Editorial Review:

Album Description:
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2009.

Amazon.com essential recording:
More than two decades before it became Eric Cartman's favorite song on South Park, "Come Sail Away" was the choice of music fans with one foot in the art-rock camp and the other in Top 40 pop. The Grand Illusion straddled the seemingly divergent directions as only Styx could, laying on the pomp with layers of keyboards and high-flown lyrical conceits, yet keeping the proceedings light with hook-filled choruses and breezy melodies. Tommy Shaw's engaging "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" is the set's highlight, offering a bit of armchair psychology even as it acted as a subtle dig at the snarling punk rockers to whom Styx was anathema. James Young's "Miss America" rocks out, while Dennis DeYoung's title track reminds us that life is fleeting and illusory. Not exactly Nietzsche, but you can dance to it, sort of. --Daniel Durchholz

Like a previous reviewer, I have just started listening to Styx. I had always known about them but had not gotten into them due to other musical interests. Now, with a lack of good music being put out anymore, I return more and more to 70s rock, expanding my collection. I have to say, The Grand Illusion is outstanding, featuring 3 outstanding vocalists and many classic songs, along with former unknown album tracks that well compliment the singles. This is harder rocking than I had thought, through my previous years of resistance. Though I had in years past much preferred Tommy Shaw over Dennis DeYoung, DeYoung's Grand Illusion in particular shows more of the rock influence that makes this a great album. My personal favorite, though is Fooling Yourself, great contributions by all members are summed up in this song.

Average Rating:

Rating: - another late convert
Like a previous reviewer, I have just started listening to Styx. I had always known about them but had not gotten into them due to other musical interests. Now, with a lack of good music being put out anymore, I return more and more to 70s rock, expanding my collection. I have to say, The Grand Illusion is outstanding, featuring 3 outstanding vocalists and many classic songs, along with former unknown album tracks that well compliment the singles. This is harder rocking than I had thought, through my previous years of resistance. Though I had in years past much preferred Tommy Shaw over Dennis DeYoung, DeYoung's Grand Illusion in particular shows more of the rock influence that makes this a great album. My personal favorite, though is Fooling Yourself, great contributions by all members are summed up in this song.

Rating: - A nearly perfect rock album.
Unlike Journey and Foreigner, two bands manufactured from a repository of hired guns, STYX started life as a genuine band during their scholastic years. Granted, their public and personal demeanor was built around their professional (mostly financial) success, however most of their best works were the creations of a true band.

For better or worse, the intellectualism of the individual band members (even high school graduate Tommy Shaw) outshined the "go for broke" rebelliousness (such as lacivious drunken orgies, shooting guns at televisions or throwing furniture out of hotel room windows) that was favored by Rolling Stone magazine and others.

STYX wrote intelligent and mystical songs that soothed the unyielding insecurities and unmet self-efficacies of youth. From the unquestioned mastery of their musical instruments, their remarkable (sometimes overwrought) vocals, on to their ethereal lyrics and arrangements, STYX created a sound of talent and awe unmatched yet today. Additionally, their prowess as a live touring act also held them above most bands of their hey day and modern day.

THE GRAND ILLUSION has long been regarded as their finest vinyl release (although I actually favor PIECES OF EIGHT and CYCLORAMA), and with the collection of songs within, it is hard to argue that 10 million people could be wrong.

Along the lines of the ethereal and mystical are the Dennis DeYoung penned tunes COME SAIL AWAY and CASTLE WALLS. COME SAIL AWAY is lauded as one of the most enduring of songs from the bands 4 decades worth of recordings. With its soaring vocals and keyboards, to its hard driving chorus on through to the trade off of lead guitars, the song catapulted a moderately successful band into a six-year long overnight success.

MISS AMERICA (James Young) and FOOLING YOURSELF (Tommy Shaw) are follow up hits that showcased the diversity of sounds and styles that made the album greater than the sum of its parts. Dennis was often the pomposity that melded theatrics with rock and roll, while James (J.Y.) Young was the hard charging metal rocker, fused together by the eclectic styles of southern rocker Tommy Shaw (whose influences ranged from Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline on through Otis Redding, B.B. King and Bill Withers, on to the BEATLES, CROSBY-STILLS-NASH, and even REO SPEEDWAGON).

For my money, MAN IN THE WILDERNESS is the truly amazing song of the album. The song was written with heart-wrenching lyrics of the psychological emptiness of being a bought and paid for entertainer who stands before "ten thousand people look my way/ but they can't see the way that I feel/ nobody even cares to try. I spend my life and sell my soul on the road/ and I'm still in the dark 'cause I/ can't seem to find the light alone." The vocals are almost breath-taking as one can almost hear the tears of a lonely soul. The virtuoso guitar work is that of a musician who prefers solos that are within the structure and breath of the song, rather than as staples of showmanship where in speed and technical merit falls far from the rhythm of the song.

This song beckons the listener to feel the emotions and follow the confusions of the artist, not unlike a great piece of literature. Such as it is, the very definition of art, rather than the self-indulgence of a 'corporate/ faceless band.'

STYX was then and remains now, a thinking mans rock band. Filled with the emotions and turmoils of modern life, rather than the vile audacity of promoting the debauchery of rock and roll life (even as the band members were living in it.) STYX is a band that realized then and still "carries on" today that music can achieve something greater than a nice beat to dance to. STYX realized that music can change peoples lives and help make this a better world.

THE GRAND ILLUSION was the first of four consecutive triple platinum albums and continues to be the biggest selling album of the band (and not without reason.)

