Top of the Complex Pops
The Grand Illusion by Styx
The late 1970s saw a decline in some of the major bands who had been prevalent over the last fifteen years. The Beatles, of course, were long gone. The Rolling Stones were about to plunge into irrelevance with the release of Some Girls, which heralded the arrival of a series of more and more unimaginative albums. Led Zeppelin and The Who suffered the death of their drummers and either gave up the ghost or lost faith in the onslaught of the punk movement. The entire movements of Progressive and Arena rock were outdated, outmoded and rapidly endangered species.
For all intents and purposes, the first generation of rock was quickly winding down. Left in the wake were two types of musicians, those influenced by the first generation, and those repulsed by them. I'll give the second group (embodied by the punk movement) a miss for now to concentrate on one of the better bands in the first group, Styx.
Generational influences extend in two ways - derivative and adaptive. A derivative band is one which makes little effort to change their sound from the original and attempt to simply emulate it. Good examples would be Anekdoten (Sweden,) who took a sound from King Crimson and adopted it as their own; Mastermind (USA,) who do a credible Emerson, Lake and Palmer imitation; and a collection of bands that worshiped The Beatles (ever heard of The Knack?)
An adaptive band takes one or more forms of previous music and applies them in a new way. Cheap Trick is a band that took the basic Beatles sound and pumped it up into a new form of power pop. Numerous UK bands in the 1980s took the early Genesis sound and created the genre of Neo-Progressive Rock.
By combining elements of Progressive Rock with Arena Rock, the Illinois based band Styx rode the top of the US charts for a number of years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A million miles away from the pomposity of bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Yes, and without both the baggage and egos of those long lived groups, Styx bridged the gap between complex rock and catchy pop for quite some time before succumbing to many of the same problems of the earlier bands (Kilroy Was Here and key members leaving.)
Relegated now to the state fair and oldies circuit, Styx was at their creative and musical peak with 1977's The Grand Illusion, as the band and concept gelled in a way that it never had before and never would again. Although C was more commercially successful behind the strength of the saccharine hit Babe, I doubt that many fans of the band would pick that album over this.
The Grand Illusion
Guitarist Tommy Shaw had joined the band on the previous album Crystal Ball with great success. I think that he added the hard rock foil to guitarist James Young and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung's Progressive tendencies. The result on the earlier album was very impressive -- I would rank it behind this album, but not by much.
Rounding out the group was the late drummer John Panozzo and his brother Chuck Panozzo on bass. All members of the band sang, although only Young, DeYoung and Shaw took lead vocals. Shaw and Young rotated between lead and backing guitar, although they did occasionally play a dual-lead (two leads parts played either in harmony or counter harmony at the same time.)
Conceptually loosely based on illusions of beauty, purpose or potential, the eight songs on the album stand well on their own. Although there is a pronounced keyboard presence on all songs, the overall feel is of heavy rock (a la Zeppelin) due to the power guitar throughout the recording.
Track Listing
The Grand Illusion
Fantastic guitar and keyboard song, although my favourite part is Chuck Panozzo's counter melody on bass during the chorus. Frankly, I don't care for DeYoung's vocal on here -- it sounds like he's singing in a can, but it's a fine introduction to the album that pulls together a lot of different structures and forms a solid rock song.
Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
With a beautiful synthesizer line and organ by DeYoung throughout major parts of the song, it's surprising that this is one of Shaw's songs. I'm not a fan of the chorus, which has a mob feeling to the vocals, but I think that this is one of the strongest instrumental songs on the album. The play between acoustic guitar and DeYoung's Keith Emerson-like synthesizer is fantastic, although one can hear a bit too much similarity between the closing synth solo and the one in ELP's Lucky Man.
Superstars
This is kind of a fractured song. The bit with Shaw's vocals ("You've read about me in the papers...") is very good, but the chorus has the same shouted vocals I didn't like in the previous song, and the soliloquy by DeYoung is terrible. It's one of the better drum songs on the album, though.
Come Sail Away
Lady not withstanding, this was the song that introduced most people to Styx, albeit through the greatly abbreviated single version. As presented on the album, the middle portion is extended and adds to the tune a lot. The intricate piano bit at the beginning sounds complicated but really isn't -- I can even play it :-) Although only six minutes long, it's a suite of sort -- the introduction with DeYoung on piano and vocal, the build up to the heavy guitar bit, the interlude with synthesizer and the conclusion. Structurally, it's very Progressive, although with the interlude taken out, it becomes more of a standard rock song. DeYoung's best vocal performance on the album and Shaw runs a great guitar solo through the final chorus and into the fade out.
Miss America
I don't remember that I've ever been a huge fan of Young's songs, but this would have to be an exception. Again beginning with a synthesizer, he cuts into it with a classic Jimmy Page guitar line that picks up the tempo. I'm not really keen on either the vocals (verse or chorus) or lyric, but again there's a good interplay between guitar and synthesizer that is quite enjoyable.
Man In the Wilderness
A ballad of sorts, this is Shaw with a great vocal (his best on the album) with guitar and organ backing. Not a love story in the classic sense, the lyric is about not feeling comfortable with where you're at in life. Between the heavy guitar, Shaw's vocals (and the great backing vocals) and the keyboard bits, this is my favourite song on the album, kind of a surprising choice, I suppose.
Castle Walls
Revealing of DeYoung's deeper musical tendencies, this song takes a bass line and harpsichord and builds a fairly complex introduction behind his "epic" vocal and lyric. Noodling guitar and organ are also featured to complete the set. The bridge is a fantastic keyboard and drum bit with a spooky feeling to it. This song is a very good example of what Progressive Rock entails on some levels -- if you have this album and wonder what I'm talking about when I refer to the genre, listen to Castle Walls for some insight.
The Grand Finale
Reprising some of the parts from the earlier songs Come Sail Away, Superstars and The Grand Illusion, this final track rounds things up well, but isn't anything new.
Conclusion
While the first generation of Progressive Rock was rapidly dissolving, Styx picked up the torch and carried it well for a couple of years, along with other bands like Supertramp and Kansas. The Grand Illusion represents the best work of this talented band.
As a document which shows off the blending of hard rock, pop overtones and Progressive Rock, I can think of no better example than this album. I don't hesitate recommending it.
