Styx

Regeneration, Vol.1 and 2 (2011)

 Disc One
  1. The Grand Illusion
  2. Fooling Yourself
  3. Lorelei
  4. Sing for the Day
  5. Crystal Ball
  6. Come Sail Away
  7. Difference in the World
  
 Disc Two
  1. Blue Collar Man
  2. Miss America
  3. Renegade
  4. Queen of Spades
  5. Boat on the River
  6. Too Much Time on My Hands
  7. Snowblind
  8. Coming of Age
  9. High Enough
  
 

Every once in a while, a band you used to idolize does something so cringe-worthy, you almost wish they’d just quietly retire. That’s exactly what we’re dealing with here on Regeneration — a head-scratching exercise in musical revisionism that manages to come off as both desperate and unnecessary.

To be fair, Shaw and Young had already been testing the patience of longtime fans for years by routinely jabbing at exiled member Dennis DeYoung — the very guy who, like it or not, penned and performed many of the band’s most iconic songs. It was bad enough when they started leaving his contributions off various “greatest hits” collections, but this? This is something else entirely. Rather than simply snub his material, they went ahead and *re-recorded* it. Why? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

If this had been a one-off bonus disc tossed in with a new album (à la what Journey did when their new singer came on board), maybe it would’ve been a forgivable misstep. But no — this is a full-fledged two-volume cash grab that fans are expected to *pay* for. And for what, exactly? Versions of classic songs that sound like watered-down karaoke? Because that’s pretty much what you’re getting here.

Everything on Regeneration pales embarrassingly next to the originals. It’s not that the current lineup is untalented — far from it. But the energy, the feel, the chemistry that made those songs timeless simply isn’t here. They even toss in two Damn Yankees songs for reasons that still elude me. And yes, those are worse than the originals, too.

Adding to the head-scratchers is a brief cameo by original bassist Chuck Panozzo, who shows up for exactly one track — Fooling Yourself. Why only that one? Who knows. Maybe even he didn’t want his name too closely attached to the rest of this mess.

Oh, and there’s one “new” song — Difference in the World. Unfortunately, it’s a clunky, uninspired piece that sounds like something written for a motivational school assembly. Juvenile and flat, it brings absolutely nothing to the table and certainly won’t be remembered alongside any of the band’s classics — no matter how many times they try to force-feed us these revisionist efforts.

The cover art is actually kind of cool, which is nice, I guess. Just a shame the music inside doesn't even come close to living up to it.

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