Lost Prog Gem by Styx!

Now first off, I know a lot of you guys are immediately turned off by the name Styx, and I know many of you would never consider Styx a prog band, and for 95% of their material, I would agree. That said, the 5% of their output that is prog is among some of the best prog I've ever heard. The song I am specifically speaking of is Castle Walls. What a great song! It's not an epic or ground-breaking song by any means, but that makes it no less awesome. Honestly, for those of you who detest Styx, please just give this one song a chance. I guarantee it will almost make up for most of their other obviously non-prog material.

the thing with Styx is...

it is either hit or miss. When they were good, they were awesome.

When they were bad, they were incredibly bad.

Castle Walls is the best track on Grand Illusion.

I agree with almost everything Samacis said about his fave track>> also mine

But from Cornerstone onwards they were so bad IMHO, culminating in Mr Lobotto

Is it just me, or does the middle section of 'Castle Walls' sound exactly like the theme from 'Halloween'?

meurglysIII wrote: Sean Trane wrote: Castle Walls is the best track on Grand Illusion. I agree with almost everything Samacis said about his fave track>> also mine But from Cornerstone onwards they were so bad IMHO, culminating in Mr Lobotto I didn't know there was such a thing as a good Stynx song, I must hear it.

I am guilty of widely using the Stynx n ame (but it is a Peter Rideout copyright, I believe) because I find their first four albums ultra sloppy, messy and highly laughable. I also find that from Cornerstone onwards, they were also laughable (Paradise Theater had its moments, though.

But Denis DeYoung has the most inflated ego and was looking up his own arse by the end of the 70's (due to the yucky mega success of Babe)>> which strangely (and funnily) most babes related to pretty boy Tommy Shaw

HOWEVER:

From 75's Equinox to 78's Pieces Of Eight, these guys were simply awesome in writing radio-friendly FM rock tunes with some good prog overtones

Equinox's Suite Madam Blue and its intro was wild stuff for the teenagers I was (13 at the time)

Crystal Ball has some real moments, the arrival of Shaw and the advent of James Young as songwriter (he represented the harder facet of Styx, but his songwriting skills were a bit limited)

Grand Illusion  is the their most even and has no weak tracks : Even Come Sail Away is superb, but Castle Wall is the prog moment

Pieces Of Eight is a bit of a repeat, but is also more commercial than Illusion, but there are some scoarchers Renegade is awesome in its genre>> the album can be considered as a masterplan for many group's future success>> Journey, REO Speedwagon and others

Couldn't agree more on their first 4 albums; I got the 2cd set 'The Wooden Nickel Years' which had their first 4 albums and they were mostly horribly embarassing; the 'Best of Styx' collection really was the best of this era, and it works well as an album in its own right. Certainly songs like 'Lady' and 'Man Of Miracles' are as good as anything they'd do later.