My favorite band and its not even close. Styx || and man of miracles are my fav from wooden nickel days but liked all of them a lot. Equinox, crystal ball, GI, POE, The Mission and Crash of the Crown are all as good as it gets.
My favorite Styx album, it enthralled me as a teenager. I wish they would have stuck with this mythological sound. Far from being filler, I feel that the end of side B is beautifally conceptual: from the dark kundulini of Serpent, to the catastrophic chaos of Krakatoa, into the glorious order of Divine Sovereignty of Hallelujah...impeccable!
I definitely love The Serpent Is Rising And I love the Plexiglass Toilet It is what it is and gives a little bit of comedy to the album Stop being so damn finicky I found both of these albums in a used record bin just after I bought my CD player in 1989, I felt like I struck gold
Being from Chicago I enjoyed all 4 of the early albums. The Serpent Is Rising is my favorite. I’ve never understood DDY’s issues with the production- Imho it’s the best sounding of the Wooden Nickel albums. I’ve also never understood why folks over- emphasize the few oddball minutes it, which obscures the point of how good the album is overall. It’s a simple case of addition by subtraction: Plexiglass Toilet 2:22, and Krakatoa/ Hallelujah 3:07 = 5:29. That’s basically only one song’s worth of time, out of a total running time of 40:07. In this age of CDs and downloads, it’s easy enough to just skip them. What you’re left with is 34:38 of 8 absolutely killer tracks which I would argue make it the best album of the Wooden Nickel era.
Always loved Serpent, very raw on the pruduction side but i always adored that about it! Side A is just killer imo (Even Plexiglass, i think musically its pretty cool). Grove of elgatine musically is just phenomenal, especially the break in between for the piano & mellotron! Side B is great as well. Ive always loved how the album ends on Krakatoa and Hallelujah, its very jarring but cool. Always loved the freaky synth sound Dennis gets on the transition between the two. Miraciles i have yet to hear but I've Pete Pardo praise Christopher, mr christopher from it so my hopes are high on the album!
I'd never heard either of these albums. But, I heard "Grove of Eglantine" for the first time on the Prog Rock Show, on this channel last Sunday. That convinced me to get both of these albums.
Oddly enough, they did play Plexiglass Toilet live when my wife and I saw them around 10 years ago. Braught out Chuck Ponazzo to sing it during the encore. I think we were the only ones aware of what they were doing lol
@@Slogan8703 yeah I remember when they did that. I just always loved the fact that it was John C's way of putting Dennis in his place at the time when he tried to become too high and mighty. To this day that Dennis still hates that song with a passion 🤣🤣 It was about 15 years ago with a Dennis DeYoung solo concert someone shouted it out and you could have seen the look of death darting from his eyes towards the crowd
Much like the first 3 Journey albums without Perry that no one talks about either these 4 albums by Styx on Wooden Nickel is the meat and bones of Styx and how they started. All 4 Albums are great listens.
I have a Wooden Nickel 7" 45rpm single of 'Unfinished Song' with a mono mix on one side and Stereo on the other. Its one of my favorite DeYoung songs, a lament of self-doubt so honest and raw that it physically hurts, especially when the Mellotron swells appear - its top tier shivers down the spine. Why this wasn't the obvious first choice for inclusion on Man of Miracles is stunning to me. Dennis was crushed by the failure of Styx II ('Lady' still hadn't broken yet) and 'Unfinished Song' is his scathing self assessment. I'd read that their manager Bill Traut was still CERTAIN that 'Best Thing' would be a monster hit if only people could hear it, so it was included to replace 'Lies' which was panned by everyone including the band, who didn't want to record it but were forced to by management. Why wasn't 'Unfinished Song' included on 'Best of Styx'? Instead we get 'Best Thing' a 3rd time. I wasn't even aware of 'Unfinished Song' until that hideous RCA 'Miracles' pressing appeared in record racks in 1980. I can't think of another major label LP that had a song replaced not once, but twice, leaving 3 variants for us to scratch our heads over.
