The Grand Illusion is the seventh studio album by Styx. Recorded at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, the album was released on July 7, 1977. The release was a smash worldwide, selling three million copies in the US alone. Some estimates have the album at over 5 million copies sold. The album launched the band to stardom and spawned the hit singles "Come Sail Away" and "Fooling Yourself."
Background & Songs
As with much of Styx's catalog, many of the songs have quasi-medieval/fantasy lyrics and themes. Some are allegories and commentaries on contemporary American life and the members' experiences in an American rock band in the mid-to-late 1970s, such as Castle Walls, Superstars, Miss America and the title track, The Grand Illusion. The emotionally deep song "Man in the Wilderness" was written by Tommy Shaw after watching a Kansas performance in Detroit, which they had played as the opening act. He has stated it was “Epic! Unlike any presentation of rock music I'd ever experienced. To go that big opened up all kinds of ideas in my mind, and the next time I was alone with my acoustic, the song more or less unfolded itself.” The lyrics stem from his experiences of rising to fame with Styx as well as his brother being sent off to fight in the Vietnam War, as a pawn for the politicians in Washington DC. "Come Sail Away" uses sailing as a metaphor to achieve one's dreams and the yearning to sail away. The lyrics touch on nostalgia of "childhood friends," escapism, and a religious thematic symbolized by "a gathering of angels" singing "a song of hope." The ending lyrics explain a transformation from a sailing ship into a starship, by narrating that "they climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies" which also imply biblical verses from Ezekiel. However, DeYoung revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard, that he was depressed when he wrote the track after Styx's first two A&M offerings, Equinox and Crystal Ball, sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "Lady". Musically, it combines a plaintive, ballad-like opening section with a bombastic, guitar-heavy second half. In the middle of the second half it features the proggish minute-long synthesizer instrumental break, after the solo finished, the guitar-heavy returns with a catchy chorus. "Fooling Yourself " was written by Shaw. It was originally based on Shaw's initial perception of DeYoung who was an "angry young man" who viewed the group's successes with a wary eye and grew angry or depressed with every setback. It was only in later years that Shaw began to see himself in the lyrics, and the song took on a more personal meaning to him.. The composition features a number of time signature changes. The intro and outro are performed in 6/8 time, led by Shaw's acoustic guitar tracks and DeYoung's synthesizer melodies. The vocal sections of the song are in 4/4. The instrumental features a synthesizer solo in 7/4 time, before returning to 4/4 for the final chorus. After a brief intro recap, there is a brief break with two measures of 5/8 time, and then a return to the 6/8 meter, with another synthesizer solo, before fading out. The closing track "The Grand Finale" combines the themes of the songs on the album.
