Track listing
- A1 Great White Hope 4:23
- A2 I'm O.K. 5:42
- A3 Sing for the Day 4:56
- A4 The Message 1:08
- A5 Lords of the Ring 4:31
- B1 Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) 4:03
- B2 Queen of Spades 5:38
- B3 Renegade 4:13
- B4 Pieces of Eight 4:45
- B5 Aku-Aku 3:00
- Total length: 42:19
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18 Issues
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Pieces of Eight [p] 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight 33 rpm, Colored Vinyl, Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight Limited Edition, Picture Disc
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Pieces of Eight Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Piezas de a ocho 33 rpm
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Pieces of Eight 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight Gatefold
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Pieces of Eight CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Numbered Edition, Remastered, SHM
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Pieces of Eight 180 gram, 33 rpm, Gatefold, Remastered
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Pieces of Eight CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Remastered, SHM
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Pieces of Eight Numbered Edition, Remastered, Slipcase / O-Card
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59 Reviews
VR391
It's funny to me that I have so much Styx. Honestly, the only reason I decided to get basically their entire discography is because my mother is a big fan and she wanted some new music. Yet I never let her listen to any of my Styx CDs; this was not done out of spite, but sheer forgetfulness. Now, I sit in my new home, hundreds of miles between both her and the complete works of Styx.Maybe it would be a nice gift for when I see her next month.
Granted, I'm no fool when it comes to this band's music. I've before regarded that I'm an '80s music fanatic, and while albums such as Pieces of Eight and other big names came out in the 1970s, there's something about this band that felt like they had a few years of a jumpstart. The AOR-influence and contemporary synthesizers mixed into their pseudo-classic rock sound, making for something that could have easily tricked an uncultured, unknowing music fan into thinking that Styx's prime were indeed the 1980s. Before getting really any of their records, I was a big fan of "Mr. Roboto", "Come Sail Away", "Lady", "Renegade", and "Lorelei".
There's something so explicably simple about the music of Styx. They're pop/rock, but they like to change that up in a variety of different outfits. Hard rock on some days, symphonic rock on others! There's even a tinge of progressive pop in there from time to time; in a way, they are a prototype to what Asia ended up doing. Every single one of Styx's albums has the same exact atmosphere, to an almost eerie degree even; if I were to put my Styx collection on shuffle, there's no way I would be able to tell you about which songs belong to what releases (unless it was a song that I knew particularly well, but that isn't too often either!). Of course, one of the things that categorizes the middle and later releases is the presence of Tommy Shaw, a musician who is so cliche at times that you just can't not love him. I personally am happy whenever this man is behind the microphone (not to say that DeYoung doesn't give me a good time).
A thing that's strange about Pieces of Eight, however, is that despite the samey qualities that adorn all of these releases, this one almost seems to be The Grand Illusion, pt. 2. Second track "I'm OK" was where I first noticed this, as it directly takes a melody from the verses of "Come Sail Away" and builds upon it. The album as a whole seems to mimic various aspects of that record, and while it isn't completely odd that they'd try to mimic their extremely successful predecessor, it would have been nice if they had broken free of the formula for a change. I personally do not like the aforementioned magnum opus release of theirs, but in comparison, this is still the better of the two.
Did Hugh Syme make that cover? Looks like he did...
I see a lot of people pushing for a progressive rock label for this record, but really, I think the only reason that is has to due with the extremely nerdy song content that plagues this record. "Lords of the Ring" is the song that stands out the most in this field, being exactly what you would expect. Pop hit "Renegade" is about an outlaw who is about to be hanged. Really, they're not the kind of subjects that are bad, but they sure don't have much of a relatable quality to them. This doesn't make the record prog, nor is anything of Styx's discography really prog.
By the end of the forty-some minute run of this record, you'll more than likely feel pretty unphased. At least, I wasn't affected too greatly. A few songs in there are fun for the time being, but they're swept under the rug as soon as the next one comes in. That's not the kind of album I remember too fondly; despite it not being the most entertaining CD, it's miles ahead of some of the band's other albums, and that in itself merits it a little bit of respect. Right?
