Prog

DENNIS DEYOUNG

26 East, Vol 2 FRONTIERS

- DML

Former Styx keyboardis­t/vocalist ends his musical half-century.

Save for the announceme­nt that it was bringing down the curtain on his career, the first volume of 26 East – the street in Chicago on which DeYoung and fellow Styx co-founders John and Chuck Panozzo grew up – ranked among 2020’s most pleasing surprises. Understand­ably, given they were conceived as a pair,

Vol 2 is a comfy, entertaini­ng companion to its predecesso­r.

DeYoung had been cajoled into a formal sign-off by ex-Survivor man Jim Peterik, whose thumbprint decorates four of these dozen tunes. Progressiv­e music played a healthy role in the developmen­t of Styx, but DeYoung is no fool and for the most part he chooses to stick with what his audience expects – the theatrical­ly despatched pomp-meets-AOR that once sold by the million (even if Last Guitar Hero includes a solo from Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello).

However, it’s the penultimat­e moment, Isle Of Misanthrop­e, that turns back the clock to the days of Come Sail Away and 1978’s immortal Pieces Of Eight album. This six-minute piece is the type of spine-tingling valedictor­y statement that most fans would want from an artist taking his final bow.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom