Styx album by album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MikeInFla, Jun 14, 2021.

  1. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    I've been slacking off with no comments on Equinox.

    Pretty sure this was the 2nd Styx album I bought after Grand Illusion (though my older brother had Styx II, so I could listen to that). Loved it then and still love it now. In a weird way, this album is like Styx III for me. I thought the debut had some sparks, but then Styx II really was leaps and bounds better, but it didn't have any initial success, so they backtracked from that approach with the last two WN LPs. But DDY was back at the helm for Equinox, dominating just like he had on II, but with even better material. To me, it's the logical follow-up to Styx II (hence "III").

    The "hits" (Lorelei, Light Up, SMB) are still pretty strong after all these years - good songs to introduce someone to the band. I was blown away a few weeks ago to learn from one of Dennis' zoom interviews that JY wrote the synth hook for Lorelei; never would have guessed that! But the non-hits, especially Midnight Ride and the terrific Born For Adventure are awesome to me. "Midnight" was the last tune for me to feature that southern-influenced "swagger" that I like to point to in JY's earlier work. After this, his style changed to more of a generic "hard rock" sound to me. Definitely a song I'd prefer to see over Miss America live. I forget how much fun "Adventure" is. The vocal is terrific and it's a dynamic tune with a bit of a mystical flair, something Styx often did quite well. When I was young, I loved the stereo panning on that (and Mother Dear), but it hasn't aged well. I bet Dennis hates those effects now!

    Anyway, Equinox is near the top of the list for me. I'd probably slot it as my 3rd favorite Styx disc. I just wish it was longer. Was Styx the laziest band ever in the studio? Styx II, Equinox, Crystal Ball & Grand Illusion all basically have 7 original songs. Pieces of Eight and Kilroy have 8. Not exactly a high song output there!
     
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  2. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    While we’re talking early Tommy Shaw, here’s a 45 that apparently he was associated with. Can’t provide any details - maybe Mike knows something? I assume this is the old rock and roll standard on the a-side. Note Tommy’s sig on the flip:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    The Vagabonds (14)
     
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  3. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    That one is new to me! Have never heard of it.
     
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  4. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    From Tommy's website:

    He starts his professional career as a band member at the tender age of 14 years old when he and four friends form a band called The Vagabonds.
    After high school, Tommy joins a band named M.S. Funk and stays with them for a little over three years. Unfortunately the disco era does not spare M.S. Funk and for lack of money and work the band breaks up.

    Tommy moves back to Montgomery in 1975 where he joins another band with old friends called Harvest.

    [​IMG]
    Tommy with The Vagabonds
     
  5. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    I'll keep going and get caught up for a change. :)

    "Hot Damn, Tommy Shaw..."

    Those of you who hail from the CD era may not get that reference (at least it's not in my cd booklet), but my old vinyl copy came with an inner sleeve with lyrics and, intriguingly, bios of all the band members. For years (decades?) this insert provided all the info I ever had about the band:
    [​IMG]
    Like others here, I feel this was a bit of a letdown from Equinox, though it's still a fine album. How Mademoiselle failed to be a bigger hit is completely beyond me. I think it's one of the group's catchiest singles and wish it were one that was still in heavy rotation on tour. All three singles (Mademoiselle/Light Up, Jennifer/Shooz & Crystal Ball/Put Me On) appear to have been edited pretty heavily on the a-sides, with 20-45 seconds trimmed from each, if the labels are to be believed.

    After retaking the reins for Equinox, Dennis certainly ceded some ground to the new guy here, with Shaw getting an equal number of writing credits to DeYoung on this album. To me, Dennis' material is noticeably weaker here. This Old Man and Ballerina certainly sound like the more elaborate earlier DeYoung tunes, but neither strikes me as strongly as some of his earlier works. As for Jennifer … "She's seventeen, barely old enough to cry / A child in her father's eyes / A woman every night." Eek. Considering the previous album had "Lonely child be my lover," maybe it was best to not have your daughter babysit at the DeYoung home back in the day. ;)

    Interesting to read that Dennis was somewhat withdrawn during this period. Anybody want a theory for that? Having watched a bunch of his interviews over the last couple years, he speaks often about how discouraged he was when Lady (and Styx II) initially bombed. Well, I wonder if he thought he'd "solved the riddle" of success when Lady/II belatedly took hold. In early '75, Styx II was at #20 (while Lady was #6) on Billboard's charts (for a few weeks). SUCCESS!

