For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed the music of Styx. There was just something about its overall majesty and melody that drew me in from the first notes of the song "Lorelei", which if I remember correctly was my first introduction to the band's output. This next edition in the "Icon" series of Best-Of's that are coming out on Universal Music is a worthwhile piece for your music collection, especially if you don't have any hits compilations for the band already. As you glance around the tracks listed you can see that we get a little bit of everything from their history, outside of the most recent years. You cannot go wrong with "Come Sail Away" or "Too Much Time On My Hands" and if you are old enough you will likely remember the glory days of radio when tunes like these ruled the airwaves. They include my own favorites like those just mentioned and "Lorelei", "Fooling Yourself" and "Blue Collar Man" and it's enough to make you not realize that nothing from the current lineup seems to be presented. We get a couple of tracks from the bands Wooden Nickel years by way of "Lady" and "Man In The Wilderness" so those might interest the hard core listener as well. They sound excellent as remastered tracks and will shake the walls when played at proper volume. The only downside to them in my humble opinion is the lack of liner notes and photos as these just give you the music with no other fringe benefits. I am thinking that in these ever changing music times that the new listener hardly cares about such inclusions and instead will do any searching for that stuff online.
If you do own the more comprehensive "Gold" release then you will not really need to pick this one up as every tune presented here is included on that album and then some. I can say if you are looking for a treat for someone as a house-warming or need a quick present for that special someone that you buy this and maybe a couple of other "Icon" editions since they are priced so well. Styx currently tours today but with a number of lineup changes. The most dramatic of them being in the bands original voice Dennis DeYoung who has been replaced by Lawrence Gowan.
Track Listing:
1. Renegade
2. Come Sail Away
3. Mr. Roboto
4. Babe
5. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
6. Lorelei
7. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
8. Too Much Time On My Hands
9. Lady
10. Snowblind
11. Mademoiselle
12. Show Me The Way
13. Light Up
14. Crystal Ball
15. Miss America
16. Boat On The River
17. Borrowed Time
18. Suite Madame Blue
19. The Grand Illusion
20. Love Is The Ritual
21. The Best Of Times
22. Man In The Wilderness
23. Shooz
24. Lights
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