Styx - Crystal Ball/Equinox/Cornerstone/Paradise Theater/ + one LP's

$

22

Please read my Conditions!
My only method of cleaning is a soft brush and cloth and some Audio Advisor product. That requires to listening to the LP with my turntable & needle... (Which cost more money these days) and collecting the dust from the grooves. If a stubborn noise erupts, I will then look under a light and microscope. It is quite time consuming. So, I may miss a thing or two sometimes on my listings, like overlook a defect or to over grade; but it is not intentional! I will always be here to help resolve the issue! I am a one man show, while taking care of an elder... That being said... Please play record a few times if I mentioned I have cleaned it and do not use another product until u do so! The enzymes work at eating the debris and play gets better, each time, usually much better If after a few plays you could try cleaning again with your product if stubborn static persists... All I ask is my buyers realize these points and be rest assured I offer a refund policy,  but I would prefer you email me so we can work something out first, I may have a backup copy... I have been collecting records since my 20's... It has been a passion and a part-time hobby, I hope you love and enjoy music as much as I do, and selling is another way to get to know other people with a like-minded interest as I. I offer a refund policy, so please give me the opportunity to make good if there is a problem with a transaction. I reserve the right to cancel a transaction after the sale If I find a missed defect on your behalf. Feel free to compare prices elsewhere you will find I am very reasonable. Don't waste your time if the seller does not listen to the lps, I have return 100's because of defects. Also please be aware I am A human being, and I do make mistakes! So be gentle and straight forward if you are having any issues, I do not like having debates, I would rather listen to my music!  Happy Hunting!
My Shipping rates:
1    Lp's: $4.25 2-3 Lp's: $4.50 4-5 Lp's: $5.00 6    Lp's  $5.50 7-9 Lp's  $6.00 
Jackets ~ vg ~ vg+ equinox has the names on it, Crystal Ball & Equinox are vg Cornerstone and Paradise vg+ The grand illusion is vg Records ~ vg+ ~ ex

Equinox (vg) LP vg+ has some debris in some deadwax areas before a few songs, plays thru, nice sounding ... very slight warp one side, not affecting playback Crystal Ball (vg~vg+) LP a few markings not affecting playback ...Plays well vg+ Cornerstone (vg+ ~ ex) LP Looks nice, no visible markings ... Paradise Theater (vg+) LP could be ex, have not cleaned, play thru no skips ... Grand Illusion, not yet pictured, cover vg ~ vg+, record vg ~ vg+, am cleaning it now and will try to post pic

In August 1961, at 12 years of age, twin brothers Chuck (bass) and John Panozzo (drums) first played music together with their 14-year-old neighbor Dennis DeYoung who played accordion and sang, while living in the Roseland, Chicago area, eventually using the band name The Tradewinds. Chuck left to attend seminary for a year but returned to the group by 1964. Tom Nardini had been brought in to replace Chuck Panozzo on guitar, so he decided to play bass guitar when he returned to the band. John Panozzo was the drummer, while DeYoung had switched from accordion to keyboards. In 1965, the Tradewinds name was changed to TW4 (There Were 4) after another band, the Trade Winds, achieved fame nationally. By 1966, the Panozzo brothers had joined DeYoung at Chicago State College and kept the group together by performing at high schools and fraternity parties while studying to be teachers. In 1969 they added a college friend folk guitarist, John Curulewski, after Nardini departed. Hard rocker guitarist James "J.Y." Young came aboard in 1970, making TW4 a quintet.

In 1972 the band members decided to choose a new name when they signed to Wooden Nickel Records after being spotted by a talent scout at a concert at St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs, Illinois (James "JY" Young's hometown). Several suggestions were made and, according to DeYoung, the name Styx was chosen because it was "the only one that none of us hated."

The band released four albums: Styx (1972), Styx II (1973), The Serpent Is Rising (1973), and Man of Miracles (1974). These albums contained straight-ahead rockers mixed with prog rock flourish with a lot of guitars, drums, keyboards, percussion, and vocals solos. They established a fan base in the Chicago area, but were unable to break into the mainstream, though the song "Best Thing" from Styx charted on September 16, 1972 and stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 6 weeks, peaking at No. 82. Then, the power ballad "Lady" (from Styx II), began to earn some radio time, first on WLS in Chicago in 1974 and then nationwide. In the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album had been released, "Lady" hit No. 6 in the US, and Styx II went gold soon after. "Lady" is considered by many classic rock critics as being the first power ballad with Dennis DeYoung being referred to as the "father of the power ballad". With the success of "Lady," a follow up single on Styx II, "You Need Love", was re-released, but only barely cracked the hot 100. For Styx to achieve mainstream success, they would need to sign with a national record company.

