STYX II

After their stellar debut, Styx continued down a similar path of progressive rock, except this album features more variety between styles.

The album begins with a Beatle-esque rocker 'You Need Love', which is catchy but is lacking compared to the more Deep Purple-like rockers of the previous album. The other shorter rocking tracks are unfortunately the weaker tracks, the other shorter songs being the annoying 'You Better Ask' and the decent yet bland 'I'm Going to Make You Feel It'. One of the better songs is the popular 'Lady', which is Styx's first venture into power ballads that they would become so known for in the later 70's. It has a great build up, and nice lyrics. My favorite from the album is definitely the 8-minute 'A Day', which is one of my favorite Styx songs. I love guitarist John Curulewski's vocals in this bluesy and meandering prog rock masterpiece. 'Father OSA' is another highlight, having some great organ work by Dennis DeYoung.

The lyrics fluctuate quite a bit, ranging from happy-go-lucky lyrics on songs like 'You Need Love' and 'Earl of Roseland' to darker more ominous tracks like 'A Day'.

Overall, I don't have much else to say about this album. I don't find it nearly as good as their debut, but it still has it's shining moments and I recommend mostly for the great track 'A Day'.

Hope you found this review helpful.

(Originally written for www.MetalMusicArchives.com on October 18th 2014.)

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