Rexorcist's Reviews Thread

Rexorcist · 07-11-2025, 10:36 AM

Styx - Circling from Above (2025)
Genres: Art Rock, Prog Rock, AOR

Styx was one of those bands that really helped me to get into rock albums, starting by heavily exploring radio rock. Believe it or not, in my SUPER early stages, I heard "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush and assumed it was 80's Styx. I even assumed REO Speedwagon was a certain era of Styx due to some stylistic similarities. But that believe was quickly dispatched with a little bit of study. I remember years ago, asking my father what some of the greatest albums ever were, that he brought up The Grand Illusion by Styx. Excellent work and their best, yet their only five-star for me. Styx had a strong thing going on as a progressive AOR band, which were too few in number during the 70's. And then they jumped to hype train from prog to AOR like many of the giants in prog did, and as well, they stunk. I had no idea that they had a new album out this month, and that some have preordered it and put it on YouTube!

Now my curiosity is satisfied, and my expectations are largely met. This one seems to be a careful revival of the stylistic choices they made during the early 70's with some elements of their more radio-friendly era. Because of the style and production tone, many of these songs feel the same despite the number of influences and genre tags attacked. It flows too evenly between them all to really feel as diverse as it looks on paper. The songs themselves are pretty much all catchy and easy to get behind, if you need something a little spring or summery in the morning. It's a very... refreshing album in that way. But it's not without other issues. Some of these songs sound like there needs to be another layer in the background to help bring out these refreshing vibes, as if they neglected something that would make the album much more powerful, maybe even a new age vibe that would've helped greatly.

So does this satisfy me as a Styx fan? I'd say it's Styx-y enough. Not a lot of raw energy like in many early works, but these guys are in their 70's, so what are you gonna do? The real issue is that this catchy oceanside album doesn't really soar, and more quiet rock and pop albums have in fact done that in the past. So while this is about as good as some of their earliest albums, pre-Grand Illusion, it also feels a little like a missed opportunity.

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07-11-2025, 10:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
Rexorcist Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2025 Location: Somewhere between black and white Posts: 50	Rexorcist's Reviews Thread Styx - Circling from Above (2025) Genres: Art Rock, Prog Rock, AOR Styx was one of those bands that really helped me to get into rock albums, starting by heavily exploring radio rock. Believe it or not, in my SUPER early stages, I heard "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush and assumed it was 80's Styx. I even assumed REO Speedwagon was a certain era of Styx due to some stylistic similarities. But that believe was quickly dispatched with a little bit of study. I remember years ago, asking my father what some of the greatest albums ever were, that he brought up The Grand Illusion by Styx. Excellent work and their best, yet their only five-star for me. Styx had a strong thing going on as a progressive AOR band, which were too few in number during the 70's. And then they jumped to hype train from prog to AOR like many of the giants in prog did, and as well, they stunk. I had no idea that they had a new album out this month, and that some have preordered it and put it on YouTube! Now my curiosity is satisfied, and my expectations are largely met. This one seems to be a careful revival of the stylistic choices they made during the early 70's with some elements of their more radio-friendly era. Because of the style and production tone, many of these songs feel the same despite the number of influences and genre tags attacked. It flows too evenly between them all to really feel as diverse as it looks on paper. The songs themselves are pretty much all catchy and easy to get behind, if you need something a little spring or summery in the morning. It's a very... refreshing album in that way. But it's not without other issues. Some of these songs sound like there needs to be another layer in the background to help bring out these refreshing vibes, as if they neglected something that would make the album much more powerful, maybe even a new age vibe that would've helped greatly. So does this satisfy me as a Styx fan? I'd say it's Styx-y enough. Not a lot of raw energy like in many early works, but these guys are in their 70's, so what are you gonna do? The real issue is that this catchy oceanside album doesn't really soar, and more quiet rock and pop albums have in fact done that in the past. So while this is about as good as some of their earliest albums, pre-Grand Illusion, it also feels a little like a missed opportunity. 70