    He may have expected Equinox, with a bigger label, to do comparable numbers and it did NOT! I was browsing some old Billboard charts online just now, and while Equinox peaked at #58, it didn't have a very impressive initial chart run. If I looked at things correctly, it hit that spot in its 15th week on the charts. What's kind of remarkable to see is that very few of those weeks featured a STARRED chart number (denoting notably improved sales over the previous week). For example, at week #4, it was at #96. And it stayed there for three weeks before climbing to #84. I think a case could be made that Dennis once again felt "they don't like me" and may have therefore been under-inspired for the next album. Like I said, just a theory!

    The rest of the album is a mixed bag for me. I always thought Put Me On was pretty silly, even when I got the album at age 12-13. JY's "madman" laugh just sounds dumb to me and the ending is pretty gimmick-y. Similarly, Shooz always struck me a a pretty dumb song: "so get your rockin', get your rockin', whoa-oh-oh, rock 'n' roll shooz". :rolleyes: That's light years away from the (perfect!) title track, or even the album tracks from the preceding disc, imo.

    I realize I sound pretty harsh on this album and I do quite like it, but it would rank outside my top five Styx albums, which is probably different from quite a few others here.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2021
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  6. Wil1972

    Wil1972 'Nader Dodgin' Champ

    Location:
    Alabama
    You may be on to something about DDY and his state of mind. Didn't Shaw write "Fooling Yourself" about Dennis' anxiety over their lack of mainstream success? Or something along those lines?
     
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  7. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    It was a very personal matter for Dennis. Basically he missed his wife and daughter while on the road and they missed him. He felt like his daughter did not know who he was because he was gone so much. Without getting into DDY's private life, there was a time in 1976 that the other members thought he may never return. To help ease his depression he began bringing his wife and daughter on tour. Even though signed to A&M at this time they were still pretty poor.

    Correct. Although later on Tommy would say it was about himself as well.
     
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  8. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    I've only looked briefly at DDY's Facebook posts but I remember seeing him mention being depressed that Equinox was not a bigger success - also (I don't know if it was at the same time) he mentioned that he and his wife were trying for a second child.
     
  9. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    @mrjinks you're right about the CD. It seems in the "early days" of CD's the booklets left out a lot of info (not just Styx but many bands). I bought this on CD when it first came out (in the late 80's?). By this time I had moved away from vinyl and to CD's. I always thought the liner notes in the A&M Styx CD's were very lacking.

    FF to around 2016-2017 and I was on a business trip in Pittsburgh. Since we were staying downtown and had some downtime one day I decided to venture into the city. I love big cities. I walked a couple of miles to Eide's Entertainment. I was like a kid in a candy store. If I recall correctly the first floor had all dollar records. I was blown away when I initially saw the place. Then I got to browsing and it was full of crap records for a buck. I looked at those for about a half hour then I asked the guy behind the counter if they had any more records. He said "on the next floor". I went upstairs and was hit with musical ADHD. I did not know WHERE to begin the place was so huge and had so many records. I went to the Styx section and found a nice used copy of Crystal Ball and picked it up for $6. Also found Tommy Shaw's "Ambition" for $3. I think I spent less than 20 dollars total and picked up around 6 records. I even saw "Girls With Guns" still SEALED and it had a hype sticker for $4 but did not get it (now wish I would have). But since I was flying instead of driving I did not want to be bogged down with LP's while riding on a plane. Anyway, it was nice to read the inner sleeve of Crystal Ball again after so many years. Brought back a lot of memories just reading it. When I was in the 8th grade one of our assignments in music class was to write a report on our favorite band. I did mine on Styx and most of my report was copied from the inner sleeve of Crystal Ball.
     
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  10. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    Love me some Crystal Ball!

    Not really a fan of Shooz, but the other six songs are all keepers. Some weak lyrics for sure, but Styx is not a band I look to for glowing lyrical content, so I can overlook it most of the time.

