You're fooling yourself if you think Styx are done!
Published March 02, 2003
Cyclorama
Styx
Sanctuary
Dennis DeYoung thought Styx could not go on when he left the band in 1999. How utterly wrong he was! (He knows it and is suing the band over the use of the name.) Styx are back with a cracking good album that harkens back to them in their heyday. Lawrence Gowan, who replaced DeYoung, demonstrates his talent again and again, not only is he a better keyboard player but it could be argued he is a better singer as well. Styx have roped in the likes of Billy Bob Thorton for the vocals on "Bourgeois Pig' , Tenacious D for the rock star piss-take of 'Kiss Your Asee Goodbye', no less than Brian Wilson on a lush re-working of 'Fooling Yourself' and John Waite (ex-Babys & Bad English) on 'Yes I Can'. Fourteen tracks make this good value and the band make sure you enjoy the ride. This is their best music for at least two decades. Styx have taken the best of their distant past, added a dash of Damn Yankees, a dash of the uber-talented Glenn Burtnik and come up with an impressive album that will please all but the most diehard of DeYoung fans.
Marty Dodge 4.5/5
Marty's band, Growing Old Disgracefully, can be found at: Disgraceful Music. His Cthulhu tales can be found at Temple of Dagon. 
- You're fooling yourself if you think Styx are done!
- Published: March 02, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Hard Rock
- Writer: Marty Dodge
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Cyclorama is a must have for any Styx collection. It is a fantastic album, and the best Styx has put out in years. I actually think it's much better witout the bubblegum crap that DeYoung has been spitting out in the last couple of albums. Lawrence Gowan does a great DeYoung 'impersonation' and, although he is a talented singer and keyboardist, his stuff is really not necessary in order to validate this as a great Styx album. It could have easily stood on it's own without having to 'replace' DeYoung. Tommy Shaw's beautiful "Yes I Can" and JY's rocking "Captain America" are great tunes. The blatant jabs at DeYoung in "Bourgeois Pig", "Killing The Thing That You Love" and "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" are fun to listen for, but they are all great tunes as well. But it is really JY's "These Are The Times" that makes the album, in my opinion. It is classic Styx and ranks right up there with the best stuff off of The Grand Illusion. I have been known to listen to it over and over it's so good. Great job JY. And Tommy and the rest of the band. Thanks for going out on a limb and putting this album out for us fans ... despite the lawsuits, etc. This is the Styx album that we've been waiting for for years. It's just too bad that it took DeYoung leaving the band to get an album like this again. I honestly can't wait for the next one now!
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I agree Marty - it's a pretty good disk overall, my favorite song is 'Yes I can' - But the others are growing on me!