Styx's 'Crash of the Crown' - Album Review

One of the genuine musical surprises of the past few years was Styx's triumphant return to the recording studio that resulted in 2017's absolutely fantastic The Mission (which I reviewed here). It was the band's first album in fourteen years, following on from 2003's seemingly-forgotten Cyclorama, and it was easily the band's best album for a very long time. It ended up in my Album of the Year list in 2017, and it was fully deserving of its place there. I have listened to it countless times over the last few years, and my opinion of it has only grown since. The Mission succeeded as it contained a bit of everything that has made Styx great over the years. At its core, it is a great melodic rock album. The vocal melodies and harmonies from guitarist Tommy Shaw and keyboardist Lawrence Gowan really showcased the band's poppy side; while the somewhat more complex arrangements of some of the songs allowed the band's more progressive side to shine through. Styx's sound has always been a mix of a number of different musical styles, and The Mission managed to recapture many of them. It is not an exaggeration for me to say that The Mission really is up there with the band's best works of the 1970s and 1980s. While I imagine that most Styx fans do not hold the album in quite such high regard - the reception of The Mission generally was, and continues to be, excellent. I imagine that Styx were one of those older bands who saw little value in releasing new music. Cyclorama made little impact, but it seems that the reception of The Mission has shifted Styx's priorities. It also helps that the band really pushed the record themselves too. A generous handful of the album's songs have been played live by the band since its release, and select shows even featured the album being played live in its entirety. Styx backed The Mission in a way that they probably did not back Cyclorama, and the hard work paid off. So much so that, four years on, the band decided to follow up The Mission with their seventeenth studio album. Released last month, Crash of the Crown sees Styx pushing themselves further. While not a concept album in the vein of The Mission, Crash of the Crown is very much an album that explores the band's progressive side in a more significant way than usual. While this does sometimes lead to the band's trademark melodies and harmonies being pushed into the background somewhat, it does allow for their musicianship and arranging skills to come to the fore. There is a great old-school 1970s vibe to the album's overall sound, aided greatly once again by the production of multi-instrumentalist Will Evankovich (who seems to have joined the band as an additional permanent member recently) - which really helps the band's progressive side to shine.

If I was to level a criticism at Crash of the Crown however, it would be that some of the songs here do not seem fully formed. It is a fifteen-track album, but it clocks in at just under three-quarters of an hour. This leads to some of the songs being rather short, and some others not really capitalising on the themes/melodies included. While this was also somewhat the case with The Mission, many of that album's songs segued into each other to help form longer, more conceptual pieces which worked in the context of the album's story. Crash of the Crown does not really work in the same way however, which leaves a few of the songs feeling somewhat under-baked. The opening number, The Fight of Our Lives, suffers from this - which is a shame as the song is a real bombastic track that recalls the sound forged on 1977's The Grand Illusion, but it is over in less than two minutes. While it does act as something of an intro to the next song, I would have loved the hooks of The Fight of Our Lives to be fleshed out. It does not feel like an intro piece; with its busy keyboard word, hard driving James Young guitar riffs, and anthemic vocal harmonies; but sadly that is what it is relegated to essentially being. Queen-esque guitar harmonies and Uriah Heep-esque vocal layers really build as the song progresses - but it is over almost as soon as it starts, and segues with spacy synths into A Monster. A Monster is very typical sound-wise of what was heard on The Mission, but with more of a focus on the band's progressive side. While Shaw will always by Styx's driving force in the 21st Century, the stand-out player throughout the album might well be Gowan. His keyboard playing is much busier here than usual - with rumbling Hammonds and old-school synth leads filling A Monster, while Shaw's strong vocals and layers of acoustic guitar also recall that The Grand Illusion sound somewhat. A Monster is easily one of the best songs here too, and it is instantly memorable with its huge vocal harmonies, Young's vocal cameos, and a frenetic drum break from Todd Sucherman. Reveries sees Gowan taking the lead vocally, with warm synth leads again sitting on a background of acoustic guitars - with Young's heavier riffs occasionally crashing in. I love the organic sound that the band have gone for here, and everything sounds like it could have been recorded in the 1970s. I can just picture Gowan's original Hammond sitting in the studio as he lays into it, while the ripping guitar solo that comes after the song's first chorus has such a retro feel to it. Again however, the piece is quite short - which is a shame - but it does segue nicely into Hold Back the Darkness with its gentle piano melodies and Pink Floyd-esque atmosphere. Gowan and Shaw share the vocals here, with the two trading-off during the verses and then coming together for the chorus which rocks harder than the spacy vibes of much of the rest of the song. The song is another old-school sounding piece, and even the guitar solo has a bit of a David Gilmour-esque feel.

