, so if you grab one of those, you might get a winner too.

 

For me, it's Serpent. "The Grove of Eglantine" is one of my faves...



The only cringe-worthy moment, IMHO, is the "Plexiglass Toilet" section of "As Bad As This."

 

I never cared for Man Of Miracles, and have only listened to Styx I 4 or 5 times from start to finish (I own it on vinyl). I feel it's a pretty weak album. I enjoy both Serpent and Styx II. Serpent has some funky prog that that has some glimpses of a good album. You can tell they were a band trying to find that sound, and actually put together some innovative stuff. Styx II actually sounds more mature and advanced, even though II came before Serpent. My vote is for II.

 

My vote is for 'II' for being a solid album, followed by 'Serpent..' as the runner up.

 

Probably Styx II with its one-two-punch of "Lady" and "'A Day." I dig 'em all though.

 

I think you skipped a beat. The original question was about the debut - the 2nd album was the one with the die-cut cover...

 

I remember buying the tape of "Miracles" in Record World in the mall in Poughkeepsie, NY. It was behind this cabinet that needed to have an employee open to get it. I had never seen it before so I was beyond psyched to get it - I think it was used. This was probably toward the late 80's. Anyway, from that point I just loved the song "Unfinished Song". Played the tape in my car consistently, and I still have that tape today. I already had some of the redone RCA LP's pictured in this thread, and I have all of them now, but couldn't tell you how long I have had most or where most were bought. Just that damn "Miracles" tape that has stuck with me all this time.

I also remember buying the original issue of "Serpent is Rising" back in the early 80's. I would buy Goldmine Magazine and search through the tiny type for all the records that were listed. I sent my check in to the seller and weeks later the LP showed up. In not great shape, that's for sure, but it was mine. I bought the Japan issue of "Serpent is Rising" at a record show a few months ago. Not sure why. My least favorite Styx album.

Pat