Brave New World

[styxter]

I just listened to this album recently for the first time in a very long time and I was curious as to what other Dennis fans think about this album despite the turmoil behind it and the fact that except for Dennis' songs "they" almost entirely replaced his keyboards and Chuck didn't play on it. I personally like: I Will Be Your Witness, Brave New World, Everything Is Cool, Heavy Water, and of course all of Dennis' songs. I used to hate High Crimes And Misdemeanors but for some reason I love it now...the rest of the songs I can't stand, especially Just Fell In and Number One and Best New Face. Anyway, what do all of you think of it?

[ladybugking]

This album was two separate recordings and it shows. Dennis doing his "part" and the rest of the band doing theirs. Even in separate locations.

 

The album had no single producer (read Dennis) and it shows.

 

Even though there are some good individual songs on it, the whole work was an exercise in futility as a Styx recording.

[evileyes]

As a new Styx/DDY fan I probably have a totally different perspective on this cd since I heard it not knowing about the history of the conflicts that were going on and hadn't read what the band themselves had to say about it. I really like this album, and as I read Brave New World this spring at the same time I bought this album it really reminds me of the Huxley book and went along quite nicely with my read - the song Everything is Cool in particular. That's my favorite track on the CD. Heavy Water is my #2 favorite from it, because it also reminds me so much of the novel Brave New World. I also really like Hip Hop Cracy (High Crimes and Misdemeanors) and Great Expectatios, and of course Goodby Roseland. So, from the perspective of just an album of music, say from a band you'd never heard before, without all the personal band history tossed into the mix, I think it's quite good and I like it a lot!

[evileyes]

I think this fan review of Brave New World on Amazon.com makes some interesting observations about the album.

 

very good album, March 23, 2005

Reviewer: Man On The Silver Mountain "M.O.T.S.M" (Oss, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

 

Apparently, there are more die-hard Styx fans in the late '90s than anyone would have imagined, since Styx quietly went gold with Return to Paradise, their first release for CMC International. Some might say that the success was due to re-recordings that peppered Return, but that's not true -- it never would have sold that much if it didn't have new recordings, since that's what the hardcore fans wanted. Return to Paradise gave them some, but Brave New World presents the first full-fledged collection of new Styx material in nearly a decade. Skeptics would expect the album to be nothing but reconstituted arena-rock, but that's not entirely true. True, Brave New World is in that tradition -- after all, Styx was one of the architects of the style -- but they try new things too, such as Tommy Shaw's weird, neutered funk-metal on "I Will Be Your Witness" and "Number One," or how James Young's songs push the heaviness quotient, or how the entire album is given a clean, contemporary sound. Ironic, then, that the record is a deeply cynical tirade at the '90s, this Brave New World. A true streak of bitterness runs through the record, culminating in the cringe-inducing assault on hipsters and pundits "High Crimes & Misdemeanors (Hip Hop-Cracy)" (there could be an attack on rap and hip-hop in the song, as well -- the title certainly suggests it and maybe the canned drum machine is supposed to recall hip-hop, but it's impossible to tell). As it turns out, Styx are luddites, scared or disgusted at everything the modern world has to offer (except for a fan, Adam Sandler, who is thanked in the notes); there's a genuine distrust for anything new and deep longing for times passed (whether it's adolscence or the band's glory days, it's impossible to tell) pulsates throughout the album. For the devoted and doubters alike, that bitterness keeps things interesting, and Brave New World doesn't fail because the songs just catch hold. The songs are good, the themes are interesting, and Styx has a different feel for each song, and they have enough hooks and melodies to make the memorable. This album is one of my favorites from Styx, I really recommend this cd to anyone, it's great.

Edited June 12, 2005 by evileyes

[man of miracles]

I think if they had trimmed this down to about ten or eleven songs it would have been a really excellent return for styx.