I'm totally seeking out these 2 albums on CD right now which is so hard to find living here in Canada the wooden nickel albums on any format are scarce around here and I discovered these 2 albums on TH-cam with man of miracles being my favorite of the 2 the vibe I get is early Kansas with touches of yes and other prog acts of the time but done in the Styx way
Man Of Miracles (8.5/10) is a near top level Styx album, for me. I don't think The Serpent Is Rising (7/10) is quite as strong but there's still plenty to enjoy. Fave songs (Serpent): . Witch Wolf . As Bad As This/Plexiglass Toilet (the second part is a lot of fun, I reckon. There's a modern live version on-line with Lawrence, Tommy & Chuck, who takes the lead vocal) . Jonas Psalter . The Serpent Is Rising (Miracles) . Golden Lark . A Song For Suzanne . Evil Eyes . Christopher, Mr Christopher . Man Of Miracles
Don't have a problem with the Plexiglass Toilet song. It's just an off the wall/off beat song, and don't mind bands doing that once in a while; now, if the album was supposed to be conceptual, then, I can see how it can ruin the mood/flow of the record. Also, the song seems to be a spoof or parody of the Banana Boat song from Harry Belafonte.
You can get the complete Wooden Nickels four albums on two CDs by Hip-O Records. All 35 tracks. If you're a Styx fan, then its a must to have in your collection. It's Styx for heavens sack!! I've got the studio catalog, some comps and live albums too. New Styx is pretty damn good music too!
Serpent is hard to get through at times. Man of Miracles is better. Lots of prog in those early days. Any Styx fan should have these if nothing else than to hear how the band evolved.
Never been a huge Styx fan although I do own a bunch of their albums (something like 20). TBH some of the vocals kept me away - not the voice itself but DeYoung's phrasing (similar issue I have with Kevin Cronin/REO). So perhaps not that surprising that I'm not crazy about these two albums. "Witch Wolf" and "Rock & Roll Feeling" - done. 1975's Equinox gets MUCH better IMO, the prior Styx II is also better...Since the late 90's I actually generally like what they've put out - 6 quality records (incl live), so I expect that for me the later Styx episodes in this series will appeal to me more
The good songs are good and the boogie rock songs blow! They really got better at writing rock songs once they moved to A&M. No lame rock songs on Equinox at all. Every track is solid on that album! The Serpent is Rising: Witch Wolf The Grove Of Eglantine Young Man (the organ solo in this song is wicked!) As Bad As This (This run of 4 songs is just awesome) Plexiglass Toilet (I actually REALLY like this fun song. I wonder if it was meant for a b-side and they didn't have enough material for the album, so they put it on it?) Winner Take All (Don't like any of their boogie rock songs from the Wooden Nickel albums) 22 Years (Nope. Pass.) Jonas Psalter (Great rocker) The Serpent Is Rising (another excellent rocker) Krakatoa Hallelujah Chorus (From Handel's "Messiah") (these last two don't bug me ,but if they were left off of the album I wouldn't cry about it) Man of Miracles: Rock & Roll Feeling (Terrible, pass) Havin' A Ball (Hard pass) Golden Lark/A Song For Suzanne (excellent songs that I always play together like We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions) A Man Like Me (Cheesy another hard pass) Lies (It's a good cover, but unnecessary. B-side material) Evil Eyes (Such an excellent moody song) Southern Woman (Finally an excellent hard rock tune) Christopher, Mr Christopher (Another great rocker) Man Of Miracles (To me, this is a classic ) So my versions of these albums on my Minidisc are: Witch Wolf The Grove of Eglantine Young Man As Bad As This Plexiglass Toilet Jonas Psalter The Serpent is Rising/Krakatoa/Hallelujah Golden Lark/A Song For Suzanne Lies Unfinished Song Evil Eyes Southern Woman Christopher, Mr. Christopher Man of Miracles .
I'm Team Serpent all the way. Aside from As Bad As This and Krakatoa/Hallelujah, the rest of the album is solid as a rock. Miracles has some good cuts as well but I think there's a higher ratio of filler. Curulewski's voice is also sadly absent on the last Wooden Nickel record and that's a bummer. I thought he provided a great foil to DeYoung and Young's voices. Serpent: 7 out of 10. Miracles: 5.5 out of 10.