    Back in the day, a buddy had a Styx mixed tape of what he deemed their best material from 1975-1981, and he started Side 1 with the first four songs from Crystal Ball, so Put Me On was our jam for years when cruising around in his car. Only later when I finally bought the CB CD did I realize what I missing in those gems from Side 2, This Old Man and Ballerina. Two fantastic songs, some of their best deep cuts ever. And of course the title track has held up as one of their best songs ever. Mademoiselle and Jennifer don't quite hit the sweet spot for me like they used to, but I still like both.

    My only beef about this album, and this could apply to all of their albums from the classic era, is that I wish it had more low end. The bass and drums often sound like they were recorded at half volume. I get that that dead drum sound was kind of a 70's thing, but I always noticed it when we'd crank the intro to Put Me On, how trebley and lacking in overall fullness the sound was (if that makes sense).
     
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  11. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    You bring up another point I thought I’d ask about. Does anyone have this semi-recent boxset?
    [​IMG]
    There are times when it’s relatively cheap, and I’ve toyed with grabbing it. My original LPs still sound pretty good (though the jackets have major ringwear). But I can’t find any detailed reviews of it. Is the sound ok? Does it have repros of those original inner sleeves, etc? Even Discogs doesn’t have anything but a couple stock photos of the set. I assume Paradise doesn’t have the etching (?), and that Cornerstone is now a traditional gatefold (?), but I don’t really know. Even a couple old threads here didn’t seem to have much info. Anyway, sorry for being sorta OT, but if anyone has thoughts on this set, chime in! Thanks.
     
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  12. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    I don't have this set, as it was cheaper to buy them individually. I bought them from a vendor on eBay and he had a deal going buy 3 get 30 % off. I think I bought 3 at a time and got them for like $20 total. The ones I have sound good but the pressings are not great. Equinox has what appears to be a small bump or bubble on Mother Dear but it plays fine. Pieces Of Eight is off center but it also plays fine. The packaging and inner sleeves are identical to the original releases. Paradise does not have the laser etching on the back. My copy of Grand Illusion is the Friday Music version so I had no need to buy that one again and as I stated I found a good, used copy of Crystal Ball while I was in Pittsburgh. My copy of Cornerstone is Music On Vinyl. Had no idea what it was when I bought it but it is non gatefold. The insert is about 10x10 and has band photos on one side, lyrics on the other and the band photos are pixelated and look like crap. The record itself sounds good tho. Interesting that the label on the record has the old Wooden Nickel Styx logo. Caught In The Act and Kilroy were fine, no issues with the pressings. Just Equinox and PO8 (but as I said they play just fine).
    [​IMG]

    The mastering on them (UMe releases) is well done but I didn't have originals to compare them to. If you can get the boxed set cheap, pick it up. It was much cheaper for me to buy them separately. I bought them from a vendor called get_importCDs on eBay but this was a few years ago, I don't know if he still runs those vinyl specials or not.
     
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  13. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
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  14. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    ImportCDs is an arm of probably the biggest (non-Amazon) music distributor in the US. The same company owns them, ccmusic.com (Collectors Choice), deepdiscount.com, acousticsounds.com, etc. They’re HUGE!
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2021
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  15. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    No idea who they are but they were good to me - I bought reissues from Zeppelin, Queen and Styx from them off eBay. Got them ALL dirt cheap. In fact when I ordered "In Through The Out Door" they refunded my money. Said it was out of stock. I emailed them and asked them to not refund me and just send it when it came back in stock. They said "no, we have to refund your money". Then about 4 days later Zeppelin III and Out Door came in the mail. I was only charged for III. Then a week later I ordered Presence. When it came in the mail it came with ANOTHER Out Door at no change. So I had two copies of the reissue for free. They had some excellent deals if you bought 2 or 3 records. Free shipping and deep discounts. I made out like a bandit when ordering Zeppelin records!
     
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  16. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    I spend a lot on these deluxe reissues that tend to dominate discussion on this forum: Dylan/Beatles, etc.

    In the good old days, Amazon was always the best price with the best service, but once they cornered the market, those great deals became less frequent. Here's an example. George Harrison's post-Beatle debut All Things Must Pass (often considered the best Solo Beatle album) is getting the deluxe reissue next month. At Amazon, you can get the 5cd/Blu-ray for $133 right now; at ImportCDs it's $111. Their other affiliates (DeepDiscount; CCMusic) often have discount codes, shipping deals, etc. Over the years I've saved a bundle ordering from their different retail arms. For a big purchase, I'll check all their sites and bite on the lowest price.

