Music Monday (Styx II, Side 1)

In 1973, Styx followed up their debut album simply called Styx (or Styx I in some cases), with Styx II. Real original I know. This also has a different name with the 1980 re-issue, but I will cover that when I go into side two.

The first thing that you will notice about this album is that Dennis DeYoung is all over it. And that is why this is one of my favorite albums in the whole discography. After Styx I (previously covered here: Side 1, Side 2) it was hard to get a handle on what kind of band this was. Southern rock? Prog rock? Blues? The best description I have read was "art rock". I believe that's what best described Styx II.

Music Monday (Styx I, Side 1)

So as I was finishing up the last few albums in the Yes discography, I began planning ahead for what I would do next. That answer was simple: Styx. In a way I know these albums far better than the Yes catalog because I was a fan of Styx first.

I will go into much more detail on it later, but in the early 80's when I got my first big boy stereo (and headphones) the first album I wanted on my turntable was Paradise Theater. I was massively hooked. That's when I began collecting the back catalog, but there were some albums I just couldn't figure out. Some of them had weird album covers and contained songs I had never heard of before. I later found out that these were re-issued albums from their original record company Wooden Nickel Records.

But first, some background on the band: