Man of Miracles (1974)
1.Rock & Roll Feeling
2.Havin' A Ball
3.Golden Lark
4.A Song For Suzanne
5.A Man Like Me
6.Lies
7.Evil Eyes
8.Southern Woman
9.Christopher, Mr. Christopher
10.Man of Miracles
My personal favorite of the Wooden Nickel years—though, let’s be honest, that’s not saying much commercially. In fact, if the Wooden Nickel label were still around today, it’d probably serve better as a punchline than a record company. (Example: Q: How do you stop the spread of AIDS? A: Give it to Wooden Nickel to distribute.)
How desperate was Styx at this point? Desperate enough to release Man of Miracles not once, not twice, but in three different versions—each one tweaking the tracklist in the faint hope that someone, somewhere, might actually buy the thing. The first iteration included a half-hearted cover of the 60s tune Lies, which no one cared about. So they swapped that out with Best Thing from Styx I—their highest-charting single at the time—to give the record a boost. When that still didn’t work, they subbed in a Dennis DeYoung original, Unfinished Song, which, ironically, is one of the best tracks from this era. Why it was ever left off to begin with is anyone’s guess.
The good news here? No John Curulewski lead vocals. Instead, we’re treated to a much clearer divide between DeYoung and James “JY” Young—two forces that would, depending on whom you ask, either define or destroy this band’s identity over the next decade. JY brings the heavy guitar and gritted vocals; DeYoung gives us the soft, moody textures. And when DeYoung is in his zone, it shows. Golden Lark and A Song for Suzanne—two pieces that practically bleed into each other—are quietly gorgeous, featuring cello, soft piano, and the sound of rainfall for atmosphere. He doubles down on the melancholy with Evil Eyes, a sparse piano-led ballad that captures his flair for theatrical sadness. Even when DeYoung loosens up, as on Christopher, Mr. Christopher, he can’t quite get out of the “early weird lyric” trap that plagued so much of this period. Still, it’s musically tight enough to hold its own.
On the other end of the spectrum, JY gets his best shot in with Southern Woman, a surprisingly ambitious Southern rocker that nods to Lynyrd Skynyrd—an unexpected reference from a bunch of Midwestern guys. He also handles Rock & Roll Feeling and A Man Like Me, both solid efforts, and brings the album home with the title track, Man of Miracles, which, like its title, tries hard but still suffers from those oddball lyrics that never quite land.
What works in this album’s favor is that, like Styx II, it ditches the meandering concepts and multi-part suites for something more straightforward. It’s still inconsistent, still flawed—but there’s at least a sense of direction beginning to emerge.
Things were about to get a lot better. But for those looking back at the long, strange crawl out of obscurity, Man of Miracles is where the first signs of real promise begin to peek through the murk. Just don’t expect anyone else to remember it.
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