The Grand Illusion

Biography

Other than being their first platinum-selling album, The Grand Illusion led Styx steadfastly into the domain of AOR rock. - Mike DeGagne/AMG (4/5 Stars) - The Grand Illusion is the seventh studio album by Styx, released in 1977. It became the band’s first Triple Platinum album, and spawned the Top 10 hit “Come Sail Away” and the Top 30 hit “Fooling Yourself”. The album was the subject of an episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard featuring interviews with several band members....

Other than being their first platinum-selling album, The Grand Illusion led Styx steadfastly into the domain of AOR rock. - Mike DeGagne/AMG (4/5 Stars) - The Grand Illusion is the seventh studio album by Styx, released in 1977. It became the band’s first Triple Platinum album, and spawned the Top 10 hit “Come Sail Away” and the Top 30 hit “Fooling Yourself”. The album was the subject of an episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard featuring interviews with several band members. According to lead singer Dennis DeYoung, the album’s theme was the struggle to overcome self-deluding superficiality in order to affirm one’s genuine value. This theme was reflected in the lyrics of the album’s title track: so if you think your life is complete confusion ’cause your neighbor’s got it made just remember that it’s a grand illusion and deep inside we’re all the same DeYoung also revealed that the title of The Grand Illusion had been considered dating back to the 1975 album Equinox. The track “Miss America” was guitarist James Young’s scathing attack on the Miss America pageant. Young, in his interview on the In the Studio program, said the track came to him in the middle of the night and that its riff was inspired by the Jethro Tull song “Minstrel in the Gallery”. Track listing “The Grand Illusion” (Dennis DeYoung) – 4:36 Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung First guitar solo and guitar fills: Tommy Shaw Second guitar solo: James Young “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” (Tommy Shaw) – 5:29 Lead vocals and guitar: Tommy Shaw Synthesizer solos: Dennis DeYoung “Superstars” (DeYoung, Shaw, James Young) – 3:59 Lead vocals and lead guitar: Tommy Shaw Soliloquy: Dennis DeYoung “Come Sail Away” (DeYoung) – 6:07 Lead vocals and synthesizer solo: Dennis DeYoung ARP Odyssey: James Young Lead Guitar: Tommy Shaw “Miss America” (Young) – 5:01 Lead vocals and lead guitar: James Young “Man in the Wilderness” (Shaw) – 5:49 Lead vocals and lead guitar: Tommy Shaw “Castle Walls” (DeYoung) – 6:00 Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung Guitar fills and harmony fills: Tommy Shaw Guitar solo: James Young “The Grand Finale” (DeYoung, Shaw, Young) – 1:58 Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung Guitar fills and first guitar solo: Tommy Shaw Melodic Guitar Lead: James Young Personnel Dennis DeYoung – Keyboards, Synthesizers, Vocals Chuck Panozzo – Bass, Vocals John Panozzo – Drums, Vocals Tommy Shaw – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Vocals James Young – Guitar, Keyboards,Vocals Production Barry Mraz – Production Assistance, Engineer Rob Kingsland – Engineer Mastered by Mike Reese at the Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, California Derek Sutton – Management and Direction Jim Vose – Tour Manager Jeff Ravitz – Lighting Designer John “Tarkus” Schaefer – Stage Manager Bob “Yaz” Jastrzembski – Equipment and Motorcycle Stunts Judson Terry Phelps – Monitors Roland Young – Art Direction Jim McCrary – Photography Chuck Beeson – Album Design Kelly and Mouse – Album cover painting Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.