Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Styx
Label: Wooden Nickel Records
Released: 1974
Runtime: 37:20
Rating: 3.5/5
Chicago’s art/arena rock champions Styx followed their fairly average third album »The Serpent Is Rising« (1973) by deciding to get back to crafting epic symphonic arrangements in earnest on »Man of Miracles«, and to ditch all the needless, comedy-tinged sonic experiments that had kept them from breaking through to wider attention. »Man of Miracles« was another step forward in the development of pomp rock sophistication, with dramatic, bravura harmonies, mighty guitar harmonies and epic orchestral arrangements earning them the media tag ‘the American answer to Queen’, even though this very solid effort wasn’t without a few misfires either. They often land in a kind of sonic identity crisis, unable to decide between playing prog rock and hard rock.
After a bad experience with Barry Mraz, they turned to John Ryan and Bill Traut, the producers of their first two albums, because they wanted to return to a cleaner, more fluid sound, and they pulled it off. The original version of »Man of Miracles« included »Best Thing« in its track list, a re-released song from the debut, which was then replaced on later pressings with »Lies« (the version covered in this review) and, in 1980, with »The Unfinished Song«. Stylistically, »Man of Miracles« keeps swinging between the epic proto-arena/pomp rock they’d later become famous for and lively but pretty basic hard rock, sometimes even rock’n’roll, which they thankfully got sick of soon enough. Vocals on these light, parlor-style ‘crowd-pleasers’ were mostly handled this time by blond guitarist James Young, who, teaming up with John Curulewski, once again shone with a heap of subtly integrated guitar solos.
Even though Styx, thanks to the mustachioed keyboardist and singer Dennis DeYoung, who wrote all the best compositions on »Man of Miracles«, had built up an enviable stock of love lyrics very early on, in the early phase of their career they were also keeping company with lyrics inspired by social critique and fantasy. Well, the cheerful opener »Rock & Roll Feeling« certainly doesn’t fall into that category. The title alone tells you that you’re dealing with a three-chord ‘party’ track, spiced up with playful piano arrangements and exuberant harmonies. »Havin’ a Ball«, which sounds like a cross between Uriah Heep and Status Quo, is a boogie-rhythm hard rocker that falls short of Styx’s usual songwriting and instrumental chops, though the vocal harmonies are, as always, at an enviable level. This time too, they couldn’t resist the typical ‘Californian’ lyric about getting a phone number from the nearest crush.
Just when it starts to look like this album is no better than its predecessor, the songwriting standard shoots way up with the heart-rending folk rock ballad »Golden Lark«. With its fragile piano melody, orchestral curtains and excellent DeYoung vocal performance, it’s drenched in downright Celtic mysticism, which suited Styx’s sonic vocabulary far better than the party-style rock’n’rollers.
Next comes the album’s peak, the melodramatic, cleverly structured epic »A Song For Suzanne«, which opens with the sound of a thunderstorm. Despite a misleading title that would make many think at first it’s yet another of DeYoung’s love ballads (the lyrics do fit that mold), this is a brilliant epic in the best prog rock tradition, built on a potent guitar riff and dramatic symphonic arrangements in the background. Styx show up in their best light here, and the high point, as usual, is a melodic chorus with pompous harmonies. You could say this classic laid the cornerstone for the later, commercially more successful arena rock masterpieces.
»A Hart Like Mine« is yet another forgettable ‘party-hearty’ track, which means the album’s standard drops once again into the predictable rock’n’roll abyss, with Young’s vocals enthusiastically glorifying Saturday-night boozing and meaty pleasures. Perfectly decent for some other band, but a long way from what you’d expect from Styx. »Lies«, on the other hand, is a solid, Beatles-tinged cover of The Knickerbockers, where the melodic chorus is once again laced with ‘Heep-style’ vocal harmonies. The mystical »Evil Eyes« is another splendid creation, marked by mighty harmonies and a soaring, epic piano motif. They manage to take the already outstanding atmosphere even higher with a harmonious guitar interlude.
The blues rocker »Southern Woman«, watched over by Young’s aggressive vocals while dirty guitar passages flow through it, is the very incarnation of mediocrity and wasted potential. »Christopher, Mr. Christopher« is another solid excursion into pomp rock, marked by an epic chorus that’s duly seasoned with melodramatic harmonies and crunchy symphonic arrangements. The title track is a juicy progressive rock epic with a fantasy lyric about the wizard Merlin, the kind that could only occur to devoted readers of The Lord of the Rings, which means it’s laced with plenty of epic keyboard arrangements, punchy guitar passages and mighty harmonies.
»Man of Miracles« was a very solid effort overall, and a touch moodier in atmosphere than audiences are used to from Styx, who are mostly known as a ‘cheerful’ band. A couple of average tracks didn’t spoil the overall good impression the album leaves behind by the end of the listen. At this early stage of their career, the Chicago masters of epic drama had already taken the first noticeable step toward the style that would define most of their career. They only managed to hook American radio listeners with the next album, though, where they finally cemented a solid sonic balance.
Line-up
John Curulewski – guitar, arp synthesizer, vocals
Dennis DeYoung – keyboards, arp synthesizer, vocals
Chuck Panozzo – bass guitar
John Panozzo – drums, percussion, backing vocals
James “JY” Young – guitar, vocals
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Barry Alan Fasman – string arrangement on “Golden Lark” and woodwind arrangement on “A Man Like Me”
Production
John Ryan and Bill Traut
Track list
1. Rock & Roll Feeling
2. Havin’ A Ball
3. Golden Lark
4. A Song For Suzanne
5. A Man Like Me
6. Lies
7. Evil Eyes
8. Southern Woman
9. Christopher, Mr. Christopher
10. Man Of Miracles
