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.