CAUGHT IN THE ACT: LIVE 1984

For a long time I was waiting to watch a live DVD with Styx classic line up. I was quite disappointed to see there was any of that for a long time. It was quite surprising considering the fact they were HUGE in the late 70´s and early 80´s. I had to wait until 2007 to find this video, taken from their last tour promoting their Kilroy Was Here album of 1983. It is a mix of film, musical play and (mostly) rock concert, much of it concerning the Kilroy´s concept of a future society where rock music is banned by a totalitarian governament (a bold, if silly, snide at Reagan´s era emerging PMRC and Moral Majority censorship of the 80's).

Kilroy Was Here was not one of their best works, to say the least, and the band was facing internal struggles that ultimately caused its break up after this tour. But you won´t notice that watching they blasting away many of their hits in front of an audience. Ok, the Kilroy tunes are more suited for a broadway music play than to a rock album, but I have to admit they worked far better live than on record. Besides, the majority of the songs here are from their previous effords. It is a pity that some of the live album´s tunes did not make it to the DVD. Still, they could put up a stunning 13 song perfomance.

Styx proves themselves to be great entertainers and the excellent musicians you expect them to be after so many years on the road. I can even swallow their KIlroy characters during the album´s numbers (at least it was a novelty then and it is good fun after all). Their vocal hamonies are very well done and most of the tunes are better than their studio counterparts.

Unfortunatly the video images are not improved from the VHS version. What you got here seems to be simply the transfer of the images to DVD without any kind of restoration. Not bad at all, but could be a better.The sound on the other hand is crystal clear and was definitly remastered (with options to 2.0 or 5.1 formats).

The DVD bonus is really a treat for fans: it includes all of their videos done up until then (12 in total).

Conclusion: I can´t really say this is the definitive classic Styx DVD we all wanted to see. I wish they had released something recorded live earlier in their long career. But still they pulled off a great show even at their final moments together. The classic line up really had something magical going on. And with the addition of their video collection Caught In The Act becomes a must have for any Styx fan.

Please let it end

I like Styx and believe they made some very good albums in the period from "The Grand Illusion" through "Paradise Theatre." But starting with "Cornerstone" the balance of power began to shift to DeYoung and some of the vital chemistry was slipping away as Shaw became more disillusioned. By the time they got to "Kilroy" the band was pretty much a joke and would never be the same again. It's a shame the band leaves this as their only live document from the old days when surely there are much better live performances in the vault from the 70s.

The concert is pretty dreadful on all levels, you can almost hear Shaw praying to God to strike him dead and end the misery. The dopey Kilroy tracks have little traction, and the band's better material is giving a very superficial treatment. They attempt to pump life into the songs by jumping all over the stage in stupid clothes and showboating to a painful degree. All of the real personality and quality of the better material is just glossed over by the lightweight, schmaltzy performance. Shaw's more straightforward delivery of his classics "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man" are pretty much the highlights of the show, but hardly enough to save it. By today's standards or by any standards frankly, the sound, visual, and overall presentation are subpar and anemic. Translation: It sucks. And I'm a fan of the group.

What I did enjoy were the bonus cuts on the DVD release, featuring performance promos of older tracks that sound almost revelatory after the main Kilroy show, the most unique being the video for "Boat on the River" showing Tommy on mandolin and Dennis on accordion, while Young strums an acoustic and Panozzo plays an upright. It reminds how special the band was just a few years earlier. These might be worth your time, but the main gig is not recommended.

I beg the band, open the vault and release a live DVD of material from the "Grand Illusion" and "Pieces of 8" tours. That would be amazing.

STYX's "Caught in the Act" live album and the video of the same name have some differences in the tracks which were included in each other. While the live album has more variety in the songs (including some Hits) which were played from different albums in their discography up to 1983, the video has more songs from the album they were promoting at the time ("Kilroy Was Here", from 1983). That album, which is for me like a "Rock Opera" with a fictional story about "Rock music prohibition by a dictatorial goverment" (similar in some ways to the never finished Rock Opera from THE WHO called "Lifehouse" from 1971) let the band (and more particularly to lead singer Dennis De Young) show their acting skills during that 1983 tour. So, this video shows several songs from that "Kilroy" album being "acted" and not really played "live" with the band, with only the lead vocals maybe being really sung "live" while the music was played from tapes. Not being a fan of Broadway musicals, I don't like the acting during these songs. This concert video also starts with a "Kilroy Was Here mini-movie" which lasts for about 15 minutes, and it explained to the audience the story of the "Kilroy" album in a better way, I think. So, this concert video really starts in a more or less boring way (more for me, because I don't like the "Kilroy" album). I also think that the "Kilroy" story has some influences from PINK FLOYD's "The Wall" album, but obviously without all the more "dark" elements from Roger Waters's story. "Kilroy" was more like a "Broadway Production" in comparison, in my opinion.

