I voted Grand Illusion..at least there are a couple of decent tracks on that one.

 

 

 

 

Styx has simpler song structures than ELP or Yes or Genesis, but the same spirit is there - the synthesizers, the mythic lyrics, the "concept album," the idea that your music can be something more than a soundtrack to somebody else's party...

 

I voted for "Kilroy Was Here," because I think that this project tried to do something original in the 80's, and largely failed because the audience was too shallow.  The union of film, theater, and rock concert was just too much for them.  As a lover of progressive rock, I have a lot of sympathy for this.

See, I'd love to agree with you, I really would, Kilroy was a huge risk . . . unfortunately, it pretty much killed the band and the discord shows itself in the music.  While it's a great concept in a time that had little to no appreciation of the concept album, I can't give it the nod for the execution.  Other than Mr. Roboto, the album really isn't that good in my opinion.

I considered "Paradise Theater" but in the end I gave the nod to "The Grand Illusion" if for no other reason than the respect that I gained for Dennis DeYoung when it took me the better part of a month to perfect the solos from 'Foolin' Yourself'.  I played in a Styx tribute band and enjoyed a lot of their music, but Foolin' Yourself is the top of the line as far as Styx songs go.

 

Hey, the best song they had was a cover done with the great vocal stylings of Eric Cartman on Southpark:

 

I'm particularly fond of their '75 through '79 LPs.

A couple of my favorite songs are Too Much Time On My Hands and Blue Collar Man.

But in the end I voted for Big Bang Theory because I was impressed with their covers of some great classic songs and the six and a half minute version of Blue Collar Man.

When I wrote the bio for Prog Archives, it was some sort of dishonor to accept you liked them, I never  cared.

I remember a snob from the forum (who opened a thread on another forum to speak about Sean Trane and Mé) who said I was an ignorant because I liked them more than I like King Crimson.

Iván

Love the Wooden Nickle albums.

'A Day'  is in the top 3 of my favourite Styx songs easy.

^Have not listened to that one TO, sounds promising.

Interesting thought, top 3 Styx songs.  For me it would be:

1. Castle Walls

2. A Day

3. Suite Madam Blue

This is the correct  answer.  Anybody who voted for either Equinox or The Grand Illusion can receive partial credit.

I get why people don't like them - they really duo have kind of a cheese sound that glues them firmly to the times to the point where their music is often used in films to convey that sense of cheese.

i still don't like the albums i mentioned, but i really do like equinox, crystal ball, and grand illusion.

I don't think there's much competition here, as the poll shows...

Pieces of Eight in second place.

It was their proverbial fork in the road, so they took it.

Grand Illusion had some great stuff, but their direction became too commercial for my taste. And it was all downhill from there. 

I saw Styx in Peoria around '80, and they were way out of sync - it was the first night of the tour and a very ragged show. I saw them with Yes in 2011, and they were much better. That night Yes was quite ragged, and a lot of people thought Styx outplayed them (sacrilege, for sure). 

I'd say Styx outplayed Benoit David and Geoff Downes. Despite the lackluster band performance, Howe was on fire, and Squire was sublime.

Styx II is a pretty good album, I've always loved the bluesy 'A Day'.