Styx

Styx + 171-piece orchestra and choir = pure art-rock extravaganza. While former frontman Dennis DeYoung tours solo with an orchestra, the remaining members -- the only ones legally permitted to use the Styx name -- haven't sat in with one in 10 years. Ironically, this James Young/Tommy Shaw-fronted Styx is the side of the band that favors straight ahead pop-rock over DeYoung's Broadway-esque prog. Still, top-of-the-lungs radio faves like "Blue Collar Man," "Too Much Time on My Hands" and "Renegade" benefit from the massive bombast of the Contemporary Youth Orchestra. Recorded live during a 2006 one-off performance in Cleveland, One with Everything is a thrilling throwback to big hair, big ideas and even bigger recording budgets.

This live record presents not-terribly-obvious picks from Styx's back catalog, with
accompaniment from a Cleveland youth orchestra. Though some arrangements are
tweaked nicely and avoid arena overload on cuts like "Miss America," some of the
orchestra's contributions veer toward the irksomely splashy, when they're not buried.
Mostly you get Styx rocking mediocre material, something you can hear on a hal... More >