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I love this band's classic material (1970s and early '80s), and I also enjoyed 1990's "Edge Of The Century", even though it was without Tommy Shaw. 1999's "Brave New World", even with Tommy Shaw, was interesting but suprisingly weak for this band. I truly thought after that effort that they would never put out another album of all new material. Now, nearly 4 years later and without founding member Dennis DeYoung, they are back and with a better album than they have had in over two decades.
I have nothing against Dennis DeYoung. I love many of his efforts in Styx and some of his solo stuff. That being said, Styx never would have put out an album this good again with him there. Lawrence Gowan is an adequate replacement on vocals and more-than adequate on the keyboards. Glen Burtnik is a fantastic musician and fine singer. Tommy and JY both still sound as great as ever. This lineup as a whole, with four different lead singers, puts out as good and diverse an effort as I ever could have hoped for...and one that ROCKS overall compared to anything recent by Styx.
Some highlights: Tommy sounds fantastic on the the catchy, mid-tempo "Waiting For Our Time", and I love the slowest ballad track on the album "Yes I Can" that features Tommy's and Glen's voices blending beautifully together. Lawrence's lead vocals on "Fields Of The Brave" and "Love Of The Money" reminds me of "Grand Illusion"-era Dennis DeYoung tracks with their melodies and pomp rock sound. JY sings on two of the best tracks he has done since the "Paradise Theater" days with the instant classic "These Are The Times" and the nearly as good rocker "Captain America". I also have to rave about the Glen-lead tracks, the catchy modern rocker "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" and the beautiful, haunting "Killing The Thing That You Love". Larry's keyboards on that track as well as the also-fantastic "One With Everything" (Tommy back on lead vocals) are absolutely stellar and reminiscent of classic Styx (although with an original twist as well).
I was one of many who was skeptical of how this new lineup would sound on a new album, but after many listens to this one I am more than sold. Don't listen to those negative reviewers out there; if you look closely, most of the 1-star reviewers here don't even give a coherent reason why they don't like the album. Unless all you liked about Styx was Dennis DeYoung, I strongly recommend picking up this album. A fantastic comeback album that any Styx fan, classic rock fan, and melodic rock fan should enjoy.
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