CORNERSTONE

Released in 1979, "Cornerstone" comes from Styx's stadium rock and AOR period, long after their flirtation with prog. Here there are nine single length tracks, most of which are indeed potential singles.

The album contains two of the band's best known and most popular songs, "Babe" and "Boat on the river". "Babe" is undoubtedly a mushy, tear jerking ballad which was single-handedly responsible for Dennis De Young's further attempts to take the band down the pop ballad route. It is though, in pop terms, a fine composition which fully warrants its position even today as a pop classic. "Boat on the river" has the feel of a gypsy campfire type sing along. Tommy Shaw's mandolin playing and some accordion type sounds contributing to the unusually folk atmosphere. The strong melody and fine harmonics help to make this song the highlight of the album.

Those tracks aside, the rest are competently written and performed, but largely undistinguished. Track such as "Lights" (not the Journey song of the same name) and "Never say never" are up-tempo toe-tappers but there is little real substance to them. "Borrowed time" is the hardest (heaviest) track on the album, the rather cynical lyrics concluding that we are all "living on borrowed time".

"First time" is another De Young smoocher, which fails to strike the chord of "Babe", but features a decent vocal performance by the writer and a fine lead guitar solo. With "Eddie", it sounds like a KISS track has mistakenly slipped onto the album unnoticed. The closest we get to a prog track is saved for last, "Love in the midnight" having a slightly offbeat sound with good keyboard and guitar sections. The choral backing vocals also offer a more adventurous dimension.

"Cornerstone" will never be hailed as a groundbreaking album, or admired for its originality. What it does have is a succession of well written and well performed pop rock songs. If such music lights your fire, then this album is for you.

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