Styx II

Styx II
Styx II
Studio album by Styx
Released	July 1973
Recorded	1972-73 at Paragon Recording Studios, Chicago; St. James Cathedral, Chicago
Genre	Progressive rock; hard rock;
Length	34:20
Label	Wooden Nickel
Producer	John Ryan, Bill Traut (exec.)
Styx chronology
Singles from Styx II
	"Lady"; Released: 1973; "You Need Love"; Released: May 1975;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[2]

Styx II is the second album by American band Styx, released in July 1973.

Background

After releasing their debut album, which consisted mostly of cover songs, the band intended to write some strong original new material; Dennis DeYoung was particularly in favor of this. DeYoung had written a song by himself on an electric piano in the band's garage, and had originally intended for it to be on the first album. He later decided to play it on an acoustic piano. However, Bill Traut wanted to save it for the second album. The result was Lady, written about DeYoung's wife Suzanne.

"Lady" failed to be a hit when it was first released in 1973; however, after the band released their fourth album "Man of Miracles" in 1974, they went to WLS, the most powerful Chicago radio station at the time, and convinced the program director (Jim Smith) to replay this song. It wound up being played frequently on the air in Chicago. In May 1975, the song broke out nationally, eventually peaking at no. 6 on the Billboard charts.

Besides Lady, the album contained some upbeat and prog rock songs, such as rockers "You Need Love" and "I'm Gonna Make You Feel It," which was written by DeYoung and sung by James "JY" Young.

This is also the first album on which John Curulewski wrote and sang on two songs: the proggish, jazzy "A Day" which has an unusual sound for the band, and the boogie humor song "You Better Ask," whose outro features a snippet of Strangers in the Night on calliope organ and an evil laugh.

Side 2 opens with a DeYoung rendition of Little Fugue in G by Bach, played on pipe organ at a Chicago cathedral, and segues into the mellow prog rocker "Father O.S.A."

The rocker "Earl of Roseland" was written by DeYoung based on early memories from when he grew up in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood, where he had formed the band with the Panozzo brothers.

After Styx moved to A&M Records and achieved national success in the US, Styx II went Gold shortly before the success of The Grand Illusion (1977) and the only big seller album from Wooden Nickel era, because of "Lady." The album was reissued in 1980 by their prior label, Wooden Nickel. Under the title Lady, the reissue had new artwork (though it is not to be confused with a Styx compilation album that was later released with the same name). It is also the only Styx album to not feature material written or co-written by Young (apart from their covers 2005 album, Big Bang Theory).

Track listing

Side one — "Heads"
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"You Need Love"	DeYoung	Young	3:44
2.	"Lady"	DeYoung	DeYoung	2:56
3.	"A Day"	Curulewski	Curulewski	8:19
4.	"You Better Ask"	Curulewski	Curulewski	3:54

Side two — "Tails"
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
5.	"Little Fugue in G"	Johann Sebastian Bach	(instrumental)	1:17
6.	"Father O.S.A."	DeYoung	DeYoung	7:08
7.	"Earl of Roseland"	DeYoung	DeYoung	4:39
8.	"I'm Gonna Make You Feel It"	DeYoung	Young	2:23

Personnel

Styx

Dennis DeYoung – vocals, keyboards
James "JY" Young – vocals, electric guitars
John Curulewski – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards
Chuck Panozzo – bass guitar
John Panozzo – drums and percussion

Production

Produced by John Ryan
Executive producer: Bill Traut
Engineers: Marty Feldman, Barry Mraz

Charts

In 1975, Billboard (United States) listed the album as #20 in the Pop Albums charts and the single "Lady" as #6 in the Pop Singles chart.

References

^ Planer, Lindsay. Styx: Styx II at AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 789. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone styx album guide.

External links

[1] Planer, Lindsay. Styx: Styx II at AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.

[2] Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 789. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone styx album guide.

[1]

[2]

v t e Styx
Chuck Panozzo James "J.Y." Young Tommy Shaw Todd Sucherman Lawrence Gowan Will Evankovich Terry Gowan John "J.C." Curulewski Dennis DeYoung John Panozzo Glen Burtnik Ricky Phillips
Studio albums	Styx Styx II The Serpent Is Rising Man of Miracles Equinox Crystal Ball The Grand Illusion Pieces of Eight Cornerstone Paradise Theatre Kilroy Was Here Edge of the Century Brave New World Cyclorama Big Bang Theory The Mission Crash of the Crown
Extended plays	Regeneration: Volume I Regeneration: Volume II
Live albums	Caught in the Act Return to Paradise Arch Allies: Live at Riverport Styx World: Live 2001 At the River's Edge: Live in St. Louis 21st Century Live One with Everything: Styx and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra
Compilations	Best of Styx Lady Styx - Classics, Volume 15 Styx Greatest Hits Greatest Hits Part 2 Extended Versions Styx Yesterday & Today Rockers Come Sail Away – The Styx Anthology The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings
Songs	"Best Thing" "Lies" "Lady" "You Need Love" "Lorelei" "Mademoiselle" "Crystal Ball" "The Grand Illusion" "Come Sail Away" "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" "Sing for the Day" "Renegade" "Babe" "Why Me" "Boat on the River" "Borrowed Time" "The Best of Times" "Too Much Time on My Hands" "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned" "Rockin' the Paradise" "Snowblind" "Mr. Roboto" "Don't Let It End" "High Time" "Music Time" / "Heavy Metal Poisoning" "Love Is the Ritual" "Show Me the Way" "Love at First Sight" "Paradise" "I Am the Walrus"
Related articles	Discography Kilroy Was Here
Category