    When the Styx boxset with alternate versions and bonus unreleased material comes out, I'll help you get the best deal. :laugh:
     
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  17. Put Me On - 4/5
    A great way to kick-off the album, an energetic rocker, great keys and guitars, with a melodic bridge all wrapped up nice and neat.

    Mademoiselle - 4/5
    Ahh sweet! A good single, but I understand why it was not successful -it just lacks a strong hook. I still like this one just fine!

    Jennifer - 3/5
    An older song that dates back to the Wooden Nickel period. Its a bit outclassed by most of the songs here, but its still rocks and Dennis gives a strong vocal -not a big fan of the lyrics myself, but they don't really intrude on my enjoyment (nor do they enhance it).

    Crystal Ball -5/5
    Tommy Shaw's first Styx classic! A quest song that hits all the right buttons for me. I love the production too.

    Shooz - 2.5/5
    To my ears a generic rocker lacking hooks or any styxness that would set it apart from others in this genre. Not bad, but these type of Styx songs rarely interest me.

    This Old Man - 3/5
    A decent Dennis ballad, nothing more, nothing less. Some nice dynamics as to be expected.

    Claire de Lune/Ballerina - 4/5
    A slow burning ballad that really morphs into a rocker I can appreciate even more. The Lalalalas sung by Dennis should have been excised, but that's a small gripe. A great way to close the album.

    I spent the year of 1977 avoiding purchasing this record at my local record store. It was one of the only Styx records they had in stock and I was not familiar with any of the songs at the time. Money be scare for this 14 year old, I passed on it again and again (even buying the Wooden Nickel Best Of Styx, rather than this one). A big mistake, as this is a good album and one I think I would have loved at that time.

    My Styx album order of preference for those albums reviewed to date:

    1) Equinox
    2) Crystal Ball
    3) Styx II
    4) Serpent Rising / Man of Miracles (tie)
    5) S/T
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2021
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  18. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    I like this idea of ranking albums as we go. For me, so far with an added alpha to denote “tiers” that albums share. I usually tend to think of albums in tiers, rather than strictly numerical order. Albums might change places within their tier for me, but won’t move between them, if that makes any sense!

    1(a): Equinox
    2(a): Styx II
    3(b): Crystal Ball
    4(c): Man of Miracles
    5(c): Styx
    6(d): The Serpent Is Rising
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    Here we go:

    1. Crystal Ball - 5/5
    2. Man Of Miracles - 4.5/5
    3. The Serpent Is Rising - 4/5
    4. Equinox - 4/5
    5. II - 3.5/5
    6. Debut - 3.5/5
     
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  20. Standoffish

    Standoffish Smarter than a turkey

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Crystal Ball

    Put Me On - Nice keyboard intro. Energetic opener, with some cool drumming and guitar work. Not a fan of JY's kinda silly vocals, but I like DDY's later in the song.

    Mademoiselle - I can see why this wasn't a bigger hit, since it doesn't have that strong hook that sticks in your head. That said, it's a good mid-tempo Styx track. Bit of a Queen vibe IMO, too.

    Jennifer - Let's just say the lyrics haven't aged well, and leave it at that. Musically, it's a catchy commercial rocker, with a couple of tasty little solos.

    Crystal Ball - I love it when a song successfully blends hard and soft elements together, and this flows nicely from acoustic to more of a rocker - like a journey of sorts. Shaw's vocals are really good. A fitting title track.

    Shooz - A decent bluesy rocker, but seems kinda filler. On a 7-song album, there's just no room for filler.

    This Old Man - Love the way the song sets the mood and then builds momentum. Right when the song should crescendo, though, that quiet bridge kills the momentum. I'd like to ditch the bridge and go straight into an epic guitar solo. DDY's vocals sound mixed a little too soft, too. Overall, a solid song - just could be better IMO.

    Clair de Lune/Ballerina - We end another album on a DDY mini-epic. Not quite up there with "Suite Madame Blue", but still very good. Nice vocal harmonies, and I love the guitar in the the second half. Strong closer.

