Styx

At River's Edge: Live in St.Louis(2002)

  1.Everything is Cool
  2.The Grand Illusion
  3.Blue Collar Man
  4.Lorelei
  5.Fooling Yourself
  6.Lady
  7.Brave New World
  8.Edge of the Century
  9.Heavy Water
 10.Too Much Time On My Hands
 11.Renegade

There’s a certain weariness that comes with dragging one’s ears through yet another Styx live release—particularly when it’s just a vindictive rehash of what we’ve already heard. By the time Styx World: Live 2001 surfaced, fans were long past the point of pretending to be surprised. This wasn’t a new album. This was Arch Allies repackaged, rebranded, and re-sold—with one notable addition: Everything Is Cool.

Now, Everything Is Cool was arguably one of the best tracks from Brave New World, and one could rightly ask why it didn’t make the cut on the original Arch Allies release. But instead of fixing that oversight, they went and gave us this. A new coat of paint on the same battered jalopy—and no one bought it. Literally. No one. And really, how could they?

When a band starts tripling down on previously issued material while pretending it’s something new, even the most loyal of followers will start glancing at the exits. Styx were capable of so much more. This wasn’t artistic vision—it was creative bankruptcy with a bar code.

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