Styx - Cyclorama

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Music reviews of Cyclorama

Music Review: A New Beginning
Rating: 5 Stars

The new guys: Glen Burtnick's bass playing, songwriting, and vocals bring a lot to the band's new album, not to mention the live shows. 4 part harmonies?! YEAH! His bass playing is far superior to that of former bassist, Chuck Pannozzo, and the band grooves more than they have in the past.

One Glenbone to pick here... I think that it would've been cool of Burtnick and the rest of the band to self-censor some lyrics in the song "Killing the Thing That You Love". While Glen has come out and said that the lyrics were written PDD (Pre DeYoung's Departure) and have nothing to do with DeYoung, the band should've known that such references in the lyrics would be seen as kind of a slap in the face to Dennis and his fans. Had I been Tommy Shaw, I would've stood up to my full 3 foot 7 height and said "Hey man, let's change this just a bit so it can't be construed as taking a shot at Dennis". It just would've been cool and the classy thing to do. Having said that, the song is musically great. Check out his solo album Palookaville. Great.

Lawrence Gowan- Jeez, how I TRIED to hate this guy! As a devoted Styx nut since my senior year in '81 (yeah, I'm an old guy!) I pretty much pledged my allegiance to Dennis DeYoung and the United States of Styxland, but Gowan's songs on the new album are SUCH a breath of fresh air compared to what Dennis had been giving us since "Kilroy Was Here". I'm a huge DeYoung fan, but from Kilroy on, Dennis seemed to kind of recycle the same "Babe-Type" songs with the same dopey Fender Rhoades keyboard sounds. He got so very predictable, and also very corny. Kind of like if I pick up my guitar and start jamming in front of my 13-year-old daughter's friends. Dorky.

Gowan's much like the old Dennis: before Dennis wrote *just* love songs, he wrote very poignant, politically based lyrics (Unfortunately, rock press always ignored that). I find Gowan's lyrics in both of his Cyclorama songs VERY DeYoungian. Let's hope there's not a little Dennis trying to jump out of Lawrence to scream "Domo Ariagato! I'm Kilroy!" Gowan's songs come across as very British, almost Queen-like. No complaints here! Gowan doesn't take ANYTHING away from Dennis' legacy. The only problem I ever had with Gowan was the way he performed Dennis' old tunes. I would've had that problem with ANYONE doing Dennis' songs. Dennis is a classic. However, if you turn your back on Lawrence Gowan's Cyclorama stuff, you're missing the best stuff on the album.

Todd Sucherman- My God! What a powerhouse drummer! Can't say enough nice stuff about this guy's playing.

James Young. The original Stygian.
Personally, I've always thought that JY should be limited to one lead vocal per album. Not the best lead singer, especially when compared to Gowan and Burtnick. "Great White Hope" and "Midnight Ride" are 2 exceptions. However, his background voice is THE foundation of the total Styx vocal sound. His two songs on Cyclorama are surprisingly good. He's still got that weird kind of "Snowblind" "Double Life" kind of voice, but he seems a bit more reigned in vocally this time. His guitar playing is always great.

Finally, there's Shaw. Tommy Shaw's taken a lot of crap for what's gone down as "Styx kicking out its founder". I don't think that's fair. I think that Tommy should, again, be commended for not letting Styx just die or become some schmaltzy, DeYoung vehicle. It seems like Shaw has been responsible for keeping in touch with Styx fans via the Styxworld web site and also for steering the band into old, yet new territory.

The old Styx ROCKED. "Equinox" (which Tommy wasn't a part of), "Crystal Ball", "Grand Illusion", and "Pieces of Eight" were great albums of their time. After those, things became forgettable, even embarrassing for Styx fans. When "Mr. Roboto" came out in 83, it was the subject of so much ridicule and scorn. Styx became, in an instant, UNCOOL. In the VW ad, it's great. As a piece of rock, it's trash.

Cyclorama, on the other hand, is SUCH a good album. It returns the band to Rock. The album is EASILY better than "Paradise Theatre" and as good as "Pieces of Eight". The songs are all very catchy without being corny or embarrassing. It's got hooks, guitars, keyboard solos. No Horns. No Robot suits. Just a great album.

Thank you Styx for giving Styx fans a Great new album.

Dennis DeYoung: You grew out of Styx a long time ago. Hopefully, you're looking to the future as an opportunity to produce new music that goes in the direction YOU want to go. Your diehard fans are also waiting for you to produce new stuff so "CARRY ON".

Description of Cyclorama

Classic Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Hard Rock & Metal
• Pop
• Rock