I recommend this album without reservation. If you love truly grand music (as opposed to the "sex, drugs and rebellion" that so many ignorant fools sought to promote) you will love THE GRAND ILLUSION... "cause deep inside we're all the same."

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Rating: - Not really definitive of "prog rock"
You know, i've heard some Styx hits, and heard other recommendations from my peers, but when i bought the whole CD, it didn't really stand out to me. The problem with styx is, althought their technical musical ability is great, they lack that really "explosive", dripping emotion/passion and depth behind it; their songs are decent on their own but as an album, lack diversity, and the poetry is pretty straight-forward... it's like, ok, Styx, you're tired of the media and people putting up facades and all that jazz, ok great, but, sort of like a 'tell me something i don't know' in the pool of Prog rock. its a fine CD to jam to once in a while, but nothing that really stands out.... Instead, listen to something like Jethro Tull's MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY or Kansas' POINT OF KNOW RETURN if you want something a little more poetic and heart-felt.
The album cover art is pretty frikkin awesome though, its worth that if nothing else.

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Rating: - For the Styx fan, a supernova
As time has moved on, my taste has as well. But when I was in my late teens Styx delivered the goods and "Grand Illusion" was the best of their albums that I'd heard. If Styx appeals to your taste I have no doubt that you'll like every song on this album; don't waste your time doing individual downloads, just get the entire album.

With the addition of the unpretentious vocals of Tommy Shaw, Styx was the rare band that had no fewer than three lead singers, a key ingredient necessary to prevent fan burnout. I don't know about you but when a band has only one singer, I can usually hang in there for a few albums but after that I just grow weary of them. Bands like the Beatles, the Bangles, and Styx who have three or more singers, or Supertramp and Simon & Garfunkel with two lead vocalists...the sharing of the microphone can really give a band longevity provided their songwriting continues to hold up.

James Young's big turn in the spotlight was the rocker "Miss America". As a vocalist he wouldn't necessarily carry an entire band by himself but he was able to provide a talk-sing delivery that epitomized power rock vocals. Your mileage may vary but his guitar-rocker, with backing vocals that almost reminded me of Flo and Eddie at times, was my favorite Styx song. Over time I've found that Dennis DeYoung's vocals have moved from mannered to ripe for satire for me, but I recognize that this wouldn't be an issue for Styx's core audience. He certainly is able to belt out a song with ample drama, a talent that undoubtedly helped Styx wow arenas back in the day.

Although Styx was never a "progressive rock" band, they toyed with elements that lent themselves to that feel without the overhead of the "look ma, no hands!" instrumental showboating that made so many prog-rock bands so embarrassing. For that reason, the two songs that get the least airplay, "Castle Walls" and "Man In The Wilderness" have had the most longevity for me. Both create an atmosphere, and like prog, both linger long beyond the usual three minute mark typical of the era's AM radio hits.

Whenever I found an album this strong I would inevitably buy a couple more from the band's catalog in hopes of repeating the experience. "Crystal Ball" did nothing for me, "Equinox" had its moments, but "Grand Illusion" was the supernova that eclipsed both of those put together.

Styx has certainly taken a beating from self-important critics who got their albums for free, whose writing had little to do with helping you determine whether an album was worth its cost. Rather, the critics who took Styx to task tended to be politically motivated, seeing mainstream acts like Styx as an obstacle to airplay for some personal favorite cult band of the day. They believed that if they could only bash mainstream acts enough, perhaps the public would discard them and succumb to the advocacy of the almighty "expert". To some degree it worked; there have always been centerless teens willing to make excuses for the shortcomings of some act or another that heavily depended upon glam, fashion, and subculture peer pressure to maintain their pitiful level of sales. It gave kids the delusion that they were part of some scene. Phht. Any cult favorite can dish out a good song or two but in retrospect, stripped of all the hype, most of the acts with weak vocalists or budget production or spotty songwriting got the sales they deserved. Even today you'll find that those who own the contracts and recordings of the also-rans still have a vested interest in perpetuating the mythology that props up such acts.

The critics' reviews of bands like Styx tended to start from the point of view that they had no right to exist in the first place, a pretty useless perspective if the reader is trying to measure the music in terms of their own taste. So whenever you hear a critic level the accusation "faceless" against Styx or other 70s acts, know that it's an indicator that the critic isn't focused on the music; they're obsessed with finding a celebrity object of worship, some star-spangled front man or woman that they can idolize. Never mind them. You just keep enjoying albums like this and don't feel obliged to file Styx under "guilty pleasures".

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Rating: - STYX MASTERPIECE
This is the grand illusion, come sail away, fooling yourself and miss america. half the album classics.As on those previous albums, Dennis DeYoung's proggy keyboards lead off with the title track, a melodic and attractive piece. Styx, though, are sometimes prone to cliches and obvious philosophies. Couched in this grand production is the message that 'deep inside we're all the same.' It's rather like rolling out the red carpet to introduce a film extra. The album's theme is fame: the aspirations, disillusionment and pitfalls. DeYoung (I suspect they're his lyrics) tends to recycle his material; on separate songs we're told 'come on in,' 'step right this way' and 'climb aboard.' Tommy Shaw's two songs are quite refreshing as a result, especially the rocking 'Man In The Wilderness,' the most intense track on the album. By contrast, 'Superstars' is bland by the band's standards. DeYoung's big triumphs here, though, are the anthemic, six-minute 'Come Sail Away' and the brooding tale, 'Castle Walls.' James Young has 'Miss America.'

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