Artist: STYX
Album: THE GRAND ILLUSION (CD US-IMPORT)

Year: 1977
Media type: CD

The Grand Illusion is the seventh studio album by Styx, released in 1977. It became the band's first Triple Platinum album, and spawned the Top 10 hit "Come Sail Away" and the Top 30 hit "Fooling Yourself".

The album was the subject of an episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard featuring interviews with several band members. According to lead singer Dennis DeYoung, the album's theme was the struggle to overcome self-deluding superficiality in order to affirm one's genuine value. This theme was reflected in the lyrics of the album's title track:

The track "Miss America" was guitarist James Young's scathing attack on the Miss America pageants. Young, in his interview on the In the Studio program, said the track came to him in the middle of the night and that its riff was inspired by the Jethro Tull song "Minstrel in the Gallery".

TRACKLIST:

01 "The Grand Illusion" (Dennis DeYoung) – 4:36
Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung
First guitar solo and guitar fills: Tommy Shaw
Second guitar solo: James Young

02 "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" (Tommy Shaw) – 5:29
Lead vocals and guitar: Tommy Shaw
Synthesizer solos: Dennis DeYoung

03 "Superstars" (DeYoung, Shaw, James Young) – 3:59
Lead vocals and lead guitar: Tommy Shaw
Soliloquy: Dennis DeYoung

04 "Come Sail Away" (DeYoung) – 6:07
Lead vocals and synthesizer solo: Dennis DeYoung
ARP Odyssey: James Young
Lead Guitar: Tommy Shaw

05 "Miss America" (Young) – 5:01
Lead vocals and lead guitar: James Young

06 "Man in the Wilderness" (Shaw) – 5:49
Lead vocals and lead guitar: Tommy Shaw

07 "Castle Walls" (DeYoung) – 6:00
Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung
Guitar fills and harmony fills: Tommy Shaw
Guitar solo: James Young

08 "The Grand Finale" (DeYoung, Shaw, Young) – 1:58
Lead vocals: Dennis DeYoung
Guitar fills and first guitar solo: Tommy Shaw
Melodic Guitar Lead: James Young


LINE-UP:

Dennis DeYoung - keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
Chuck Panozzo - bass, vocals
John Panozzo - drums, percussion, vocals
Tommy Shaw - acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
James Young - guitars, keyboards, vocals