BIG BANG THEORY

At first, I hadn't planned to buy this album. I figured, it wasn't the original line-up of Styx, with Dennis and the Panozzo brothers, and it was just covers anyway, so it would be nothing special. Then, just two days ago, me and a friend were hanging around in a local music store, waiting until we had to go to the Led Zeppelin tribute show we were playing in (which went very well, thanks for asking), when I spotted the familiar word "Styx" in the bargain $5-or-less rack. Well, this was too good of a deal for me to pass up, so I quickly snatched it up and bought it. I had to wait until later, after the concert, to listen to it, and I wasn't expecting all that much, for reasons I already stated. However, I was very pleasantly surprised about the quality of this album.

The unfortunate thing about this album was that the good songs were the ones I hadn't heard the originals of. I Am The Walrus did sound quite a lot like the Beatles, the vocals on Locomotive Breath and Manic Depression didn't do it for me, and I Can See For Miles and Find The Cost Of Freedom were nothing special. I was also disgusted with the remade Blue Collar Man; I've always loved the original, being a solid rocking tune, and this kind of softer version was a terrible way to end the album, in my opinion, when so many of the other songs were amazing. Can't Find My Way Home is a great song to kick the album with (not counting the first two), and the next five are songs I could listen to over and over. I have mixed feelings about Talkin' About The Good Times; still haven't quite decided what I think of it. Wishing Well was amazing, though, a truly solid end to a deliciously rocking album.

This is all coming from a rocker's point of view, someone who prefers 90125 to classic Yes. If you're more into true prog (which I love, just not as much as more hard-rock type progressive), I don't think this will be an album for you. But if you're able to look over the fact that these are covers, and by the new Styx as opposed to the old, I think you will enjoy this CD.