References: Leonard Cohen—Knickerbockers—SNL—indie-rock
I’m now in my second week of chronologically writing about the career of American prog-rock band Styx, and a funny thing happens when I tell people about the project. I mean, after their eyes glaze over. They ask, Why?
This is a question I am still asking myself, though discovering the band’s previous album, the batshit crazy The Serpent is Rising, seems reason enough. Anyway, here we are at album #4, Man of Miracles. There is a wizard on the cover.
Man of Miracles (side one)
The album begins with “Rock & Roll Feeling” and the lyrics “It’s a good feeling/A rock ‘n’ roll feeling.” This and the following number, “Having a Ball,” find the band in arena-party mode (though they were probably not playing arenas yet, unless as an opening act), perhaps to reassure some fans that they hadn’t completely gone off the rails (although this doesn’t explain the cover art). Hopefully, the songs about elves and magical spells aren’t too far away.
“Golden Lark”—As Styx ballads go, this is neither as catchy as “Lady” (a song from the band’s second album, and a tune that is soon to catch on with North American FM radio) or as offensive as “Babe” (still blessed years away). Nothing special though.
“A Song for Suzanne”—I’m guessing not Leonard Cohen‘s Suzanne. A long intro builds to sharp blasts of synths before mystical smoke envelopes the band and listener. There’s some interesting interplay between the guitars and drums, and a few twists and turns in the arrangement. But the hooks—if that’s what they’re supposed to be—fail to land.
“A Man Like Me”—More heartland American rock circa 1974. Boring.
Man of Miracles (side two)
“Lies”—A serviceable cover of the 1965 Knickerbockers hit. If you like the original there’s nothing to offend you here.
“Evil Eyes”—Sludge-y, unimaginative track that sounds like it was recorded in the music room of the mountain king. Probably (I am) mixing some metaphors there. The lyrics are enough to make a listener miss Serpent‘s “The Grove of Eglinton.”
“Southern Woman”—Also boring. The line “Make me feel good but don’t you tell my wife” is followed by a guitar solo that sounds like tequila night at a biker bar. The song should only be performed on a stage behind a chain-link fence.
“Christopher, Mr. Christopher”—This one’s like the last skit on an episode SNL; weird enough to be interesting if not actually funny (or good). I’ll take it, though, as it’s a welcome break from the unimaginative boogie-rock of much of the rest of the album.
“Man of Miracles”—Here’s the stuff. Magical keyboards, big drums, and a wizard to welcome you. This one swaggers like Merlin after a joust with a dragon. Pour me another cup of mead, wench, for tomorrow I venture into the realm of the spirits of our ancestors. “I love the opulence of the title song,” bassist Chuck Panozzo said in 2019. “Critics may have called it ‘pomp rock,’ but, well, I’m sorry—we’re musicians, and we wanted to use our skills to make sounds that were all our own.”
Facts about Man of Miracles
• guitarist James Young wrote or co-wrote (with guitarist John Curulewski or a guy named Ray Brandle) the album’s hard-rock numbers; keyboardist Dennis DeYoung wrote the artier tunes.
• this was to be the last Styx album for Wooden Nickel, a small Chicago-based label (with distribution from RCA). In 1974, “Lady,” a track from Styx II, began to garner airplay throughout North America. The group’s next album would be for A&M. Yes, for four albums, Styx was an indie-rock band!
• Leon Rosenblatt did the cover art. An article at styxworld.com describes the titular character as “a white-bearded grand wizard, seen manipulating by hand and/or other mystical forces the planet Saturn and an array of six of its moons.”
• RCA rereleased the album in 1980 as Miracles with this cover art:
• in 2014, Ultimate Classic Rock ranked Man of Miracles as #8 (out of 16) in its list of worst-to-best Styx albums. “On the one hand, the album came off like a boisterous, even at times Stones-influenced blast of uncomplicated rock and roll,” wrote Eduardo Rivadavia. “On the other hand, Man of Miracles indulged in far more ambitious art-rock pretensions, chiefly spearheaded by Dennis DeYoung.”
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