MAN OF MIRACLES

This is Styx' forth album. I own this album as part of a 2CD set called The Wooden Nickel Recordings comprising the band's first four albums. When I listen to the second disc (which is cleverly called Tails while the first disc is called Heads) holding the original albums The Serpent Is Rising and Man Of Miracles, I always feel that if they had only made a single album out of the best songs from these two albums they could have made a really good one. Most probably not an excellent one, but a good one for sure! These two albums have the same sound and both of them have some good material and some quite awful material.

Man Of Miracles starts out quite weak with two straightforward Rock 'N' Roll numbers in Rock 'N' Roll Feeling and Havin' A Ball. The titles of these songs alone give them away. What follows is mostly quite enjoyable, however. Golden Lark, A Song For Suzanne, Man Of Miracles and Christopher, Mr. Christopher are all good songs. In terms of Prog this album is about as rich as most Styx albums, which is to say not very rich. However, Styx does have a progressive side and it is occasionally shown here too. Songs like A Man Like Me, on the other hand, is again another generic Rock 'N' Roll number that the album could have done without.

One thing to notice about these early albums, Man Of Miracles in particular, is that they rock harder than on later, more popular albums. There is more Rock 'N' Roll and Hard Rock here and less Pop.

Like with The Serpent Is Rising the weak tracks brings this album down to two (and a half) stars. However, The Wooden Nickel Recordings 2CD set is a very worthwhile way to get these early albums since you get some good stuff (and sadly some real stinkers too). It also has a superb cover art picture very much in line with the name of the band.

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