Styx (band)

Styx is an American rock and roll band, popular in the 1970s and early 1980s, and touring again in the 2000s. They were the first band to have 4 consecutive triple platinum albums.

1970s

The band's Wooden Nickel recordings, Styx (1972), Styx II (1973), The Serpent Is Rising (also 1973) and Man of Miracles (1974) were a mixture of straight-ahead rock with some dramatic prog-rock flourishes and art-rock aspirations. On the strength of these releases and constant playing in local clubs and schools, the band established a fan base in the Chicago area, but was unable to break into the mainstream until an early song, the power ballad "Lady" (from Styx II) began to earn some radio time, first in Chicago and then nation-wide. In the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album it came from was released, "Lady" hit the top ten, and Styx II went gold soon after.

Related Topics:
Wooden Nickel recordings - Styx - 1972 - Styx II - 1973 - The Serpent Is Rising - Man of Miracles - 1974 - Prog-rock - Art-rock - Power ballad - Lady

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On the heels of its belated hit single, Styx signed with A&M Records and released Equinox (1975), which sold well and yielded a minor hit in "Lorelei". Following the move to A&M, Curulewski suddenly left the band shortly before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and was replaced by singer and guitarist Tommy Shaw after a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement. The first album with Shaw, Crystal Ball (1976), was moderately successful (the band performs the Shaw-penned title track to this day), and its followup, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough hit, going platinum and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in "Come Sail Away," as well as a second radio hit, "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)."

Related Topics:
A&M Records - Equinox - 1975 - Tommy Shaw - Crystal Ball - 1976 - The Grand Illusion - 1977 - Platinum - AOR - Come Sail Away

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Through the late 1970s the band enjoyed its greatest success, with the album releases Pieces of Eight (1978) finding the group moving in a more straight-ahead pop-rock direction and spawning the hit singles "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man", and Cornerstone (1979) yielding the group's first number one hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe", as well as their biggest international hit, "Boat on the River".

Related Topics:
Pieces of Eight - 1978 - Renegade - Cornerstone - 1979

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