Label: Audio Fidelity (US), AFZ 067
Style: Classic Rock, Progressive Rock, Pop Rock
Country: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Time: 39:19
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 261 Mb
Charts: UK #6, AUS #49, SWE #38. CAN: Platinum; US: 3x Platinum.
Although
it was seventh overall studio album for the band, The Grand Illusion
was the second album from Styx to head towards a more radio-friendly
direction. The Chicago based band with a traditional prog-rock approach,
began to write more mainstream material with the arrival of guitarist
Tommy Shaw in late 1975. Shaw joined fellow guitarist James “JY” Young
and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung as the band’s trio of songwriters and
lead singers. Each brought a distinct style which contrasted with the
others. Yet they also complimented each other in various ways and, for
the most part, Styx forged a decently harmonic sound.
The Grand
illusion itself is a pleasant listen, albeit a bit uneven and less-than
cohesive. The fantastic first side contains all the radio and chart hits
with a much less inspired second side featuring some under-developed
pieces which render the album short of greatness. The album showed the
great potential of Styx band as a sort of “prog lite” outfit with much
more pop crossover appeal than their earlier work. This would be a
template set for bands like Genesis, who followed suit in subsequent
years and through the 1980s.
Seven turned out to be the lucky number
for the band as this album (their 7th overall, released on 7/07/77) went
triple platinum in sales and spawned a couple of hit singles.
Thematically, the concept of The Grand Illusion examines the futility of
solely aspiring to fame. According to DeYoung, it is about the struggle
to overcome self-deluding superficiality in order to affirm one’s
genuine value.
The intro march of “The Grand Illusion” draws you in
immediately, complimented in short time by the stop/start nature of the
first verse. This theme song by Dennis DeYoung eventually breaks into
the more driving, melodic choruses and features early guitar fills by
Shaw and a soaring lead by JY later in the song. More than any other
song on the album, this opener finds the nice balance between between
progressive and AOR, which appears to be the band’s vision for this
album.
Tommy Shaw’s “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” begins
with a nice opening synth sequence by DeYoung which compliments Shaw’s
acoustic strumming. The song eventually settles into a strong rhythmic
beat by bassist Chuck Panozzo and his brother, drummer John Panozzo,
before another nice synth lead. Both this song and Shaw’s ballad, “Man
In the Wilderness” are written in the same vein as material by the band
Kansas, revealing that band’s influence on Styx.
“Superstars” is a
collaborative effort by DeYoung, Shaw, and Young, which built like a
show tune with a rock backbone. Although the song does contain some
rewarding and entertaining sections like the nice lead guitar, it does
sound a bit dated like something which could have been on a
teen-oriented TV show of the era, not to mention the title itself.
Closing
the first side, “Come Sail Away” is the album’s true masterpiece. It is
a beautiful song with a refreshing, simple piano arrangement by DeYoung
up front. The song is adventurous and romantic with just a tinge of
strangeness like a journey into the unknown. There are a couple of great
moments when the melodic, keyboard driven sections are cut sharply by a
strong, rock-oriented, guitar-driven arrangement. The mid section
contains dualing synths by DeYoung and JY, which adds to the mystique of
the song with its “modern” sequencing and new agish overtones. Long
considered a pioneering power ballad, “Come Sail Away” is a much richer
number and is perhaps the finest Styx would ever forge.
JY takes lead
vocals on his track “Miss America”. It starts with a synth rendition of
the traditional song before giving way to a sharper, driving verse and a
thickly harmonized chorus. “Castle Walls” starts with a heartbeat-like
bass line by Chuck Panozzo with overlain Baroque keys by DeYoung before
Shaw and Young again trade guitar leads later in the song. “The Grand
Finale” closes the album as a sort of reverse-overture which
incorporates elements of the better songs from the first side.
The
success of The Grand Illusion launched Styx into the most successful era
of their career with three more successful albums up to and including
their blockbuster Paradise Theatre in 1981. The band built of the
theatrical, pop-oriented, and soft rock elements of this 1977 album to
bring them the widespread success that they had worked towards for
years.
(classicrockreview.com/2012/02/1977-styx-grand-illusion/)
01. The Grand Illusion (04:37)
02. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) (05:32)
03. Superstars (04:03)
04. Come Sail Away (06:10)
05. Miss America (05:04)
06. Man In The Wilderness (05:51)
07. Castle Walls (05:59)
08. The Grand Finale (02:00)
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