 

I will be your witness

brave new world

while there's still time

fallen angel

everything is cool

heavy water

high crimes and misdemeanors

goodbye roseland

brave new world (reprise)

[man of miracles]

I am not sure why, but I am not really a big fan of great expectations. It is probably one of my least favorite dennis songs. However, I am not very fond of several tommy songs on that album so it evens out

[mendelstyx]

I just listened to this album recently for the first time in a very long time and I was curious as to what other Dennis fans think about this album despite the turmoil behind it and the fact that except for Dennis' songs "they" almost entirely replaced his keyboards and Chuck didn't play on it.  I personally like: I Will Be Your Witness, Brave New World, Everything Is Cool, Heavy Water, and of course all of Dennis' songs.  I used to hate High Crimes And Misdemeanors but for some reason I love it now...the rest of the songs I can't stand, especially Just Fell In and Number One and Best New Face.  Anyway, what do all of you think of it?

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I like Everything is Cool and believe it or not, I really like Just Fell In. I find it's an album that I skip songs on. Not because of the strife going on with the band, just because for me, it doesn't flow from one song to the next. I remember the first time I heard it (long before I even knew the band was in the onset of a "divorce"), my first impression was wow, Dennis is pushing the envelope again. I liked that his songs were all so different sounding. And I realized very quickly that on several tracks, those wonderful harmonies were missing. It just seemed an oddly shaped set of songs overall for me.

 

High Crimes and Misdemeanors. I liked Dennis' explanation of that song...

 

Liz

[evileyes]

Liz, what was Dennis' explanation? I listened to the album again yesterday, forgot to list Fallen Angel as one of my favorites. Great Expectations is a strange one, I was playing the cd in the car with my sister (who is in the process of being brainwashed by me and Styx songs) and she said "is that Dennis? It doesn't even sound like him!" and she's right, it doesn't really sound like a Dennis song one would expect, it's definitely a different direction for him.

 

High Crimes and Misdemeanors. I liked Dennis' explanation of that song...

Liz

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[teesa_66]

Liz, what was Dennis' explanation?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Me, too, Liz! I'd like to know what DDY said about that song. I actually like a number of the songs on the cd, most of them are DDY's, though. I LOVE Fallen Angel!

 

There are a number of good songs from all the guys on the cd. So why isn't it a "great" cd? It's missing DDY's touch as a producer. And I think the other boys knew it. See, if you listen to GI, PT, KWH, & probably others, there are these little musical "motifs" (I think that's the right term) that creep in various songs on each cd, that kind of tie the whole cd together. Well, I think the boys tried to do it on BNW, but didn't do it right. I mean, when I listen to the cd, there are at least 3 different songs that I think are the title track because the phrase "brave new world" comes up in all of them. I think this was their attempt to tie the album together. Where DDY's efforts work well because they are subtle, musical tie-ins, the boys attempt failed because it's too obvious and awkward.

 

Still, many of the songs are quite good; overall the cd is lacking. Just my $0.02.

 

Terri

[mendelstyx]

Liz, what was Dennis' explanation? I listened to the album again yesterday, forgot to list Fallen Angel as one of my favorites. Great Expectations is a strange one, I was playing the cd in the car with my sister (who is in the process of being brainwashed by me and Styx songs) and she said "is that Dennis? It doesn't even sound like him!" and she's right, it doesn't really sound like a Dennis song one would expect, it's definitely a different direction for him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In an interview done in St. Louis I believe, he was asked about this song. He was asked if it was about the Clinton/Lewinsky thing. He said it was about how during that whole event, ALL the politicians on each side were not behaving in ways you would expect them to. He said watching the broadcasts on CNN made him want to scream, and he was amazed at how everyone was acting. He was very carfeul not to voice his own opinion on the matter (which I think is a wise thing to do).

 

As for Great Expectations, to me, while his voice isn't necessarily the same "sounding" there is no way I couldn't recognize him singing that song. I think it was a very revealing view of what he must have felt going on with the band at the time.

 

Liz