I get a little tired of people that that trash this album. Not that these guys did by any means. But in general, all the Wooden Nickel recordings get trashed because they only spawned one hit. People (DDY fans especially) think that hits are all that matter. This album showcased the talent of everyone but DDY, that's he he hates it so much. He'd rather tear it down than be proud of the experimentation they tried on this one. It's got hard rock/borderline metal with tracks like Witch Wolf, Serpent and Young Man...calypso/reggae with Plexiglass Toilet...jazz/folk with As Bad As This...prog with Jonas Psalter, Eglantine and Serpent...spoken word with Krakatoa...straight rock with Winner Take All...funk/blues/boogie woogie with 22 years...there's so much instrumentation and diversity on this album! They showed a ton of talent and musicianship on this album. It doesn't deserve to be ranked above PO8 or Illusion, but it's not Kilroy or Cornerstone either. Curulewski deserves more credit from Styx fans and the rest of the rock world.
My favorite band and its not even close. Styx || and man of miracles are my fav from wooden nickel days but liked all of them a lot. Equinox, crystal ball, GI, POE, The Mission and Crash of the Crown are all as good as it gets.
Thanks for showcasing these albums, guys. Agree JY was a force on these!
My favorite Styx album, it enthralled me as a teenager. I wish they would have stuck with this mythological sound. Far from being filler, I feel that the end of side B is beautifally conceptual: from the dark kundulini of Serpent, to the catastrophic chaos of Krakatoa, into the glorious order of Divine Sovereignty of Hallelujah...impeccable!
I agree, the Serpent is Rising is a classic!
I definitely love The Serpent Is Rising
And I love the Plexiglass Toilet
It is what it is and gives a little bit of comedy to the album
Stop being so damn finicky
I found both of these albums in a used record bin just after I bought my CD player in 1989, I felt like I struck gold
Being from Chicago I enjoyed all 4 of the early albums. The Serpent Is Rising is my favorite. I’ve never understood DDY’s issues with the production- Imho it’s the best sounding of the Wooden Nickel albums. I’ve also never understood why folks over- emphasize the few oddball minutes it, which obscures the point of how good the album is overall.
It’s a simple case of addition by subtraction: Plexiglass Toilet 2:22, and Krakatoa/ Hallelujah 3:07 = 5:29. That’s basically only one song’s worth of time, out of a total running time of 40:07. In this age of CDs and downloads, it’s easy enough to just skip them.
What you’re left with is 34:38 of 8 absolutely killer tracks which I would argue make it the best album of the Wooden Nickel era.
Always loved Serpent, very raw on the pruduction side but i always adored that about it!
Side A is just killer imo (Even Plexiglass, i think musically its pretty cool). Grove of elgatine musically is just phenomenal, especially the break in between for the piano & mellotron!
Side B is great as well. Ive always loved how the album ends on Krakatoa and Hallelujah, its very jarring but cool. Always loved the freaky synth sound Dennis gets on the transition between the two.
Miraciles i have yet to hear but I've Pete Pardo praise Christopher, mr christopher from it so my hopes are high on the album!
I'd never heard either of these albums. But, I heard "Grove of Eglantine" for the first time on the Prog Rock Show, on this channel last Sunday. That convinced me to get both of these albums.
I remember finding these albums in the cut-out bin at a local drug store in late 1974 for 1.99 each. Bought them both, and have loved them ever since.
Oddly enough, they did play Plexiglass Toilet live when my wife and I saw them around 10 years ago. Braught out Chuck Ponazzo to sing it during the encore. I think we were the only ones aware of what they were doing lol
@@Slogan8703 yeah I remember when they did that.
I just always loved the fact that it was John C's way of putting Dennis in his place at the time when he tried to become too high and mighty.
To this day that Dennis still hates that song with a passion 🤣🤣
It was about 15 years ago with a Dennis DeYoung solo concert someone shouted it out and you could have seen the look of death darting from his eyes towards the crowd
@@truckerkevthepaidtourist It sure sounds like Dennis laughing during the fadeout when the toilet flushes.
Have the Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings collection, it's a great way to get the first four albums and includes a b-side.
@@Sirdamienfrost yeah that little 4 cd set at the time it's gotten really popular again but you could get it for a real bargain too
That Wooden Nickel collection is a must-have!
Much like the first 3 Journey albums without Perry that no one talks about either these 4 albums by Styx on Wooden Nickel is the meat and bones of Styx and how they started. All 4 Albums are great listens.
