RETURN TO PARADISE (DVD)

In the mid nineties the "classic" line-up of the band (Dennis De Young, Tommy Shaw, James Young, Chuck Panozzo, John Panozzo) was playing together again. Unfortunately, this didn't last for a very long time, because John Panozzo died in mid 1996. Anyway, since 1995 they had a new drummer, called Todd Sucherman, a very good drummer who became their official drummer after John died.

This concert video was recorded in the Autumn of 1996, a few months after John died. I really didn't expect to see STYX playing as well as they did in this concert video. They sound very well rehearsed, and they look very happy playing together. Dennis De Young is a very good lead singer and keyboards player, and he sings and plays with a lot of energy. Maybe his songs are in contrast to the more heavy musical style of the songs which are sung and composed by Tommy Shaw and James Young. This led to De Young to leave the band in 1999 after some musical differences with Young and Shaw, and also after some health problems which also forced him to leave the band. De Young was replaced with another very good singer and keyboard player (Lawrence Gowan). Anyway, the band wasn't the same anymore without De Young.

The set list of this concert video is very good. I'm not a fan of STYX, but in this concert video they played some very good songs for my taste ("Come Sail Away", "Crystal Ball", "Blue Collar Man", "Miss America", "Lady", "Boat on the River", "Snowblind"). Fortunately, no songs from the "Kilroy Was Here" (1983) album were included in this concert video. Their "Caught in the Act" concert video from 1984 had several songs from that album, an album which I don't like.

There is also a song called "Show Me the Way" which was dedicated in this concert by De Young to the late John Panozzo. It is a very good song.

This concert video is very good, with very good quality of images, camera angles and recording and mixing. It is much better than the "Caught in the Act" concert video, and it has the band playing and singing with a lot of energy to their fans. It is a good memory of the band with Dennis De Young, and also shows a very good drummer, Todd Sucherman, playing with a lot of energy, doing a very good job replacing the late John Panozzo.