Styx Cyclorama CD

The DVD portion of this release features a 5.1 surround sound mix, music videos, behind-the-scenes commentary, lyrics, and weblinks.

This is a DualDisc, which contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other.

CYCLORAMA is the second studio album that Styx has made without former leader/singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, with whom the group acrimoniously split a few years earlier. It's also the first to include DeYoung's replacement Lawrence Gowan, whose voice is in the same general ballpark as DeYoung's but never seems imitative. Longtime singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw is the dominant presence here, and his delivery of the ostensibly group-composed songs is full of energy and commitment. The songs themselves are not far from the material Styx tackled in their '70s glory days, minus the pomp-rock touches and with a bit more of an edge. That edge is most obvious in a couple of songs that seem to be directed at DeYoung, lyrics dripping in occasionally shocking vitriol. Though the DeYoung days are seemingly gone forever, CYCLORAMA suggests that the remaining members of Styx never wanted time to stand still anyway.

CYCLORAMA is the second studio album that Styx has made without former leader/singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, with whom the group acrimoniously split a few years earlier. It's also the first to include DeYoung's replacement Lawrence Gowan, whose voice is in the same general ballpark as DeYoung's, yet never seems imitative. Longtime singer and guitarist Tommy Shaw is the dominant presence here, and his delivery of the ostensibly group-composed songs is full of energy and commitment. The songs themselves are not far from the material Styx tackled in their 1970s glory days, minus the pomp-rock touches and with a bit more of an edge. That edge is most obvious in a couple of songs that seem to be directed at DeYoung, lyrics dripping with occasionally shocking vitriol. Though the DeYoung days are seemingly gone forever, CYCLORAMA suggests that the remaining members of Styx never wanted time to stand still anyway.

This CD/DVD audio dualdisc includes 14 tracks in 5.1 surround sound with music videos, behind the scenes commentary, lyrics, and weblinks. Special guests include Brian Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton, John Waite, Jude Cole, and more!

Recorded at Pumpkin Studios, Chicago, Illinois; The S.H.O.P.and The Cave, Los Angeles, California; Dr CAW Recording, Northbrook, Illinois, Colorado Sound, Denver, Colorado; Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California; Seventeenth Avenue Productions, Manville, New Jersey.

Styx: Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar, mandolin); James Young (vocals, guitar); Lawrence Gowan (vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer); Glen Burtnik (guitar, upright bass, bass guitar, background vocals); Chuck Panozzo (bass guitar, background vocals); Todd Sucherman (drums, percussion, loops).

Styx: Tommy Shaw (vocals, acoustic, electric, baritone, 6 & 12 string guitars, mandolin); James "JY" Young (vocals, electric guitar); Lawrence Gowan (vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer); Todd Sucherman (vocals, synthesizer bass, drums, percussion, loops); Glen Burtnik (12 string electric guitar, electric, upright and sythesizer); Chuck Panozzo (bass).