If you like Styx, you might like this. I'm not too big a fan.
p.s. - Almost every record has a quality to it that I really like. On this one, it's the synth in the far back of the opening verse of "Queen of Spades"; god, that's a beauty.
Published
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Hang Man Is Coming Down From The Gallows
The album Pieces Of Eight by Styx is Rock-De-Excellence-La-Suprema-Vunderbar.
There is nothing like Tommy and the band playing and singing Renegade in all of rock and roll. Turn it up.
Meanwhile, the rest of side two kicks ass with King Kong size boots. Just looking at the set list one may start to druel.
- Blue Collar Man (US Charts #21)
- Queen Of Spades
- Renegade (US Charts #16)
- Pieces Of Eight
Meanwhile, side one features the epic I'm Okay. Hidden behind the lame song title is a beautiful rock masterpiece that includes a massive church organ employed for high dramatic effect. If the band had just come up with a better song title this would be among their most popular songs ever.
Side one also includes Shaw's accoustic guitar hit Sing For the Day (US Charts #41). Lord Of The Rings is pretty good, too. But side two is where the money is at.
In summary, Pieces Of Eight is classic Styx and part of a string of six most excellent albums they put out starting with Equinox.
Published
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A1
Great White Hope
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A2
I'm O.K.
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A3
Sing for the Day
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A4 The Message
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A5
Lords of the Ring
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B1
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
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B2
Queen of Spades
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B3
Renegade
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B4
Pieces of Eight
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B5
Aku-Aku
Published
it's... okay. i guess. I honestly didn't enjoy it that much, and will not listen to it again for sure. It's not like this is meant to be an album and doesn't have a lot of strong singles, i also just didn't feel any emotion while listening to the songs. Renegade (the reason I played this album) is a great song. but it's the only great song on here.
Published
Classic top to bottom
The album opener "Great White Hope" is a straight hard rock song with great vocal line. The next track "I'm Okay" is much proggier than the first track with its symphonic organ solo. Structurally, this is definitely not a straight hard rock music. The melody of this song is also nice. "Sing For The Day" is a happy song that might cheer up your day. It's suitable to open my workshop. It's a good energizer to boost up the spirit of a workshop. Performed in ballad fashion with an upbeat tempo, this is a good song to start the day.
"The Message" is a short bridge with synthesizer sound which connects to the next track "Lords of The Ring". I love this song very much - not only love the movie! James Young takes the lead on vocal. It's very strong in melody. As indicate through my review of the band's live albums, I love track 6 "Blue Collar Man" and it has become my all time Styx favorite song! It rocks man! "Queen of Spades" is another great song that also became my favorite. Other songs: "Renegade", "Pieces of Eight" and the instrumental "Aku-Aku" are also excellent ones.
Pieces Of Eight depicted Styx as kings of the U.S.-based art rock scene of the late '70s making it on par with The Grand Illusion. Let's enjoy this moment and remember Styx as the great art rock band that they were back then.
Overall this is an excellent album that any rock fans should NOT miss.
Published
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On The Grand Illusion, Styx did a fine job of walking the tightrope between poppy AOR and prog-tinged hard rock, and on Pieces of Eight they try to do much the same. As with its predecessor, it's a carefully judged balanced: there's just enough hard rock touches to make it feel credible in that arena without compromising the radio-friendliness, and just enough little flourishes to give a hint of prog whilst still prioritising pop hooks over prog complexity. (That said, going terse can bring its own benefits: on I'm OK the band cram a bunch of little movements into under six minutes, yielding a song which gives the feeling of a multi-part prog epic without demanding the runtime of one.)
This sort of alchemy makes them exactly the sort of band the term AOR was coined to describe - because they're not prog rock or hard rock or pop rock or soft rock to be unambiguously described by any of those terms, but are enough like all of those things that they're clearly some flavour of rock aimed at a somewhat more mature audience than more singles-oriented genres.