Featuring extracts from Sir Winston Churchill's famous We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches speech, Save Us From Ourselves ups the album's hard rock quota somewhat and goes for a moodier overall approach. Shaw takes the lead vocally, while a cutting guitar motif provides a repeating hook. Gowan's organ and Young's tough guitar riffing help to really bulk out the song, and the screaming guitar solo, which is presumably also from Young, is packed full of attitude. Again however, the song does finish quite quickly. I would have loved the song to have been fleshed out a bit more, as there are some ideas contained within that could have been built on a bit more in my opinion. Following the solo, the song segues into the album's title track - which features Young, Gowan, and Shaw all sharing lead vocals. One thing that I have noted about Crash of the Crown in general is how little of a presence Young seems to have throughout. While I am sure that the heavier riffing and some of the more screaming guitar solos are his, his vocals are featured very infrequently here and he has not been credited with writing or co-writing any of the songs here. This is the first time since 1973's Styx II that he has not written anything for an album, which is a shame has he has always contributed some great hard rockers to the band's canon. Unfortunately too, his voice is not what it was - so his lead vocal contribution to Crash of the Crown sounds a little strange. Perhaps he should stick to the screaming solos these days, but it is a shame that there are no big Young hard rockers here. Our Wonderful Lives follows the strange title track, and it takes on a more acoustic-based sound with Shaw's vocals leading the way over a bed of acoustic guitar layers and mandolin melodies. It is one of only two songs here to feature the bass playing of the band's original bassist Chuck Panozzo, but his presence is mostly relegated to the background - with Shaw's acoustic guitars dominating. A trumpet solo from session player Steve Patrick provides a fun melodic hook however; and as a result the song is a little different from the norm. Common Ground returns to the album's core old-school organic sound, and sounds somewhat similar to A Monster with plenty of soaring synth loads and a focus on big vocal harmonies - at least during the choruses. Shaw again takes the lead, but Gowan's harmonies and the occasional echo add depth. This is a song that, for me anyway, shines instrumentally however. The song's instrumental break in the middle is excellent, with Gowan's keyboards dominating - before Sucherman takes over for another busy drum break. Sound the Alarm takes a much gentler course, with Shaw singing over a backing of gentle acoustic guitars and warm keyboards. Shaw has always excelled as writing these more acoustic-based pieces, but they are often far from being simple ballads. It is a song that gradually builds up as it moves along, with Gowan's keyboards becoming deeper and more complex as things progress - and Sucherman's groove-based drumming helps to give the piece an edge. It is another quite short song, but the growth still manages to sound natural. As mentioned earlier, some of the songs feel a little under-baked here - but Sound the Alarm manages to make its short runtime work. The growth feels natural, and some of the busy keyboard work again allows Gowan a chance to shine despite the song's more gentle vibe.

Long Live the King is a bit of a strange sounding song, as it has a strong atmosphere throughout and Shaw sings with some effects on his voice. Ricky Phillips' bass is quite high in the mix, and his busy playing often dominates the song - which is impressive given some of the Queen-esque guitar leads and some of Sucherman's drum fills. The song sounds very different for Styx, but it works well - and it is one of the few songs here where its short length actually helps it. Lost at Sea, which follows, is very short however and essentially feels like a piano-led interlude that happens to have a few lines of vocals from Gowan. It soon transitions into Coming Out the Other Side, a moody piece that is also sung by Gowan - which features plenty of big Styx harmonies despite the more ponderous pacing. It is the first Styx track to be co-written by Phillips, which is nice to finally see as he has co-written a lot of good songs over the years as part of both The Babys and Bad English. I would like to see him contribute to Styx more going forward, and Coming Out the Other Side is a good first effort for him here. The song is nice and progressive-sounding too, with a slide guitar solo, a dense Gowan-led atmosphere, and some more off-kilter drumming - that somehow all comes together neatly. To Those ups the pace and overall vibe, and once again looks back to The Grand Illusion with its theatrical bombast and dramatic Gowan vocal. Layers of keyboards bulk out the piece, while acoustic guitars once again fill out the song - while Young roars above with his tough guitar rhythms. The song is classic Styx in just about every way; and a great synth-led instrumental section, as well as a lengthy guitars solo, should please all who love Styx at their most instrumentally daring. Following the brief instrumental piece Another Farewell, the album comes to a close with the short but excellent Stream - a song which revisits the Pink Floyd vibes from earlier. The effects-heavy guitar stabs are pure Pink Floyd, as are the slide guitar swells and eventual solo, but the vocal arrangement and harmonies are classic Styx. The mix of sounds works really well, and it is another song that I would have liked to have been fleshed out more - but in truth it works well as an album closer due to its laid back vibe and the excellent closing slide solo. It is quite a reflective piece too, which helps the listener to focus on the diverse songs that preceded it. While Crash of the Crown might not be an album that is as immediate or impressive as The Mission, there is still a lot to love here and it is an album that grows on me the more that I hear it. I really like how ambitious the sound of the album is; but I wish that the band had allowed themselves more space to stretch out some of the songs. Despite this however, Crash of the Crown is an album that I have no doubt that I will only appreciate more going forward - and it is another great addition to the Styx canon.

The album was released on 18th June 2021 via Universal Music Enterprises. Below is the band's promotional lyric video for Reveries.