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Styx: One With Everything (DVD)

Filmed in May of 2006, One With Everything is a full concert from Styx performed with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra of Cleveland. The Musical Director of the event is Liza Grossman, who leads the 115 person orchestra and 56 chorus singers through 16 songs with Styx, a mixture of older classics and some of their modern songs. For this show, Styx is comprised of Tommy Shaw on guitar & vocals, James Young on guitar & vocals, Lawrence Gowan on keyboards & vocals, Todd Sucherman on drums, and Ricky Phillips on bass, backing vocals, and guitar, with original bassist Chuck Panozzo making a guest appearance on a few songs. Those familiar with the recent trend of pairing rock music with an orchestra will love the bombastic sounds here, as the majestic accompaniment from the Contemporary Youth Orchestra adds a nice touch to Styx classics like "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)", "Lorelei", "Crystal Ball", and "Miss America". Tommy Shaw proves that he has not lost a step vocally, as his voice is especially strong throughout this set, especially on the gorgeous rendition of "Boat On the River", as well as "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)". Along with James Young, the two guitar slingers trade plenty of fiery leads, and both players rampage their way through a spirited version of the showstopper "Renegade". A couple of the songs from thier recent covers album Big Bang Theory show up here, most notably the hard rocking Humble Pie tune "I Don't Need No Doctor" and the Beatles "I Am the Walrus". Those into Styx's proggier material will be happy to know that Lawrence Gowan lends his keyboard talents to many of the songs here, including some ripping synth work on "Too Much Time On My Hands" and "The Styx CYO Medley", a lengthy sampling of plenty of riffs and segments from old Styx classics, sure to be a blast for long time fans.

Bonus material includes a few brand new Christmas songs performed by the band and the CYO, interviews, a photo slideshow, and a full booklet with photographs and detailed info on the event.


Track Listing

  1. Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
  2. Lorelei
  3. One With Everything
  4. It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)
  5. I Am the Walrus
  6. Just Be
  7. Everything All The Time
  8. Crystal Ball
  9. Miss America
  10. A Criminal Mind
  11. Too Much Time on My Hands
  12. Boat On the River
  13. I Don't Need No Doctor
  14. The Styx CYO Medley
  15. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
  16. Renegade

Added: December 4th 2006
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Eagle Rock Entertainment
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Language: english

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Styx: One With Everything (DVD)
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-12-04 06:04:15
My Score:

The band Styx has come a long way since their debut in 1972 and since that time they have delivered some of the best Arena Rock in music history. In 2006, we find a Styx that is composed of almost entirely different members from their not so humble beginnings but at the same time they not too far from their original musical premise. The release of One With Everything is a great concert DVD for it is here that we find the band in rock solid form and joined by the Contemporary Youth Orchestra. Based out of Cleveland, OH, the CYO is a 115-piece Orchestra plus a 60 voice chorus and what makes them most impressive is the fact that they range in ages from 13-19. The Orchestra is conducted by Liza Grossman, who was the key factor in building this unique performance and actually is the one who contacted band Management about doing this adventure with the Styx guys. If you ask me, I felt that this idea would offer a refreshing change from the all too common "Rock Band meets Symphony Orchestra" videos as by this time almost everyone has done one. It was high time this blending of Rock and Symphony got a much needed kick in the tail to make it interesting once again. Together, Styx and the Orchestra deliver many of the bands most staple numbers as well as some new music that was written for this special sold-out concert. Lead singer, keyboardist Lawrence Gowan does an amazing job of filling the shoes once worn by Dennis DeYoung in the group while guitarist Tommy Shaw's voice is exceptional on every track he does. I never heard JY sing, and yet on this piece he did one of my very favorite Styx numbers, "Lorelei". Shaw, JY Young and Chuck Panozzo form the remaining three longest members though Chuck does not always tour with the band anymore. Ricky Phillips handles the bass for the most part and Todd Sucherman the drums. Sucherman is an incredible player who does justice to the drumming introduced by John Panozzo, the bands original drummer who passed away in 1996. He is both technical and powerful and shows the level of technique he brings to the table for the band best in the medley number. This is an epic piece on the DVD and it features pieces of some 16 Styx classics from across their catalog. Despite this DVD being very fun to watch I did have some other favorites and those were "I Am The Walrus" and "Fooling Yourself" along with "Renegade".

I have to say a part that stands out the most for me as most memorable would be the expressions seen and intent felt from the orchestra players. This is music that is clearly before many of them were born and yet they love this concert. That can be nothing but good for the band as it continues their music into the coming years as they continue to compose new music and perform classics. The bonus features are two new Christmas songs that they wrote along with an interview with the key players and the orchestra conductor. It was very interesting to find their thoughts on this whole undertaking and since it was done pre show, there was no way to know if it would come off without a hitch. You get photos and another cool thing in Todd's "quake cam". This is a close up view of the drummer as he performs so if you play; make note to watch this section a couple of times for some pointers. If there is any downside to this it is perhaps in the discovery that some classics are left out but then again there is more than enough music that is good which should allow you to look past that. The CYO is one group of band kids that will never need to worry about not being among the "cool kids", for how many of us can tell people that we played with Styx and can be seen on a mass released DVD. Now, that is cool for anyone and I hope we have not heard the last of these kids and their ability to fit in with legendary Rockers. The concert runs some 140 minutes and has been done in 5.1 Dolby Stereo. A full color booklet with photos and band commentary is provided as well. This DVD will also have a companion CD released for fans that don't want anything more than audio.



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