Another of my cousin’s albums that I had the great fortune of sampling was The Grand Illusion by Styx. Like Kansas, Styx seemed to be very melodic and symphonic with so many layers of sound and instruments to explore and immerse myself in. I don’t think that I was as enraptured by Styx as I was Kansas. I really liked their sound and The Grand Illusion was another of those albums that I could listen to over and over again. For some reason, I never really liked the song Miss America. It seemed out of place against the rest of the album. Come Sail Away was the first track to get my attention and Castle Walls was an early favorite.
I can’t tell you why but even though I liked Kansas so much more than Styx, I eventually bought almost every Styx album on Compact Disc. It took me almost 35 years to do that but I did. Again, The Grand Illusion is another one of those albums that I owned on cassette then vinyl then again on Compact Disc. And like those Kansas albums, even though I was first introduced to Styx in the BFMS era, it was until Cornerstone that I really became a Styx fan. That happens in 1980 which will be soon, here.
The Grand Illusion
Fooling yourself
Superstars
Come sail Away
Man In The Wilderness
Castle Walls