Classic Rock Album of the Day- Styx- Equinox (1975) **** 1/2
I have a lot of emotion invested in this LP. This and my Boston debut album dominated my turntable and Truck 8-Track during the 1976-1977 timeframe. This was also the first sucessful LP of the first great band that I got to see live. Styx, in their early form and in the sequence of albums #5, #7,and #8, were utter prog Juggenaunts who did more to bring the Priggish-AOR-ish genre to the masses than anyone this side of the Atlantic... with maybe an argument from those super Kansas fans.
I had earlier reviewed Pieces of 8 here, which is aptly #8 of that sequence. That album and Grand Illusion captured what was the best of their songwriting. You can see the polish and the producetion sheen in earnest. But still, ius who loved Prog in the '70's can not discount those 2 albums. They made them huge headliners nation wide, but there was a dark side too, which I will cover later.
Equinox, OTOH, has the same elements, but nicely shows some grit and a harder edge that was lost after this album. If you are into pure hard rocking, this is much more a better choice than the stuff a few years later, and a nice balance between the di-opposing artistic direction that later tore this band apart, and IMO did serious damage to its legacy.
Equinox is a perfect example of how that schism was faintly evident even early on. This is an album is basically two albums in one. One being influenced and eventually 10 years later drug down the drain in the form of shitty pop ballads. Yeah folks, that villain is Dennis DeYoung. Dennis DeYoung is an incredibly talented keyboard man, and song writer, but he had a penchant for the sappy love song, and lighter fare. Which by 1980, had degraded into crappy pop mush. On the other side, album (literally) and figuratively was James Young, and later Tommy Shaw who had the hard rocking acumen which soundly made the band a massive success. Which was a blend of the two styles of heavy melodic synth, with hard driving guitar interplay.
If if hadn't been the sad fact, that DDY couldn't keep his massive ego in check, we might have seen some really good stuff after Pieces of 8. But no.... DDY flipped off the fan base with shit like Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, and Kilroy was Here. It was criminal, it was epically tragic. No one nowadays hardly remembers Styx, and that is all on DDY.
But back to this album. No filler hardly. This is 1975 at its best.
Side 1- (Dennis')
------------
Light Up- Guess it was kind of dicey back in the day, bringing up 420 topics. Well maybe 420/relationship quips. Heavy synth and rocking number. It might be my hatred of DDY, but his most sappy of tunes just don't have the same charm they had 50 years ago. 6
Lorelei- Now cohabitation? DDY's ode to shacking up works better than Light up, as JY has a stronger role in melodic lines. Really like Panozzo's bass work on this one too. Some nicely done choral rounds done at end. 5
Mother Dear- Maybe the most adventerous try by the band, but the way it is delivered doesn't hit the mark. Weakest cut in a fantastic album- 7
Lonely Child- Difficult to listen to. Memories. 3
Side 2- (JY's)
--------------
Midnight Ride- So starts the rocking bad ass side. JY knocks this one of the park with an excellent. Actually was kind of nice break to shut DDY's keyboard up. Really good tune, and just wait until a few years when Tommy Shaw is added to add some dueling elements to the live versions. 4
Born For Adventure- Another great rocking epic tune. Riffs and runs are a lot tougher than everyone realized on this one. Has maybe JY's best solo toward the end. And after being blown away, this song leads to........... 2
Prelude 12/ Suite Madam Blue- There are a number of songs that just can't be decoupled in the era, and I have covered a few previously. This is another one of those classics. You can not play Suite Madam Blue without the Prelude opening. It'd be rock and roll sacrilege. Suite Madam Blue is the perfect Styx song. It runs through every aspect of Styx's repitoire, and cressendos into one of the greatest hell breaking loose explosions of the era. Man did I ever crank up the speakers for this one. Best heard loud as hell. Fantastic and one the best closings of an album ever.. 1
I have a lot of emotion invested in this LP. This and my Boston debut album dominated my turntable and Truck 8-Track during the 1976-1977 timeframe. This was also the first sucessful LP of the first great band that I got to see live. Styx, in their early form and in the sequence of albums #5, #7,and #8, were utter prog Juggenaunts who did more to bring the Priggish-AOR-ish genre to the masses than anyone this side of the Atlantic... with maybe an argument from those super Kansas fans.
I had earlier reviewed Pieces of 8 here, which is aptly #8 of that sequence. That album and Grand Illusion captured what was the best of their songwriting. You can see the polish and the producetion sheen in earnest. But still, ius who loved Prog in the '70's can not discount those 2 albums. They made them huge headliners nation wide, but there was a dark side too, which I will cover later.
Equinox, OTOH, has the same elements, but nicely shows some grit and a harder edge that was lost after this album. If you are into pure hard rocking, this is much more a better choice than the stuff a few years later, and a nice balance between the di-opposing artistic direction that later tore this band apart, and IMO did serious damage to its legacy.
Equinox is a perfect example of how that schism was faintly evident even early on. This is an album is basically two albums in one. One being influenced and eventually 10 years later drug down the drain in the form of shitty pop ballads. Yeah folks, that villain is Dennis DeYoung. Dennis DeYoung is an incredibly talented keyboard man, and song writer, but he had a penchant for the sappy love song, and lighter fare. Which by 1980, had degraded into crappy pop mush. On the other side, album (literally) and figuratively was James Young, and later Tommy Shaw who had the hard rocking acumen which soundly made the band a massive success. Which was a blend of the two styles of heavy melodic synth, with hard driving guitar interplay.
If if hadn't been the sad fact, that DDY couldn't keep his massive ego in check, we might have seen some really good stuff after Pieces of 8. But no.... DDY flipped off the fan base with shit like Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, and Kilroy was Here. It was criminal, it was epically tragic. No one nowadays hardly remembers Styx, and that is all on DDY.
But back to this album. No filler hardly. This is 1975 at its best.
Side 1- (Dennis')
------------
Light Up- Guess it was kind of dicey back in the day, bringing up 420 topics. Well maybe 420/relationship quips. Heavy synth and rocking number. It might be my hatred of DDY, but his most sappy of tunes just don't have the same charm they had 50 years ago. 6
Lorelei- Now cohabitation? DDY's ode to shacking up works better than Light up, as JY has a stronger role in melodic lines. Really like Panozzo's bass work on this one too. Some nicely done choral rounds done at end. 5
Mother Dear- Maybe the most adventerous try by the band, but the way it is delivered doesn't hit the mark. Weakest cut in a fantastic album- 7
Lonely Child- Difficult to listen to. Memories. 3
Side 2- (JY's)
--------------
Midnight Ride- So starts the rocking bad ass side. JY knocks this one of the park with an excellent. Actually was kind of nice break to shut DDY's keyboard up. Really good tune, and just wait until a few years when Tommy Shaw is added to add some dueling elements to the live versions. 4
Born For Adventure- Another great rocking epic tune. Riffs and runs are a lot tougher than everyone realized on this one. Has maybe JY's best solo toward the end. And after being blown away, this song leads to........... 2
Prelude 12/ Suite Madam Blue- There are a number of songs that just can't be decoupled in the era, and I have covered a few previously. This is another one of those classics. You can not play Suite Madam Blue without the Prelude opening. It'd be rock and roll sacrilege. Suite Madam Blue is the perfect Styx song. It runs through every aspect of Styx's repitoire, and cressendos into one of the greatest hell breaking loose explosions of the era. Man did I ever crank up the speakers for this one. Best heard loud as hell. Fantastic and one the best closings of an album ever.. 1