At the same time, "AOR" tends to be associated with very commercially-oriented material, but that's a little unfair here. Sing For the Day isn't the sort of song you do expecting it to be a hit, and likewise if you were just trying to churn out viable radio material the 1-minute instrumental The Message is a weird thing to spend time on; in 1978 if you were wanting to chase the big money you'd be making disco or new wave. (Styx would eventually do exactly that, but they don't do it here.)
In fact, you could argue that despite being as radio-friendly as it is, Pieces of Eight is commercial despite itself - it isn't necessarily being anti-commercial, but it is being anti-bandwagon. It's carrying the torch for progressively-tinged hard rock in an era when many bands working that style were shifting away from it - Lords of the Ring puts me in mind of the more grandiose efforts of early Queen, for instance, who this same year were putting out material like Fat Bottomed Girls. On the whole, the album doesn't capture the same lightning in a bottle as The Grand Illusion, but it comes very close.
This sort of alchemy makes them exactly the sort of band the term AOR was coined to describe - because they're not prog rock or hard rock or pop rock or soft rock to be unambiguously described by any of those terms, but are enough like all of those things that they're clearly some flavour of rock aimed at a somewhat more mature audience than more singles-oriented genres.
At the same time, "AOR" tends to be associated with very commercially-oriented material, but that's a little unfair here. Sing For the Day isn't the sort of song you do expecting it to be a hit, and likewise if you were just trying to churn out viable radio material the 1-minute instrumental The Message is a weird thing to spend time on; in 1978 if you were wanting to chase the big money you'd be making disco or new wave. (Styx would eventually do exactly that, but they don't do it here.)
In fact, you could argue that despite being as radio-friendly as it is, Pieces of Eight is commercial despite itself - it isn't necessarily being anti-commercial, but it is being anti-bandwagon. It's carrying the torch for progressively-tinged hard rock in an era when many bands working that style were shifting away from it - Lords of the Ring puts me in mind of the more grandiose efforts of early Queen, for instance, who this same year were putting out material like Fat Bottomed Girls. On the whole, the album doesn't capture the same lightning in a bottle as The Grand Illusion, but it comes very close.
Published
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A1
Great White Hope
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A2
I'm O.K.
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A3
Sing for the Day
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A4 The Message
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A5
Lords of the Ring
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B1
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
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B2
Queen of Spades
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B3
Renegade
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B4
Pieces of Eight
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B5
Aku-Aku
Pieces of Eight is the Styx record that most carefully balances the band's progressive rock aspirations with their more radio-friendly tendencies. The album's overall style isn't hugely dissimilar from that of The Grand Illusion, with a similarly immaculate production, but Pieces of Eight is far more eclectic. In particular, the record is a relatively even mix of forward-looking and backward-looking tracks. The more straightforward songs are less progressive-influences than their counterparts on The Grand Illusion, with raucous hard rock tunes ("Great White Hope", "Blue Collar Man", "Renegade") sitting alongside sentimental, AOR-influenced pieces ("I'm OK", "Sing for the Day"). On the flip side, the album's lengthier cuts are far easier to qualify as honest-to-goodness progressive rock. Tracks like "Queen of Spades" and "Pieces of Eight" veer surprisingly close to the contemporaneous style of American progsters Kansas. In short, Pieces of Eight is an album that should have something of interest for every sort of Styx fan.
Perhaps the most surprising thing here is that everything flows together fairly well. None of the tonal changes are remotely jarring, with Pieces of Eight employing interludes and extended outros as well as any record in my collection. The record also avoids a disconnect between the more theatrical Dennis DeYoung-fronted songs and the more conventional stylings of Tommy Shaw, marking an improvement over the similarly eclectic Crystal Ball. I must admit that Pieces of Eight still took me far longer to appreciate than any of the three records that immediately precede it. I suspect this had a lot to do with the track sequencing, which places both of the sappy AOR songs at the front of the record. Neither "I'm OK" nor "Sing for the Day" are overtly poor ("I'm OK" has developed into a guilty pleasure…), but I continue to have difficulty with the album's opening half. At least the band more than makes up for its inauspicious start by closing with what is arguably the strongest twenty-minute stretch of the band's career.