I never have been a fan of STYX's music, but I like some of their songs. They sang and played very well, being very "American Rock" for my taste, but they had some quality (particularly with this, their most successful line- up). The songs that I liked from this video are "Rockin' the Paradise ", "Blue Collar Man", "Snowblind" , and particularly, "Come Sail Away", which is the song that I like more from STYX. I have to say that there are very clear differences between the versions of this song which were included in the live album and in the video (with both recorded in the same dates, April 9,10, 1983, at the Saenger Theater, New Orleans), with both versions sounding like being the same recording of the song in most parts, but the main difference is in Tommy Shaw's lead guitar parts. Maybe Shaw's lead guitar parts were re-recorded later in the studio, or one lead guitar part from the other date was edited to the other part of the other recorded date in the live album version. The live album version has an extended final part. I prefer the live album version. Anyway, this song was played and sung very well.

I think that the "Caught in the Act" live album is better in content than the concert video of the same name. I think that the concert video is more for the fans of the "Kilroy Was Here" album.

STYX the American QUEEN was mostly known for his long live shows, the use of a real grand piano, in short the gear to melt; long pieces at a time when prog metal didn't exist yet, yes but STYX was there.

1 Kilroy Was Here (Short Movie) with the cinematic intro, ah it already existed? like what, in short, sounds of revolt to introduce yes you know now this famous 2 Mr. Roboto with the drum roll, the borderline new-wave rhythm with this dancing keyboard, the voice that screams and gives the impulse of the radio title; in short we would think we were in 'Flash', funny when we know that STYX was nicknamed the American QUEEN 3 Guitar Solo/Rockin' The Paradise for the cheesy ballad on a piano background, the whistles of wonder, a bit like on the 'Beth' of KISS; the more the progressive start, the well-detached solos that were the buzz without knowing it, a bygone era but oh so enjoyable still today 4 Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) for the big drums and the guitar solo from the start and this chorus engraved in my head 5 Snowblind for the air making me think of a 'Reality' film with the hypnotic music of Philip GLASS; the title for the stadiums with the rhythm, the choirs, the solos, the gripping kitsch atmosphere and the return of the guitar solo to make you swoon, here's a track for the declaration! 6 Too Much Time On My Hands and the intro of a Mr Roboto bis, electro at full blast in this early 80s; hints of CARS, a crescendo that rises and lets the guitar speak; the final rise was a bluff with a delightful rapidus tempo 7 Don't Let It End for the bucolic piano ballad, for the marshmallow slow, ah it's been a long time; 8 Heavy Metal Poisoning for the sound of Kilroy with a rock opera space, the choirs, the very wavian synth solo that changed the musical direction of STYX; and this chorus and this riff, simple and effective 9 Cold War bis repetita, guitars galore, a seductive solo, juicy, danceable keyboard parts, to change your skin, the guitar solo that never ends, that was the goal just before launching the guitar heroes 10 The Best Of Times for the piano ballad to make your fiancée fall, the delicacy of the piano that took over the whole stage, the crystalline voice and the energetic rise of the chorus in an explosion; the finale with this chorus sung in chorus by the audience and a last solo...piano 11 Come Sail Away with the same pattern, delicate piano and little song... at the beginning before the explosion of the chorus that will never end; the place for the solos that come and go and made STYX a real beast on stage 12 Renegade not the one from THIN LIZZY, the one from STYX with a southern tone, boogie and tons of sounds poured out in spades that made the songs last live; also remember the live with the fake intervention of the security service on the drum solo, well before what METALLICA was going to put... on stage; how tender the audience was 13 Haven't We Been Here Before? with this voice-over like MEAT LOAF, this blah blah to explain, and this song with a Floyd sound that came to close the show; ah this precise moment needless to say that there was QUEEN in this title, well... I wrote it 14Don't Let It End (Reprise) came to close this DVD that I saw much later since it was missing Suite Madame Blue, Boat On The River, Miss America which was one of the group's odes for its performance on stage.