Детали релиза : Styx - Circling From Above (2025) [FLAC (tracks)]

Album review

In 2021, Styx released the remarkable Crash of the Crown, a loose concept album that followed the more explicitly conceptual The Mission from four years earlier. Those two albums marked a declarative return to original principles for the band, combining taut melodic rock with just enough progressive complexity to make it clear that, despite the fact that they most certainly pay their rent via singles-heavy amphitheater/casino shows, they remain a vital creative enterprise. With Circling from Above, Styx continues to demonstrate that vitality, with 13 tunes that—despite not having any overarching conceptual link—play to longtime guitarist (and current musical director) Tommy Shaw's strengths as a songwriter. It was Shaw's effortless fusion of hard rock riffs and heartland melodicism that refocused Styx's stylistic direction in the mid-'70s and set them up for their most successful run of classic rock hits. That fusion is still evident in the band's current work, but by leaning into their more progressive inclinations on their last few albums, Styx has landed on a sound that satisfyingly evokes the energy of their early days with a contemporary approach that nonetheless eschews any embarrassing attempts to be "modern." Shaw's longtime collaborator Will Evankovich again contributes considerably here, both as a co-writer and producer, which almost certainly helps keep the band on their toes. Most of the tracks slot neatly into the expansive, midtempo rock sound the band has plied so successfully. While some songs rock a little harder ("Build and Destroy," "We Lost the Wheel Again"), others are more intricate ("Michigan") or more epic ("It's Clear"), yet all are unmistakably Styx. Even the weirder, less predictable moments evoke earlier moments in the band's discography; the Latin-tinged "Blue Eyed Raven" sounds not unlike "Boat on the River," while "Everybody Raise A Glass" will definitely please fans of former member Dennis DeYoung's kitschy Beatles-on-Broadway vibe.

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