21ST CENTURY LIVE

You know that I can't get crazy for the prog related world of the AOR/melodic and mainstream bands, but sometimes I like to make an exception, regarding of some "strong" live acts, like the present one by Styx...well I think of some new live acts by Asia, but also of the live in Houston by Journey dated 1981, regardless the AOR essence of Kansas in the middle eighties, when They turned from their hard /prog rock albums of the seventies to a more accessible style (like within "In the Spirit of things" for example..); but anyway, coming back to this new ensemble (note: I saw them live on stage in 2005 in Milan, when They supported Kansas in a fine gig and it was a real surprise!!), I think that their performance is always powerful and quite convincing too, above all by means of Greg Burtnick on guitars, as well as of that precious support from Lawrence Gowan, this latter involved in the keyboards (such a good job!!) , who is able to give this new "incarnation" of the band a more personal direction and an important cohesion too, regarding all the members!! Ok sometimes the lyrics are cheesy and their sense of patriotism a bit superficial, but actually We appreciate their sense of humor in any casell!! You can' t hear such a typical Dennis De Young's keyboard and it's not a defect here, cause the final output is diverse in comparison to the early albums by Styx and quite modern too!!

4 stars in a collection of AOR live music, three stars inside a collection of easy prog related music, cause it isn't worth as "completely essential", if compared to the best melodic but truly "progressive" live acts such as for instance "Coming of Age" by Camel; but this is the typical doubt regarding all the melodic pop bands "in the edge" and a minor defect after all, because We're talking about such an interesting music anyway!!