Fun show, great discussion 😎👍 I got my driver's license in 1981 and that year went to see & hear: .38 Special Gamma Kansas The Kinks Molly Hatchet Stevie Nicks Reo UFO Joe Walsh Y&T But the highlight of the year for 16 year old me was July 6th an evening with Styx for the 'Paradise Theater' tour.🎸

Always a quality show when PETE is a host: co host. Nice 👍 job HACK 👍💯

I got to see them in 96 the paradise anniversary tour and Kansas opened

GREAT show! My top 5 are: 5. Crash Of The Crown 4. Crystal Ball 3. Pieces Of Eight 2. The Grand Illusion' 1. Equinox

kudos for mentioning The Mission and Crash Of The Crown, which are right up there with their LPs from '75-'81. I saw the Paradise Theatre tour which was excellent and have seen them twice since Larry Gowan joined. I think he has brought a new energy to their live shows, they are still a great band to see live. Gowan had a decent solo career here in Canada. For anyone unfamiliar with his solo work, give a listen to Strange Animal. It was recorded in 1984 with David Rhodes, Jerry Marotta and Tony Levin from Peter Gabriel's band as his musicians. Excellent songs, musicianship and production from David Tickle. PS Guitar Hack - I really enjoy your Top Five format, with 1 or 2 honourable mentions.

I was fortunate to see Styx in 1979 on the Cornerstone tour in Champaign, Illinois. Fantastic concert. I had been listening to them for several years at that point. My top five in no particular order are Grand Illusion, Crystal Ball, Equinox, Pieces of Eight and Paradise Theater. Cornerstone would get an honorable mention. Suite Madame Blue is one of my favorites as well. Crystal Ball is a close second, and it was on the setlist in 1979. Big fan of Queen of Spades.

@DonaldMains

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You’ve got the right albums. To me POE and GI are clearly 1 and 2, or 2 and 1. It’s hard to decide because both albums are so utterly perfect and stack up against any group’s best albums out here. CB, E and PT are 3.4.5 and in any order of preference. Cornerstone is number 6, a worthy contender , but in my opinion lacks something that I can’t define to be in the top 5. Although, I still enjoy listening to Cornerstone a lot.

1. The Grand Illusion 2. Equinox 3. Pieces of Eight 4. Paradise Theatre 5. Crystal Ball

Man of miracles is a great album Totally agree with your choices

My first meeting with Styx . I was at college and a girl in my class had tickets and no one to go with. So I volunteered . We had very little money and I always hitch hiked back then. So we hitched our way to London about 130 miles. We got to the show took our seats and the support band came on. And they were awesome . Saga . That was the start of my love of them. Styx were OK but Saga were so different in those days and wowed me. I have seen both many times since both are great acts.

@mellotronin54

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And I forgot yo say we then hitched to Oxford as my sister lived there. Who picked us up but the Limo driver who had just dropped Styx of back at there hotel. So kinda Styx paid for my ride home.

@garyjoyce2160

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@@mellotronin54 / tremendous story. Super cool 👍💯

Gotta go with the feels. Grand Illusion was played on the radio alongside Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald and The Rockford Files theme. And then there is that great artistic cover. Grand Illusion is my number one.

Great show guys 5. Pieces Of Eight 4. Crystal Ball 3. Equinox 2. The Mission 1. The Grand Illusion

Excellent show, thank you !

I think their first album is one of the best records I've ever heard. I remember the day I bought it at a record store in suburban Chicago just because the cover was cool. Grew up in the same area as the guys and have been a fan forever. Great show.

I’ve been a huge Styx fan since 1977. And back in the late 70s and early 80s, l recall receiving a lot of $h!¥ about it at school. At any rate, in mid-1977, New York rock radio was all over The Grand Illusion album. I heard “Come Sail Away” first, fell in love with the song and went out to buy the album… on vinyl. It came with a big folded up poster, the inner sleeve had all the lyrics, and the info as to who played each guitar solo. I poured over all the information and became fascinated with liner notes after that. This was, after all, the first rock album l ever purchased with my own money. On the live front, my first Styx concert was on the Paradise Theatre. During “Nothing Ever Goes As Planned,” some roadies came out and held a bar, as certain band members limboed underneath the bar. To a very young teenager, this was quite cool. I’ve seen the band live dozens of times and they always bring it, no matter who is in the band. I have attended every studio album tour from Paradise Theatre on up, at least once, except for Crash of the Crown. I even saw Tommy Shaw live, at the student union of my college, on his debut solo tour in 1984/5. (And opening for Rush on his third solo album tour.) 5. Styx II. (Dennis “The Menace” DeYoung comes to the fore and just takes over the band! “Father O.S.A.” & “Earl of Roseland” rule the roost here to me.) 4. Equinox. (As you cats stated, no duff tracks here. Another DDY-led platter where my faves are “Born for Adventure” & “Suite Madame Blue.”) 3. Paradise Theatre. (The songs. The concept. The melodies. JY steals the show here with big riffs and sick solos on “Snowblind” & “Half-Penny, Two-Penny.” Plus, DDY has a nice keyboard solo on “Lonely People” as well.) 2. Pieces of Eight. (Almost their pinnacle. Standout moments to me are the title track, “I’m O.K.” and “Queen of Spades.”) 1. The Grand Illusion. (The first one l discovered and my all time fave. The deep dive Dave tracks are where it’s at: “Man in the Wilderness,” & “Castle Walls.”) I could keep on singing the praises of the band, and every member, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I’ll just add the underrated rhythm section of the Panozzo twins on the first dozen studio albums. Their playing is especially interesting on the first four records with John doing a drum solo on the debut album; and Chuck doing some nice walking bass, and contrapuntal bass lines here and there. Thanks for bringing some more attention to this undervalued American institution, Hack. Cheers from Noo Yawk, ova heyah. Rock Out & Prog On! Frog 🐸 On! ~ Chauncey Marwood Oglethorpe III

Thanks to my dad I've discovered Blue Collar Man Nights single. Brilliant, exciting song. Still sounds incredible!! Loving it to this day!