I have a Wooden Nickel 7" 45rpm single of 'Unfinished Song' with a mono mix on one side and Stereo on the other. Its one of my favorite DeYoung songs, a lament of self-doubt so honest and raw that it physically hurts, especially when the Mellotron swells appear - its top tier shivers down the spine. Why this wasn't the obvious first choice for inclusion on Man of Miracles is stunning to me. Dennis was crushed by the failure of Styx II ('Lady' still hadn't broken yet) and 'Unfinished Song' is his scathing self assessment. I'd read that their manager Bill Traut was still CERTAIN that 'Best Thing' would be a monster hit if only people could hear it, so it was included to replace 'Lies' which was panned by everyone including the band, who didn't want to record it but were forced to by management. Why wasn't 'Unfinished Song' included on 'Best of Styx'? Instead we get 'Best Thing' a 3rd time. I wasn't even aware of 'Unfinished Song' until that hideous RCA 'Miracles' pressing appeared in record racks in 1980. I can't think of another major label LP that had a song replaced not once, but twice, leaving 3 variants for us to scratch our heads over.
I'm totally seeking out these 2 albums on CD right now which is so hard to find living here in Canada the wooden nickel albums on any format are scarce around here and I discovered these 2 albums on TH-cam with man of miracles being my favorite of the 2 the vibe I get is early Kansas with touches of yes and other prog acts of the time but done in the Styx way
I am with you on Man of Miracles, that’s a fantastic album!
👍
Love these albums. In fact i love all their albums up to kilroy(yes..even that one). Lost them when Dennis was out,not Styx anymore.
Looked on both Ebay and Amazon for the Wooden Nickel years set cant find it anywhere
www.amazon.com/Complete-Wooden-Nickel-Recordings-CD/dp/B0007LLPM4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1KPG1FIEGNZ4W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5SYkthHie2PaJ3qJGwpItFnqVqZIOyYnv5L42IDhrraVMxoTunFngCn5ncv3f74d6HyJgojg_6uSIw2AYfzlxfGTcV1EXvGr5NxzSNm6vIuBJ2NFbjFeRblreVLlahqs4pnVxZhGpJNsQ91iklwwf6sqks3Asi0zM_L4CKFX7i0L0Or74gyFsLQT3JGmuQ7Rr9G_tPD9UATCGUSyRln8xYrisNSNL4oIBWiN2fwqzzqcrP7BgvAVAyLRio7SGowN2Nmxaib6atz00anXvi4Q7yH4cTvz_KtbTPLpYn22HskDu--zGTSI0k9Xod9ZmyfddHpIeKD009AVhTtUNSF9AKGt_FKFR44O1V6E_o0vRLo2usOQL1cVbpGi2MCLZb8PlpPUGAu7eReFTp81nVRQvlxb8aFviG_X6r876dOq_gm5hpjAdLfjUbp9AvCV35b-.lukdLHe8DnibSsj_toi1_M4LU8AgntkXCJv59-0XfkQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=styx+wooden&qid=1738194602&sprefix=styx+wodden%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-1
Man Of Miracles (8.5/10) is a near top level Styx album, for me. I don't think The Serpent Is Rising (7/10) is quite as strong but there's still plenty to enjoy.
Fave songs (Serpent):
. Witch Wolf
. As Bad As This/Plexiglass Toilet (the second part is a lot of fun, I reckon. There's a modern live version on-line with Lawrence, Tommy & Chuck, who takes the lead vocal)
. Jonas Psalter
. The Serpent Is Rising
(Miracles)
. Golden Lark
. A Song For Suzanne
. Evil Eyes
. Christopher, Mr Christopher
. Man Of Miracles
Don't have a problem with the Plexiglass Toilet song. It's just an off the wall/off beat song, and don't mind bands doing that once in a while; now, if the album was supposed to be conceptual, then, I can see how it can ruin the mood/flow of the record.
Also, the song seems to be a spoof or parody of the Banana Boat song from Harry Belafonte.
You can get the complete Wooden Nickels four albums on two CDs by Hip-O Records. All 35 tracks. If you're a Styx fan, then its a must to have in your collection. It's Styx for heavens sack!!
I've got the studio catalog, some comps and live albums too. New Styx is pretty damn good music too!