Early A&M Years and addition of Tommy Shaw (1975–1978)

On the heels of its belated hit single, Styx signed with A&M Records and released Equinox (1975), which sold well and yielded a minor hit in "Lorelei", which reached No. 27 in the U.S. More importantly, it contained the rock anthem "Suite Madame Blue", which gained the band considerable recognition and airplay on FM radio in the relatively new Album Oriented Rock (AOR) format. Following the move to A&M, guitarist John Curulewski suddenly left the band as they were to embark on a nationwide tour in December 1975, due to his desire to spend time with his family. After a frantic last-minute search, the band brought in guitarist Tommy Shaw as Curulewski's replacement.

Crystal Ball (1976), the first album to feature Shaw, was moderately successful, but was overall a disappointment, failing to achieve the sales of its predecessor. The album showcased the band's newest member, as Shaw's "Mademoiselle" was another minor hit, reaching No. 36, and the album's title track, also written and sung by Shaw became another minor AOR hit.

Styx's seventh album, The Grand Illusion, was released on July 7, 1977, and became their breakthrough album, reaching Triple Platinum certification. It spawned a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in the DeYoung-written "Come Sail Away", which reached No. 8 in 1978. Shaw's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" was a second radio hit and reached No. 29 the same year. The title track also received significant airplay.

Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, the band enjoyed its greatest success. Their 1978 album Pieces of Eight found the group moving in a more straight-ahead hard-rock direction and spawned three Shaw sung hit singles "Renegade" (No. 16 in the US) and "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" (No. 21 in the US), plus a minor hit "Sing for the Day" that stopped just short of the Top Forty at No. 41.

1980s and Superstardom

Their 1979 album Cornerstone yielded their first No. 1 hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe". By early 1980, "Babe" had become the band's biggest international hit and first million-selling single, reaching No. 6 in the United Kingdom. The album also included the No. 26 DeYoung hits upbeat "Why Me" and the rocker "Borrowed Time", which was co-written with Shaw, plus Shaw's folksy "Boat on the River" (1980), which was a hit in much of Europe and Japan. The popularity of the album, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, helped win the band a People's Choice Award for Best New Song in 1980. At the 22nd Grammy Awards, Styx was a nominee for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Cornerstone's engineers Gary Loizzo and Rob Kingsland were nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording. The band was also named the most popular rock band in the U.S. in the 1980 year-end Gallup Poll.

With the success of "Babe," DeYoung's push for a more mainstream direction gained momentum, while Shaw and Young favored a more rock-oriented approach. This arguing over musical direction led to ongoing tension in early 1980 after Shaw objected to the ballad "First Time" being released as the second single from Cornerstone. Although the song was generating substantial airplay in some major markets, A&M pulled the plug on the single's official release, replacing it with "Why Me". The argument resulted in DeYoung being briefly fired. However, things were quickly smoothed over.  While “First Time” did not chart in the U.S. (because it wasn't released), it became a huge hit single in the Philippines in 1981. In January 1981, Styx released Paradise Theatre, a concept album that became their biggest hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard pop albums chart and yielding five singles, including the top ten hits "The Best of Times" by DeYoung (No. 3 Billboard, No. 1 Radio & Records) and "Too Much Time on My Hands" by Shaw (No. 9), his only top 10 single as a member of the band. Paradise Theatre became the band's fourth consecutive multi-platinum album. Based on yet another Dennis DeYoung concept, the Paradise Theatre was a historic Chicago theatre that had been built in the 20s only to fall on hard times and close a mere 30 years after it opened. DeYoung used the Paradise as a metaphor for the United States in the late 1970s/early 80s.

An ambitious yearlong world tour commenced in 1981 in support of the album and was one of the top grossing tours of the year. The tour had numerous Broadway and movie infused elements, including a dramatic opening featuring a theatre sweep and DeYoung by himself next to a player piano and the show ending with traditional movie credits. Throughout the tour and throughout the 1980s and beyond, the band would open their shows with "Rockin' the Paradise", the opening track from Paradise Theatre which charted at No. 8 on the Top Rocks Track Chart and whose music video would be among the first to air on the MTV cable channel.

The band was accused by a California religious group and later the Parents Music Resource Center of backmasking Satanic messages in their anti-cocaine anthem, "Snowblind". James "JY" Young has denied this charge during his introduction for "Snowblind" when played live. Dennis DeYoung has denied the accusation as well, joking on the In the Studio with Redbeard program "we had enough trouble to make the music sound right forward." Also, Young quotes, "If we were going to put some message in our songs, we would have put it, so it was in the song forward. Not so you would have to buy some $400 tape recorder to hear it."

Thx u wiki~

The Grand Illusion

Paradise Theater

CornerStone

Crystal Ball

Equinox