The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings (2005)
Disc One
1.Movement for the Common Man
2.Right Away
3.What Has Come Between Us
4.Best Thing
5.Quick is the Beat of My Heart
6.After You Leave Me
7.You Need Love
8.Lady
9.A Day
10.You Better Ask
11.Little Fugue in "G"
12.Father O.S.A.
13.Earl of Roseland
14.I'm Gonna Make You Feel It
15.Unfinished Song
Disc Two
1.Witch Wolf
2.The Grove of Eglantine
3.Young Man
4.As Bad As This
5.Winner Take All
6.22 Years
7.Jonas Psalter
8.The Serpent is Rising
9.Krakatoa
10.Halleluja Chorus
11.Rock & Roll Feeling
12.Havin' a Ball
13.Golden Lark
14.A Song for Suzanne
15.A Man Like Me
16.Lies
17.Evil Eyes
18.Southern Woman
19.Christopher, Mr. Christopher
20 Man of Miracles
Like nearly every other band who ascended to superstar status, Styx had a less-than-glamorous beginning. Before Tommy Shaw came aboard in 1975 and helped flip the switch to “on,” the band was a struggling Chicago act signed to a virtually unknown label called Wooden Nickel Records. Promotion was scarce, budgets were non-existent, and whatever potential Styx might have had was mostly squandered by low-rent studio production and record company apathy. Outside of Lady—a track that only became a hit three years after its initial release and quite by accident—there isn’t a whole lot here that warrants multiple listens. These albums were, at best, bought by completists, collectors, and the diehards who would’ve bought a blank 8-track if it had the Styx name stamped on it.
And yet, against the odds, this collection kind of works. The main reason? All four of the Wooden Nickel albums are presented here, in full, and in proper chronological order. That alone gives the release a coherent arc that the individual albums often lacked. One of the more interesting footnotes is that Man of Miracles, the band’s fourth Wooden Nickel record, actually had three different versions floating around. One of those versions included a bonus track titled Unfinished Song—which, thankfully, is tacked on at the end of the first disc here. Ironically, it turns out to be one of the better tracks of the bunch.
Part of the fun is hearing the early architecture of the band’s eventual sound taking shape. Dennis DeYoung’s soft spot for the sentimental ballad is already fully formed and, while a bit more disguised than it would later be, it’s easy to see where things were headed. James Young, meanwhile, lays down some surprisingly gritty guitar on tracks like Witch Wolf, Southern Woman, and A Man Like Me—all of which bring some much-needed punch to the mix. John Curulewski, the original guitarist who Shaw would eventually replace, doesn’t fare as well. His contributions mostly drift into the forgettable bin, with the notable exception of 22 Years, which actually rocks harder than anything else he did with the band.
Ultimately, this is a decent grab for those who want to round out their Styx library without hunting down four subpar (and mostly out-of-print) discs. Let’s be clear—it’s not essential listening by any stretch. But as a curated snapshot of where the band began—and how far they had to go—it’s more valuable than you’d expect. Plus, it saves you from having to say you bought Styx II on purpose.
Go back to the main page
Go To Next Review