Styx charted with Pieces of Eight

Pieces of Eight Styx

Charted: September 30, 1978 Peak: 6 US, -- UK, -- CN, 70 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US Genre: classic arena rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Great White Hope (Young) [4:22] I’m O.K. (DeYoung/Young) [5:41] Sing for the Day (Shaw) [4:57] (12/30/78, 41 US, 41 CB, 39 HR, 17 CL, 27 CN) The Message (DeYoung) [1:08] Lords of the Ring (DeYoung) [4:33] Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) (Shaw) [4:05] (9/9/78, 21 US, 21 CB, 22 HR, 21 RR, 4 CL, 9 CN, 98 AU) Queen of Spades (DeYoung/Young) [5:38] Renegade (Shaw) [4:13] (1/9/79, 16 US, 18 CB, 22 HR, 17 RR, 1 CL, 10 CN) Pieces of Eight (DeYoung) [4:44] Aku Aku (Shaw) [2:57] Total Running Time: 42:18 The Players: Dennis DeYoung (vocals, keyboards) Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar) James “J.Y.” Young (guitar, vocals) Chuck Panozzo (bass) John Panozzo (drums)

Rating: 3.954 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Styx became an arena rock favorite with their seventh album, 1977’s The Grand Illusion. It became their first top-10 album and was a multi-platinum seller on the strength of hits “Come Sail Away” and “Fooling Yourself.” Pieces of Eight followed suit and became the band’s second multi-platinum top-10 album, also fueled by a pair of top-40 hits. Like its predecessor, Pieces of Eight was “a tour de force for the band’s trio of songwriters…with the superb backing of the Panozzo rhythm section.” UCR The band’s “feisty, straightforward brand of album rock is represented best by Blue Collar Man, …an invigorating keyboard and guitar rush — hard and heavy, yet curved by Tommy Shaw's emphasized vocals.” AMG It reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. “The frolicking romp of Renegade” AMG met with even more success, peaking at #16. The anthemic song became a fan favorite and concert encore. Some considered Pieces of Eight to be the band’s last album “with significant progressive rock leanings.” WK “Sing for the Day, Lords of the Ring, and Aku-Aku all contain slightly more complex instrumental foundations, and are lyrically reminiscent of the material from albums like The Serpent Is Rising or Man of Miracles, but not as intricate or instrumentally convoluted.” AMG The aforementioned “Lords of the Ring” as well as “DeYoung’s title track…provided more majestic pomp rock highlights, and JY simply brought the house down with Great White Hope and (with DeYoung) the simply sublime Queen of Spades.” UCR It’s also considered a theme album, with Dennis DeYoung explaining that it was about “not giving up your dreams just for the pursuit of money and material possessions.” WK “While the writing may stray slightly from what Styx provided on The Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight kept their established rock formula in tact quite firmly.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Mike DeGagne UCR Ultimate Classic Rock WK Wikipedia First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 5/18/2021.