Great point on the Wooden Nickel collection on Hip-O! It's a must-have for any Styx fan and it's not $$
Where’s the video on the first 2?
th-cam.com/users/liveyjicm4oyLb8?si=GaJ7PYCcWdDPPKrM
Serpent is hard to get through at times. Man of Miracles is better. Lots of prog in those early days. Any Styx fan should have these if nothing else than to hear how the band evolved.
Never been a huge Styx fan although I do own a bunch of their albums (something like 20). TBH some of the vocals kept me away - not the voice itself but DeYoung's phrasing (similar issue I have with Kevin Cronin/REO). So perhaps not that surprising that I'm not crazy about these two albums. "Witch Wolf" and "Rock & Roll Feeling" - done. 1975's Equinox gets MUCH better IMO, the prior Styx II is also better...Since the late 90's I actually generally like what they've put out - 6 quality records (incl live), so I expect that for me the later Styx episodes in this series will appeal to me more
The last two Styx albums are brilliant!
🚽 don't sit down on the plexiglass toilet
good advice for sure!
Rather do that than sit on a wooden toilet 🤞🏻
Make it nice for everyone
The good songs are good and the boogie rock songs blow! They really got better at writing rock songs once they moved to A&M. No lame rock songs on Equinox at all. Every track is solid on that album!
The Serpent is Rising:
Witch Wolf
The Grove Of Eglantine
Young Man (the organ solo in this song is wicked!)
As Bad As This (This run of 4 songs is just awesome)
Plexiglass Toilet (I actually REALLY like this fun song. I wonder if it was meant for a b-side and they didn't have enough material for the album, so they put it on it?)
Winner Take All (Don't like any of their boogie rock songs from the Wooden Nickel albums)
22 Years (Nope. Pass.)
Jonas Psalter (Great rocker)
The Serpent Is Rising (another excellent rocker)
Krakatoa
Hallelujah Chorus (From Handel's "Messiah") (these last two don't bug me ,but if they were left off of the album I wouldn't cry about it)
Man of Miracles:
Rock & Roll Feeling (Terrible, pass)
Havin' A Ball (Hard pass)
Golden Lark/A Song For Suzanne (excellent songs that I always play together like We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions)
A Man Like Me (Cheesy another hard pass)
Lies (It's a good cover, but unnecessary. B-side material)
Evil Eyes (Such an excellent moody song)
Southern Woman (Finally an excellent hard rock tune)
Christopher, Mr Christopher (Another great rocker)
Man Of Miracles (To me, this is a classic )
So my versions of these albums on my Minidisc are:
Witch Wolf
The Grove of Eglantine
Young Man
As Bad As This
Plexiglass Toilet
Jonas Psalter
The Serpent is Rising/Krakatoa/Hallelujah
Golden Lark/A Song For Suzanne
Lies
Unfinished Song
Evil Eyes
Southern Woman
Christopher, Mr. Christopher
Man of Miracles
.
I totally agree that Equinox blows these two out of the water
Two of my favoritist people talking about one of my favoritist albums!!! 👍
I'm Team Serpent all the way. Aside from As Bad As This and Krakatoa/Hallelujah, the rest of the album is solid as a rock. Miracles has some good cuts as well but I think there's a higher ratio of filler. Curulewski's voice is also sadly absent on the last Wooden Nickel record and that's a bummer. I thought he provided a great foil to DeYoung and Young's voices.
Serpent: 7 out of 10. Miracles: 5.5 out of 10.
I get a little tired of people that that trash this album. Not that these guys did by any means. But in general, all the Wooden Nickel recordings get trashed because they only spawned one hit. People (DDY fans especially) think that hits are all that matter. This album showcased the talent of everyone but DDY, that's he he hates it so much. He'd rather tear it down than be proud of the experimentation they tried on this one.
It's got hard rock/borderline metal with tracks like Witch Wolf, Serpent and Young Man...calypso/reggae with Plexiglass Toilet...jazz/folk with As Bad As This...prog with Jonas Psalter, Eglantine and Serpent...spoken word with Krakatoa...straight rock with Winner Take All...funk/blues/boogie woogie with 22 years...there's so much instrumentation and diversity on this album!
They showed a ton of talent and musicianship on this album. It doesn't deserve to be ranked above PO8 or Illusion, but it's not Kilroy or Cornerstone either. Curulewski deserves more credit from Styx fans and the rest of the rock world.