5 Cornerstone 4 Paradise Theater 3 Crystal Ball 2 Pieces of Eight A near perfect album, but "Sing for the Day" is an absolute atrocity. 1 Grand Illusion

Love Styx

Styx has always a great band. I saw them twice one in 1997 I think with Dennis and one time with the new singer when Brave New World came out. I just found The Serpent is Rising on vinyl at a record show that just happened earlier this month. I enjoy all eras and still love this band.

My mother brought home an 8-track of "Pieces Of Eight" in late 1978, and that's what got me into Styx. But I do remember hearing "Lady" in 1975. And "Come Sail Away" in 1977. My top 5 Styx Lp's: 5) Crystal Ball - Shaw helped throw them into the stratosphere. He's my favorite lyricist. Don't know if they would have survived without him coming in. 4) Brave New World - Better than what it's given credit for. JY really shines on here. 3) Styx I - Most of the album is great. Nice beginning. 2) Pieces Of Eight - This & my #1 pick I'll switch up depending on how I feel that day. The album that got me loving them. 1) The Mission - I think everyone was so shocked at how good this was. They really went back to their prog roots. Tommy was what Styx needed to help bridge the gap between JY and Dennis's styles. TS has made such a huge difference in the band. "Paradise Theater" just misses out, coming in at #6. "Miss America" is in my top two favorite songs from Styx. Along with "Blue Collar Man" Nice to see someone pick "POE" for their #1. You're right, all the tracks on "Pieces.." are fabulous. Can listen to it from beginning to end. I first saw Styx in 1991, during the "Edge..." tour. But my favorite tour of theirs that I've seen was in 2001 while Styx toured with Bad Company & Billy Squire...

I saw them in 1980 cornerstone tour. It blew my 16yo mind.

I love Man Of Miracles album especially the killer title track! Pete you nailed it that song is very Deep Purple/Uriah Heep. I have all the wooden nickel albums and enjoy them butvof those 4 Man of Miracles is easily the best. I'd also like to give some love to The Mission and Crash Of The Crown. Not in my top 5 but their last 2 releases are great and looking forward to hearing some of the new material when I see them in May

Pieces of Eight is my favorite as well. The vocals on the title track chorus is epic!

@SmedleyWarIsaRacket

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I switch between Pieces of Eight and Equinox as my favorite. I can ceretainly listen to these albums on a loop 24/365 and never tire.

Styx................................ Rules

Love Tommy Shaw's Ambition album it is of the 80's Production wise but is F**king great. And Dangerous Game is mind blowing.

@crusheverything4449

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Tommy’s best singing is on Ambition! His vocals are off the freakin’ hook on that whole record! Try singing Somewhere in the Night without passing out and splitting your head open! Incredible performance!!

I have the Wooden Nickel releases on a double disc set....great to hear the really early stuff to hear how they evolved into what they would become

@gkirms

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On the Wooden Nickel releases always amazed on how many songs JY sings lead on but yet over the years that basically dwindled to one song per album. I had the first 4 albums on Vinyl because that's how I bought them when they came out. Where they went to over the years is anyone's guess now.

Fantastic band. I followed them since late 70's have all there albums, but the ones I go to are the last 2 albums, "The Mission" and Crash of the Crowns". They've never made a bad albums.

Pc8 Kilroy Paradise Grand Illusion Equinox

Despite the stupid concept, kilroy is a great album

Great show hack But no Martin Popoff but love your show

I grew up hearing them on the radio. My sister had Pieces of 8, first one I got myself was probably Caught in Act Live. Not sure. Got most of the others soon after. My list is: 5. Styx II - Lady is my 2nd favorite Styx song. 4. Paradise Theater 3. Equinox 2. Pieces of 8 - Aku Aku is a dud in my book - bores me. 1. The Grand Illusion - the title track is my favorite Styx song. By the way, I like Kilroy was Here and have always thought that Mr. Roboto was a great song - one of my favorites. The structure of that song is not typically at all - very inventive.

@gkirms

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I would consider AkuAku filler just to finish the album. No different then when they did 'The Grand Finale' from 'The Grand Illusion' or 'Stream' from 'Crash of the Crown'. I guess for them AkuAku made sense at the time and for me, it does fit in with the album even though I might consider it just filler.

@SmedleyWarIsaRacket

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Aku-Aku is awesome brother.

@crusheverything4449

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Aku Aku is just a little thematic piece to bookend the album. If you don’t know what it is, Google it!

it was odd that JY didn’t do much on the last record…other than one notable vocal

1. Paradise Theater (1981) 2. The Mission (2017) 3. Crash Of The Crown (2021) 4. Grand Illusion (1977) 5. Pieces Of Eight (1978)

@strangeways75

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I disagree.

Pieces of Eight Paradise Theatre The Grand Illusion Cornerstone Crash of the Crown

5. Crash of the Crown 4. Equinox 3. Pieces of Eight 2. Paradise Theater 1. The Grand Illusion

1. Grand Illusion 2. Equinox 3. Pieces of Eight 4. Styx II 5. The Mission

I would say Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie nicks joining fm was better than Tommy shaw.