"THE GRAND ILLUSION" ● STYX

STYX / Dennis DeYoung, John Panozzo, James (J.Y.) Young, Chuck Panozzo, Tommy Shaw / Front Line Management Company Inc. Publicity Photo - A&M Records / IVOX MEDIA collection

"THE GRAND ILLUSION" ● STYX

The Song● The Grand Illusion

Writer● Dennis DeYoung

Producers● Styx

Recorded● Early 1977 in Chicago, Illinois

Released● Summer 1977

Players●
:: Dennis DeYoung -- vocals, keyboards
:: Tommy Shaw -- guitar, vocals
:: James "J.Y." Young -- guitar, vocals
:: Chuck Panozzo -- bass
:: John Panozzo -- drums

Album● The Grand Illusion (A&M, 1977)

Also On●
:: Classics (A&M, 1987)
:: Greatest Hits (A&M, 1995)
:: Return To Paradise (CMC International, 1997) and other live albums and compilations

The Grand Illusion ● STYX

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, by A&M Records. The release was a smash worldwide, selling three million copies in the US (Triple Platinum) alone. Some estimates have the album at over 6 million copies sold.

The title track of Styx's seventh album, "The Grand Illusion" discusses the theory that fame and wealth are indeed merely illusions, and that "deep inside we're all the same."

Though a popular album track that received heavy radio play, "The Grand Illusion" was never a hit single for Styx. The Grand Illusion album itself was not an immediate hit. Though it charted when it was released in 1977, it didn't take off until early 1978 when "Come Sail Away" hit the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at Number Eight.

The album followed up the charts, hitting Number Six on the Billboard 200 chart and giving the band their first platinum album award. The album's success also allowed Styx to perform for the first time in the U.K., in May 1978.

The Grand Illusion was also a coming of age album for singer-guitarist Tommy Shaw, who had joined the group in 1976. His "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" was the album's second single and a Top 40 hit.

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