Pieces of Eight features just as many standouts as The Grand Illusion, with highlights on both the rockier and the more progressive end of the spectrum. The best of those hits is "Renegade"- a Top-20 radio smash from Tommy Shaw that is rightfully considered to be the strongest hard rock tune in the band's discography. "Blue Collar Man" is another Shaw-sung rocker that should please precisely the same collection of listeners, whereas the opening "Great White Hope" may be James Young's best contribution of the era. Less widely discussed but just as impressive are the record's forays into soaring prog rock, all of which were written by Dennis DeYoung. Here I'm especially fond of the slowly-expanding "The Queen of Spades", which rivals "Man in the Wilderness" and "Castle Walls" (both off The Grand Illusion) as my favorite prog tune from the band. The title track is also worth mentioning, if only for its gorgeous, piano-driven arrangements: it makes me wonder what could've been if DeYoung hadn't subsequently decided to focus on the maudlin balladry. If you ignore the interludes, the only tracks here that I'd categorize as less than great are the aforementioned "I'm OK" and "Sing for the Day", the second of which was inexplicably chosen as the album's second single.
Pieces of Eight has taken me a number of years to fully enjoy, but I now consider it to be the second most significant album in the Styx discography, after only The Grand Illusion. In terms of personal preference, I'd also rank it somewhere alongside Crystal Ball as the band's second best, although this album's stronger slate of hits means that I return to Pieces of Eight at least as much as any Styx release (The Grand Illusion included). It's just a shame that, within a year of this album's resounding success, Styx would suddenly decide to commodify their sound with the ballad-heavy AOR-fest Cornerstone…
7.9/10
Published
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A1
Great White Hope
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A2
I'm O.K.
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A3
Sing for the Day
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A4
The Message
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A5
Lords of the Ring
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B1
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
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B2
Queen of Spades
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B3
Renegade
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B4
Pieces of Eight
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B5
Aku-Aku
Now, the first 3 tracks aren’t all that good. “Great White Hope” and “I’m OK” aren’t bad, though they’re still very generic and boring hard rock songs. But “Sing For The Day” is just awful... very repetitive, very annoying, and very grating. Thankfully though, the rest of the album more than makes up for these 3 tracks. “The Message” is a fantastic eerie synth intro to the phenomenal prog song “Lords Of The Ring”, which has a mind-blowing middle section, and is the highlight of the entire album. Then, side two opens with “Blue Collar Man”, which is a great, iconic hard rock song with a very nice riff. Then there’s “Queen Of Spades”, which starts out as a “Come Sail Away”-type ballad before transforming into a fantastic prog song. And then of course there’s “Renegade”, we can’t skip that one. Yes, it’s overplayed. But it’s still a fantastic hard rock song with plenty of prog elements, and the vocal harmonies and guitar solo towards the end are just amazing. Then, the album ends strongly with the fantastic title track, followed by its instrumental outro “Aku-Aku”. Both of these are great, and I especially love the piano in the latter, as well as DeYoung’s vocals in the title track.
Overall, while I can see why many would dislike this LP, I still love it. A fantastic prog-influenced pop-rock album, and one of Styx’s absolute best.
Final rating: 4.5/5
Best tracks: Lords Of The Ring, Queen Of Spades, Renegade
Published
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Catalog
28 May 2024
28 May 2024
27 May 2024
26 May 2024
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A1
Great White Hope
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A2
I'm O.K.
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A3
Sing for the Day
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A4 The Message
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A5
Lords of the Ring
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B1
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
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B2
Queen of Spades
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B3
Renegade
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B4
Pieces of Eight
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B5
Aku-Aku
16 May 2024
13 May 2024
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A1
Great White Hope
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A2
I'm O.K.
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A3
Sing for the Day
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A4 The Message
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A5
Lords of the Ring
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B1
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
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B2
Queen of Spades
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B3
Renegade
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B4
Pieces of Eight
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B5
Aku-Aku
13 May 2024
12 May 2024
4 May 2024
3 May 2024
28 Apr 2024
23 Apr 2024
22 Apr 2024
17 Apr 2024
13 Apr 2024
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