Most fans rate "The Grand Illusion" as Styx' best album. I would tend to disagree. From a purely musical standpoint, "Pieces of Eight" is the more complete work and shows the talents of the band at their prime. It is a complete work, one that lends itself to listening to it in its entirety, almost as if the individual songs were intended as movements in a symphony.
The album begins with the fast, hard-driving "Great White Hope". This song really gets your attention and gets the album going. This is contrasted with the slower, more majestic "I'm OK" which features a pipe organ solo performed by Dennis DeYoung recorded in a cathedral. If there is a weak link on the album, it is the third cut, "Sing for the Day", a lighter tune in 6/8. While a nice, sparsely textured and upbeat follow up to "I'm OK", it doesn't seem to demonstrate the same level of compositional talent as the rest of the album. The tour de force of the album is "The Message/Lord of the Rings". Here Styx continues its exploration of fantasy and storytelling, just as it had in earlier days with tracks such as "Jonas Psalter", and "Castle Walls". "The Message" demonstrates Dennis DeYoung's mastery of the synthesizer, both in technique and in creativity with timbres. "Lord of the Rings" is simply majestic and inspiring, and is probably the best example of all the voices within the band working together. If you aren't motivated by listening to this cut, you must not be a Styx fan. Incidentally, this first side consists entirely of songs in major keys. Side one is clearly uplifting both in musical mood, texture, and in lyrics.
Side 2 takes us on a journey into the minor keys. "Blue Collar Man" may be Tommy Shaw's finest work- one of those rare moments of inspired genius. Musically the song perfectly depicts the lyrical content of a desperate man fighting against all odds to make ends meet and the determination and will to get the job done. "Queen of Spades" is a minor-key soliloquy on the dangers of gambling addictions (or is it?). The vocal harmonies on this song (as throughout the album) really serve to bring home the message. "Renegade" is another song in a minor key and features blazing guitar work. I can remember being ten years old and hearing this song booming out of a chevy camaro going down the street- exciting! We end the album with the title track, which again starts out in a minor key as Dennis DeYoung recounts the events of a day with accoustic guitar accompaniment- we hear two stanzas of this, the second complimented with a bass countermelody, building anticipation. Psychologically, we've been in minor keys for an awfully long time, so when the chorus comes in in major, it is the perfect release of tension which has built up over eleven minutes. But they don't end there! We are treated to a developmental section where a melody is played by Dennis on the Piano, and each other voice enters sucessively with accompanying material including another bass countermelody. Dennis really out-does himself at the conclusion of this section with a rapid virtuosic passage. A majestic guitar solo (JY I believe?) ushers us back to the chorus, which repeats in all its glory until a cadence which ends on a suspension, resolves, and then Dennis plays a cadenza which ends leaving just one lone synthesizer note- this leads into the "Coda" of the album, a hauntingly relaxing Shaw composition entitled "Aku Aku". One is left with a feeling of completeness. "Pieces of Eight" is a true harmonic journey, THE masterwork of real musicians at the height of their compositional abilities.
Styx' Finest Work
Styx - A Let Down From The Previous Album
