2010 saw legendary rock act Styx take their The Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight tour around the US, playing both classic albums in their entirety back to back to thrilled audiences who had been hoping for such an event for many years. On November 9th of that year the band stopped over at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee for a show that was filmed and recorded for Eagle Rock Entertainment. If you had a chance to catch the band on the tour, or perhaps simply picked up a copy of the Blu-ray or DVD documenting the show, you already know what a special occasion it was to see both of these stellar albums highlighted and given such royal treatment, with quite a few of the songs never being performed live previously by the band. To complement our review of the Blu-ray release, Eagle Rock has now unleashed the 2 CD set so you can take this fun show along with you in the car, or throw on your portable music device to play at any time and for any occasion.
The band, which includes Tommy Shaw, James Young, Todd Sucherman, Lawrence Gowan, Ricky Phillips, and Chuck Panozzo, really did a fantastic job of nailing all these unforgettable songs. Dennis DeYoung has been gone from the band for a while now, but Gowan has more than filled into his spot, delivering all those classic keyboard lines & textures, and his vocals sound remarkably like DeYoung. As for Shaw & Young, time has been really good to them, both still sounding great vocally (especially Shaw, who has never sounded better) and delivering all those killer guitar riffs & solos. Highlights are many, but for this longtime fan, the chance to hear "Man in the Wilderness", "Castle Walls", "Great White Hope", "Lords of the Ring", "Queen of Spades", and "Pieces of Eight" live on stage for the first time made so much more of an impact. Yes, "Come Sail Away", "Blue Collar Man", "Renegade", "The Grand Illusion", and "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" are great, classic songs, but FM rock radio has done its share of overplaying them over the years, so it's the deep album cuts that really are the stars here.
As someone who was lucky enough to catch this tour, I can only give thanks to Eagle Rock for making sure fans have a video and audio memento of this special event to revisit from time to time.
Track Listing
Disc 1:
1. The Grand Illusion 5:38
2. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) 6:20
3. Superstars 6:17
4. Come Sail Away 8:55
5. Miss America 6:18
6. Man in the Wilderness 6:49
7. Castle Walls 6:04
8. The Grand Finale 2:24
Disc 2:
1. Great White Hope 5:00
2. I'm Okay 7:10
3. Sing For The Day 5:06
4. The Message 1:13
5. Lords Of The Ring 4:36
6. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) 5:17
7. Queen Of Spades 6:08
8. Renegade 5:10
9. Pieces Of Eight 5:23
10. Aku-Aku 3:18
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