Label: Alpha Dog 2T/UMe
Release date: July 18, 2025
Production: Will Evankovich
Album length:
Genre: Arena Rock / Art Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
“Circling From Above” is the eighteenth studio album from Styx, the American prog rock/arena rock institution that rose to fame in the seventies with its mix of melodic hard rock, the lush vocal harmonies typical of arena rock and the occasional prog-flavored symphonic arrangement, which is why some music fans used to call them the American Queen. Styx never quite reached the worldwide fame of Queen, of course, but in the second half of the seventies and the early eighties they were still among the most popular American rock bands, especially on home turf, with four multi-platinum albums in a row, a pioneering feat for those days. Chateau turned the Styx evergreen “Boat On The River” into “Mlinar na Muri” back in 1994, while “Mr. Roboto” became part of pop culture soon after the song came out and even inspired the creation of one of the heroic characters in Masters of the Universe.
Soon after their peak popularity, following the release of the successful but, for many, controversial album “Kilroy Was Here” (1983) things went sideways for Styx and their multi-platinum streak was over. Misunderstandings between band members followed, audience interest dwindled, and by the end of the eighties the stages started getting smaller and smaller. It seemed the time had come for Styx to say goodbye, but in the late nineties they managed to patch things up and reunite in an almost classic lineup. That didn’t last long, and the result was the departure of charismatic founding keyboardist/vocalist Dennis DeYoung, the author of some of their biggest hits, and the start of a new era for Styx that (about a quarter of a century later) continues to this day.
Opinions on whether modern Styx are even comparable to the classic lineup with DeYoung often split their fans. Even though they haven’t produced a new masterpiece in the last twenty-five years, they haven’t recorded a single bad studio album in that time either. Since DeYoung’s departure they’ve made only three “real” studio albums and one covers album (“Big Bang Theory”, 2005), and every one of them is at least solid, if not very good. The one that impressed the least was the slightly dull “Crash of the Crown” from 2021, the predecessor to the more interesting “Circling From Above”. It seems Tommy Shaw, John Young, Chuck Panozzo and the rest of the Styx crew found more inspiration for writing new songs this time around, because they’re pretty stylistically varied and at moments recall the “good old days”.
Their stylistic fluidity between melodic rock, hard rock, prog rock and pop rock has always paid off richly. The arrival of a new member, multi-instrumentalist and producer of Balkan roots Will Evankovich, who guested as a musician and producer on the previous two albums, surely contributed to the slightly richer sound. This time he steps up (successfully) as a full-fledged member of the band for the first time. Thanks to him, the symphonic arrangements and soundscapes are a bit fuller and more colorful than we were used to on the previous album.
Modern Styx keep swearing by shorter songs, as not a single one on “Circling From Above” runs past four minutes, which is a good call in its own way, since unlike their far more proggy countrymen Kansas, they were never masters of longer, eclectic and epic compositions. “Circling From Above” is best listened to as a whole. Although it isn’t a concept album, most of the lyrics are tied together by a critique of unrestrained technological progress, which is nowhere near proportional to the sluggish development of humanity’s mental, social and emotional makeup compared to past centuries (these days it seems more like humanity is regressing than progressing).
The title track is a gentle, ethereal but short intro to the album, followed by the excellent “Build and Destroy”, a very characteristic Styx creation with a colorful array of keyboards and rich vocal harmonies, which are still their main trademark. Swapping talented singers from song to song has always added a special charm to Styx albums, and it’s no different this time. Styx come from the most populous and biggest city in the state of Illinois, that is, Chicago, but that didn’t stop them from naming the new song “Michigan” after the state of the same name, which is best known for the city of Detroit. It’s a slightly melodramatic piece, mostly thanks to Shaw’s trademark, melancholic vocals, which will please plenty of longtime followers. “King Of Love” is a somewhat slower but still dynamic number, tailored to Young’s traditionally rough-edged singing, which complements Shaw very well here in the lead vocal role. Anyone who wants to know why Styx still get compared to Queen from time to time (even after DeYoung’s departure, when that kinship, especially vocally, is much less obvious) should listen to “It’s Clear”. Despite its relative brevity, it’s a tasty genre stew. “Forgive is a classic, acoustic-leaning Styx power ballad that gains extra breadth from the soundscapes.
“Everybody Raise a Glass” will remind many of those short, tongue-in-cheek Queen songs that were typical of their seventies albums, with the important difference that Styx, in their looser, clownish sound and lyrics, don’t sound even remotely British. The new Queen comparison comes courtesy of the melancholic guitar passages, which sound as if Brian May had created them, the nostalgic piano arrangements and the closing choir harmonies. It’s great fun how on “Circling From Above” Styx take many compositions that don’t promise much in the first seconds and turn them into entertaining, dynamic romps as they go on. That’s the case with “Blue Eyed Raven” too, which doesn’t sound ambitious in the intro but then turns into a very entertaining cross between country, tango, folk and symphonic rock. Evankovich’s mandolin, which plays an important role here, is a most welcome addition on some of the new compositions.
“She Knows” opens as a theatrical symphonic rocker but ends as a wistful ballad. “Ease Your Mind” is a short piano intro to the dramatic and slightly gloomy “The Things That You Said”, which has elements of Victorian drama and theater of the absurd, watched over by fantastic choir vocal harmonies. “We Lost The Wheel” seems like an unusual blues experiment at the start, but quickly turns into a fun hybrid with sparkling symphonic arrangements. The closer, “Only You Can Decide”, is a classic Styx power ballad that comes alive after an onslaught of nostalgia-spiced symphonic harmonies, “weeping” guitar passages and superb multi-part vocals.
“Circling From Above” is an album built to the tastes of most longtime fans of these American rock legends. As mentioned, there’s more reason to be happy this time than when its predecessor came out. One of the few complaints about “Circling From Above” might be that the “Queen-ish” elements have (again) become pretty obvious this time, but with the “real” Queen studio-dead, that’s not even all that bothersome, since Styx still add enough of their own musical touches that you can’t accuse them of shameless copying. It’s definitely one of their best achievements since DeYoung’s departure, although comparisons with the seventies and eighties are always thankless and “Circling From Above” knocks the final rating down a notch.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Circling from Above
2. Build and Destroy
3. Michigan
4. King of Love
5. It’s Clear
6. Forgive
7. Everyone Raise A Glass
8. Blue Eyed Raven
9. She Knows
10. Ease Your Mind
11. The Things that You Said
12. We Lost the Wheel Again
13. Only You Can Decide
Lineup:
James “JY” Young – lead vocals, guitar
Tommy Shaw – lead vocals, guitar
Chuck Panozzo – bass guitar, backing vocals
Todd Sucherman – drums, percussion
Lawrence Gowan – lead vocals, keyboards
Will Evankovich – acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals
Terry Gowan – bass guitar, backing vocals
