[Review] Styx: Equinox (1975)

Their best album since Styx II and a classy exit for John Curulewski.

Kronomyth 5.0: All they need is just one hit to get them by.

Everything on Equinox suggests a band on the edge of a breakthrough. With Dennis De Young taking a hand in most of the songwriting, Equinox achieves a consistency that previous Styx albums lacked. The lone James Young song, Midnight Ride, rocks so hard that you won’t care that it sounds like Kiss. The rest of the album grooves on a higher plane, made plain on the opening Light Up. From there, it just gets better: Lorelei, Mother Dear, Lonely Child, Born for Adventure. Each song combines rock and prog for a uniquely American vision of an English phenomenon. The band had apparently been listening to Yes and other prog bands and polishing their production skills. The closing combination of Prelude 12 and Suite Madame Blue borrows from both “And You and I” and “Stairway to Heaven,” yet succeeds on its own merits as the band’s strongest prog entry to date. As the last of the Styx albums to feature John Curulewski, Equinox makes for a classy epitaph. In fact, I’d even give this the nod over their next album, Crystal Ball. As with any good prog album, the more you listen to this, the more discoveries you find. The closing chorus of “America,” for example, seems to usher in a new age of progressive rock as bands like Styx and Kansas lifted the sagging flag of prog. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it. Anyway, given that the earlier Styx albums are inconsistent, you might want to start with Styx II, skip over to Equinox, and then dive into the band’s masterworks: The Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight and Paradise Theater.

Original elpee version

A1. Light Up (Dennis De Young) (4:12)
A2. Lorelei (Dennis De Young/James Young) (3:20)
A3. Mother Dear (John Curulweski/Dennis De Young) (5:23)
A4. Lonely Child (Dennis De Young) (3:49)
B1. Midnight Ride (James Young) (4:18)
B2. Born for Adventure (Dennis De Young/John Curulewski/James Young) (5:10)
B3. Prelude 12 (John Curulewski) (1:17)
B4. Suite Madame Blue (Dennis De Young) (6:32)

Original 8-track version
A1. Light Up
A2. Midnight Ride
B1. Lorelei
B2. Mother Dear
C1. Lonely Child
C2. Born for Adventure (part 1)
D1. Born for Adventure (part 2)
D2. Prelude 12
D3. Suite Madame Blue

The Players

John Curulewski (guitars, vocals and synthesizers), Dennis De Young (keyboards, vocals and synthesizers), Chuck Panozzo (bass guitar and vocals), John Panozzo (drums, percussion and vocals), James Young (guitars and vocals). Produced by Styx; engineered, remixed and production assistance by Barry Mraz.

The Pictures

Design by Junie Osaki and Chuck Beeson. Cover photograph by Chris Micione. Inner sleeve photography by Marc Hauser. Illustration by Mike Schwab.

The Plastic

Released on elpee, cassette and 8-track in December 1975 in the US and Canada (A&M, SP/CS/8T-4559), the UK (A&M, AMLH-64559), Brazil (A&M, 4855) and Japan (A&M, GP-284). Reached #58 on the US charts (RIAA-certified gold record).

1. Re-released on elpee, cassette and compact disc in the US (A&M, SP/CS/CD-3217).
2. Re-packaged with Crystal Ball on 2-for-1 compact disc in the UK (Beat Goes On, BGO-724).
3. Re-issued on super high material compact disc on April 17, 2025 in Japan (A&M, UICY-77883).