STYX II

There was something in the sound, the dynamics, the incredible vocals and guitar lick solo in "Lady" that led me, for the first time, to actually go out to a record store and buy a full-length record album--this one. Up to this point, I was depending on either my brother or the Columbia Record Club to provide me with full-album experiences, but with Styx II I became aware that there was a lot of music out there that Columbia did not give me access to.

I've always considered this a prog album, even at the time of first discovery (though I might not have used the term "prog" or even "progressive rock"), as there are several forays into experimental, not-for-radio-play songs, like "Father O.S.A.", "A Day", "Little Fugue in G", and even the "Earl of Roseland". The instrumental variety and prowess exhibited on Styx II were, to me, reminiscent of another one of Chicago's finest (and a contemporary of Styx), that being Chicago Transit Authority (without the horns, of course): experimental music forms, great melodic hooks, and multiple GREAT vocalists. (And this was before the arrival of the great Tommy Shaw!) Plus, they were both unafraid to "go their own way" and not conform to the pressures of achieving radio popularity (at least, not with every song). Definitely a seminal album in the evolution of my musical tastes--one that came to me in my 15th year. While I do not, or have never, consider this a "masterpiece" of music--prog or otherwise--it has some historically noteworthy highlights and definitely demonstrates the uprising of a band that would become a force in the anthemic, stadium rock scene that ran rampant in the U.S. of A in the 1970s and 80s.

A 3.5 star collection that is probably only "good, but non-essential" but has always been privately cherished and honored by this music lover.