Disco de Styx: “Styxworld Live 2001”

Let me start with the positive aspects of this album, which are minimal. It is interesting to hear J.Y. on "Lorelei"; "Love Is The Ritual" rocks, and "Sing For The Day" doesn't sound bad, even if the last verse is missing! "Crystal Ball" sounds better than before, but it is the third time around.. Now for the downside, here we go, the fourth live Styx album, and the third to feature "Come Sail Away", "Crystal Ball", "Snowblind", "Rockin' The Paradise", and "Miss America"(which I can't believe made the album with those laughable vocals). With that in mind, one might ponder the point of this collection, did we really need to hear those songs again?? There are only four songs here that have never appeared on a live Styx album before, "Sing For The Day", "Half Penny, Two Penny", "Love Is The Ritual", and Lawrence's "A Criminal Mind", oh, unless you count the two minute versions of "High Enough", and "Sometimes Love Aint Enough", something I didn't realize til after I bought the cd, sure, the times are listed on the back, but it didn't dawn on me that Styx would pull something that low, considering those songs are even mentioned on the promotional sticker, what a joke. What's disappointing here is this really could have been a good album, even if it was live. They should have only done songs that have never before been released live, and then added at least three new tracks to hold people over til their next studio album. Don't get me wrong, I am glad the guys are still going at it, I would love for them to get more airplay, and give some of the crap music we have today a run for it's money, and this album could have been a step in that direction, but it wasn't. If they are really trying to move on without Dennis, they neeed to put out some new material, especially with Lawrence on lead, because he sounds good on his own material, he just can't sing DeYoung's, and they need to attempt to do as little of his songs as they can.

I am a long time STYX fan (Original STYX that is)! I saw these guys last year in concert with REO and yes the energy level seems great but for God's sake don't call yourself STYX! Todd Sucherman and Glenn Burtnik do a great job. (Glen replaced Tommy with no problems for Edge of the Century). This reincarnation is just plain lousy. Yeah the Tommy and JY songs are ok but Gowan doing Dennis DeYoung sounds like a wailing pig! Maybe he IS talented... but do your own stuff. I only bought this CD for "High Enough", "Half Penny", and "Love is the Ritual". I refuse to listen to Larry Gowan sing "Come Sail Away". That's just a sin. Hey guys, why don't you invite Kid Rock on the next tour and he can do "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man"? Dennis, Tommy, and JY are the core (although most of JY's songs are pretty bad). If those 3 aren't together it ain't STYX guys. Sooner or later everyone will realize that and be as disappointed as I am.

I haven't really followed the band much since it was announced that Dennis DeYoung was actually kicked out of the band, but I bought this CD anyway just because I was excited to hear some of the less popular songs live...such as Half Penny Two Penny, and Glen Burtnik's Love is the Ritual. I really didn't care for this album at all. For some reason, the album didn't feel very "live"...it sounded like they recorded all these songs while playing down at the local pub or something.

The one highlight of the CD is Gowan's "A Criminal Mind". While not very Styxish, the song sounded great. The truth is, though, Gowan's voice does not come over nearly as well live as Dennis DeYoung's did...and that really hurts this live album. I have seen Gowan live on stage, and he really is great on stage...but that doesn't come through on the CD.

Tommy and JY still sound ok. Tommy I think has been influenced by Kevin Cronin (REO) a little too much...they say the same things...sound the same. (Arch Allies)

In my opinion, if this new line up is to be accepted, they really need to release a new studio album. Let's see what these guys can come up with, now that all this new talent is with band.

I have very mixed feelings about this CD. I have been listening to Styx since the mid 70s, and have all of their albums as well as all of Dennis and Tommy's solo work. First, this DVD loses a couple of points for originality. It consists almost entirely of old Styx and non Styx tunes. The only really original song was Lawrence's "Criminal Mind". I was disappointed by the absense of any new Tommy Shaw tunes. Instrumentally, this DVD is great. All of Tommy's vocals are great, as usual. "Criminal Mind" and "Sometimes Love Just Aint Enough" demonstrate that Lawrence has a great voice when he is singing within his vocal range. Unfortunately he struggles valiantly to handle the DDY arrangements and comes off sounding like a cheap imitation on classics like Lorelei, Come sail away, and Rocking the Paradise. JY also fails to do himself justice on Half Penny, Two Penny, Snowblind, and the worst rendition of Miss America I have heard to date. When I got this CD, I was hoping to find fresh, new material from the "Fresh new lineup". I enjoyed what little new music there was very much. I think that New Styx would do much better if they made New Styx music instead of trying accomplish the impossible task of sounding like Styx Classic. Dennis' absense is felt strongly in the lack of vocal quality on the classic songs as well as the overall lack of creativity demonstrated by both this and the last New Styx effort.

Of Styx's last 4 CDs 3 have been live albums and frankly, it's beyond getting old. Some brief highlights, a good, if truncated, version of Gowan's Criminal Mind and a couple of other new pieces, but really not worth the time or money in my book. Most of these songs were performed, recorded, and mixed better in "Return to Paradise", which is their best live album. This is not.

Dennis DeYoung is also missed. Styx will apparently move on without him (reportedly against his will), but another live album including DeYoung songs is a strange way to do it. I am a big Lawrence Gowan (DeYoung's replacement) fan back from the mid 80's. However, as good as Gowan is, and although there seems to be more energy on stage now, I think the musical chemistry and vocal harmonies have dropped several notches.

If you want a good live album, get "Return to Paradise". It sounds much better than this. I'm curious to see what the new lineup will do with new material (though I may die of old age before that happens, apparently). However, with DeYoung's absence, the vocal magic of the past will apparently never return for Styx--what a shame.