    Overall, I think this is a step down from Equinox - though it's still a good album. I know Styx wasn't exactly overloading their albums at this point in their career, but only 7 songs? I wonder if I'll be impressed with their next album? Hmm...:shrug:
     
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  21. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    I forgot to mention on July 16 that is has been 25 years since the passing of John. How time flies. I remember seeing the Return To Paradise tour in June of 96 and was told John was sitting out with a "shoulder injury". The day of his death I was working at a radio station that had an old AP newswire. It was a dot-matrix printer that would print off the news as it happened. I remember pulling the news that day and reading that he had passed and was very shocked because in my mind he only had a shoulder injury and it turned out to be something more serious due to alcohol abuse.

    [​IMG]
     
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  22. mr.dave

    mr.dave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Oh dear, already Equinox - my contribution is overdue. I'll try to catch up with reading, but first a little summary.

    There is something special going on with me and Styx. The tune "Man of Miracle" is one of my earliest musical memories, to begin with. It must be one of the first (mix-)tapes I ever got. Besides MoM, there was a selection of Sagas "worlds apart" and some tunes, I wrongly remembered as Barclay James Harvest (which they weren't from).

    This tape was followed by a tape I got from the same friend of my older brother with Kilroy was here, that made a strong impression of me being 8ys old. I loved it (and still like it, I have to confess!). Only a little later I fell in love with (early) Queen, that made an even stronger impression on me - but that's a different story...

    When I got a CD Player from my brother in 1990 (I only played records on my Dual CS 505 so far, that I bought with my own money), "Cornerstone" was the first CD I bought in my life (together with Dire Straits "Communiqué) and I used Cornerstone as a wake-up CD for months with the autostart function of that CDP. I already owned a couple of STYX LPs and was amazed by the Hologram that was engraved in the vinyl of Paradies Theater (if I remember it right).

    But a couple of weeks after my first CD purchase, I bought Equinox on CD as it was priced rather fairly and I never heard or knew it before. I loved it and still love it. Maybe my all-time Sytx favorite.

    When I discovered the Man of Miracles CD in the early 90s in an import shop I spent ridiculous 40 bucks for it back then, as I was delighted to have finally found the song of my childhood again.

    For the Wooden Nickel period, I wrote earlier in this thread, that it was like: II is great, MoM is OK, the rest I don't really care. However, when I was revisiting these albums a few weeks ago, I was surprised that the current impression didn't match my remembrance that well.

    The Debut wasn't as bad I thought of. II not THAT strong as I remembered it. Even the serpent is rising is not THAT bad (but I wouldn't spend ridiculous 43 bucks on it, as I did shortly after buying MoM at the same import shop ;-)) MoM kinda rocks and I always liked Mr. Christopher the most (besides the title track, of course).

    Anyway, Equinox is a different beast. One of my (if not the) favorit(s) of Styx. It's the first consistent album by Styx. There is no filler, nothing that wouldn't weaken the album if it would be removed. I like the track order, it's so fluent.

    Even Prelude 12 works great as an opener for Suite Madame Blue and that's something to achieve (as I often find stuff like that rather cheesy).

    Great rocking, slighty proggy Album, that I hold in high regard.

    Cheers, David
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2021
  23. mr.dave

    mr.dave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Oh, I was reading this after posting myself. You have put it into the right words - it's precisely how I feel about it!
     
  24. MikeInFla

    MikeInFla Glad to be out of Florida Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    They were playing this during the 78 tour:
     
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  25. mr.dave

    mr.dave Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    There was another comment on the lyrics of "Southern Woman" I couldn't find fast enough ;-)

    Not being a mother tongue is a blessing and a curse. Even nowadays where I am able to participate in an English forum like this, my English is not only rather limited, but I still have a very hard time catching (not to mention: UNDERSTANDING) lyrics in songs. It's probably more often a blessing, but i.e. in the case of Joni Mitchell's "Blue" it's definitely a curse. Once I looked up the lyrics a couple of weeks ago, I am totally into the album, that I always had a hard time with (and I am a fan!). Not, that I understand everything, but enough to appreciate it now and recognise the mastery!

    Anyway, back to Styx: Speaking about lyrics a certain song about a toilette spring to my mind. I know, it's supposed to be funny, but I understand enough, that I am not worry bout not understanding everything - LOL.

    So, English lyrics aren't part of my judgments normally. And in some cases it might be better to not bother...

    Besides that, I was always wondering how the reception would be if I would understand the lyrics like a native speaker.
     
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