Description:Album Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2009.
In some ways, Styx was America's answer to Queen. The Chicago quintet never ascended to theAlbum Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2009.
In some ways, Styx was America's answer to Queen. The Chicago quintet never ascended to the ranks of rock-and-roll royalty, as did their English counterparts, nor are they held in as high a regard today. Nevertheless, Styx fulfilled a Midwestern American hunger for high-flown fantasy typified on Pieces of Eight with songs like Dennis DeYoung and James Young's "I'm Okay" and "Lords of the Rings," with their elaborate arrangements, soaring vocal harmonies, and lyrical pretensions. In quite another direction, guitarist Tommy Shaw writes about basic human needs and working-class values in "Blue Collar Man," while his song "Sing for the Day" is a pleasant air, and "Renegade" a hard-charging rocker. Styx may have seemed somewhat schizophrenic on Pieces of Eight but their legions of fans diminished not a whit, making the album the band's second multiplatinum effort in a row, following The Grand Illusion.--Daniel Durchholz