Climb Aboard our Starship4 Out of 5 Stars
Styx was a great band on multiple fronts in their prime. With a three pronged lead vocal attack (Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw and James Young) and a musical sensibilty split between 70's prog-rock and big hair arena bands, they were able to have album rock classics and top 40 singles. Their second album for A&M (and 6th overall), "The Grand Illusion" was the album that found Styx merging into a peak with ambitions.
Of course, like many prog-wannabe's in the 70's, they also had a few hang-ups. The lyrics still were locked onto hobbits, castles, damsels in distress, men lost in their wilderness and UFO's. What was profound to a 17 year old fan now sounds kitschy, yet no less enjoyable. And again, like so many progsters in the 70's, there was a concept behind "The Grand Illusion," in that fame can be an illusion and dirty trick on those who seek it, and it's often better to just let yourself travel a natural course (best emphasized by Shaw's "Fooling Yourself").
There's also the playing. An edited version of "Come Sail Away" became the band's second big hit, but on the album's six minute version, spacey synthesizers bob and weave through an extended instrumental break. During the mid section of "Castle Walls," the band stomps through a medieval sounding build-up, complete with the kind of keyboard bursts you know were just itching for an over-the-top concert light extravaganza.
The flipside is "Miss America," a basic hard rocking put down of shallowness and the toughest song here. It's the kind of rock that would explode on "Blue Collar Man" two years later. Styx's willingness to meld various styles was what made this album so appealing in 1978 (as well as on South Park decades later). "The Grand Illusion" is the album where the classic Styx line-up becomes crystal clear.
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