Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Styx Paradise Theater and Pieces of Eight on SACD with The Grand Illusion

Styx is a progressive rock group that I have always liked.


Not the edition where I do a vanishing trick but the title of Styx 1977 album release featuring Come Sail Away and Little Miss America remastered by Mr Kevin Grey for Audio Fidelity.
I bought it in May 2010.
Processing a warm tonal complexion I really like it even if it's not anything really special just the job done right.

As I have commented in a few places before the Styx catalogue has been left as is from the early days of the compact disc and can be divided between the decent but nothing special and the clearly inferior to lp versions.

On January 19th 1981 the band issued the concept album Paradise Theater based on the real story of a theatre in their native Chicago which came out on laser etched lp and tape versions (8 track and cassette) which topped the US album chart and featured four forty-fives, Rockin' The Paradise, Too Much Time On My Hands, The Best Of Times that charted at #3 and Nothing Ever Goes As Planned.

It was an album I bought near date of release and always loved for the musicianship and story telling in a song.

This new Super Audio cd also playable on regular cd edition sounds quite a bit clear with more definition than the original disc.

Another album of theirs whose cd version left a fair bit to be desired was Pieces Of Eight  based around the story of a boxing bout which on cd sounded thin and splashy


ln September 2017 this disc that featured the 45 Blue Collar Man, Renegade and The Great White Hope was issued on Super audio cd also playable in regular cd having been mastered by Kevin Gray from the A&M master tapes.

This edition is a lot better than the 1987 original cd.

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