Serpent Is Rising

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Digitally remastered using K2 Mastering technology, this is a Japanese reissue of the hit Chicago-based rock group's third album, originally released on the Wooden Nickel label in 1973. 10 tracks, including 'Witch Wolf' and 'Winner Takes All'. Also features the original cover art. 1999 release.

Tracks:

Witch Wolf
The Groove Of Eglantine
Young Man
As Bad As This
Winner Take All
22 Years
Jonas Psalter
The Serpent Is Rising
Krakatoa
Hallelujah Chorus
Rock & Roll Feeling
Havin' A Ball
Golden Lark
A Song For Suzanne
A Man Like Me
Lies
Evil Eyes
Southern Woman
Christopher Mr. Christopher
Man Of Miracles

Album Description

The hit Chicago-based rock group's third and fourth albums together on one disc & in their entirety. A combined total of 20 tracks. Contains the original cover art of each from when the Wooden Nickel first released the LPs in 1973 and 1974, respectively. 1999 release. The full title of each is 'The Serpent Is Rising' & 'Man Of Miracles'.

Customer Reviews:

WOW GREAT MUSIC.......2006-09-25

Styx's 3rd album THE SERPENT IS RISING and their Fourth album MAN OF MIRACLES. These would be their last albums under the Wooden Nicel label. It has Some of the really good songs on here have to be "Jonas Psalter", "The Grove Of Eglantine", "Man Of Miracles", "Southern Woman", "22 Years", "Rock & Roll Feeling", "Winner Take All", "Witch Wolf", and many, many, more. These two albums are a must have for any Styx fan out there. It may not be in stock but the used & new prices are to good to pass up. If you like music you will buy this today

A great CD.......2004-09-30

If you are a Styx fan, you must have this one. It really rocks.
It's a pitty that this disc is out of stock.

My favorite songs of this album are: Young Man, Man of Miracles, Lies,The Groove of Eglantine, Serpent is Rising and Song for Suzanne.

You gotta have this disc!

where did it go?.......2004-04-03

Dear Amazon,
This Cd is truly fantastic, but why is it out of stock. This was basically the last place on the face of the earth, to locate Serpent/miracles. Could you please try and return it to your inventory, or at least have the used ones go down in price. A song for Suzanne, christopher mr christopher, and man of miracles are worth it alone. Could you please bring it back for the many Styx fans out there.

Styx at their finest.......2003-05-14

You know, I haven't actually heard this album, but my dad has the old LP's and I love them. I must warn you, this isn't conventional Styx, there is a lot more heavy guitar, etc. My favorite songs are 'The Serpent is Rising,' 'Witch Wolf,' and 'Golden Lark,' although nearly all of the songs are great. The one gripe I have is with 'Krakatoa,' because it is just kind of dumb. I don't understand why any of the songs here don't appear on the Greatest Hits album. This is definitely Styx's best. Go out and buy it now. You won't be disappointed.

Classic gritty art rock.......2001-06-23

This review is for The Serpent is Rising. This early effort is the opposite of Styx popular stuff in several ways. The songs are very experimental but with lousy production. This shorter, hard rocking approach to art rock was a nice change of pace. Curulewski shows his esoteric side and its a shame he didn't stay with the band.

Average customer rating:

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
4.5 stars - The best of the Wooden Nickel albums
Early Styx at their best
A DARK CONCEPT
Very underrated!

The Serpent Is Rising
Styx
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000K41M
Release Date: 2000-05-30

Tracks:

Witch Wolf
Grove of Eglantine
Young Man
As Bad as This
Winner Take All
22 Years
Jonas Psalter
Serpent Is Rising
Krakatoa
Hallelujah Chorus

Album Description

Digitally remastered using K2 Mastering technology, this is a Japanese reissue of the hit Chicago-based rock group's third album, originally released on the Wooden Nickel label in 1973. 10 tracks, including 'Witch Wolf' and 'Winner Takes All'. Also features the original cover art. 1999 release.

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Edition of the Chicago Based Band's Third Album from a Period When They were Still in their "Progressive Rock" Phase...american Style. A Staple of FM Free Form Radio at the Time of It's Release in the Mid 1970's.

Customer Reviews:

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!.......2006-09-26

This is just another music masterpiece done by Styx. Seriously Styx has done the music world a favor by becoming a band. The best songs on here have to be "Jonas Psalter", "Winner Take All", "Witch Wolf", "The Grove Eglantine", and "The Serpent Is Rising". This CD though is not for beginning Styx fans that is what the later multi-platinum and greatest hits albums are for to get you started into Styx. This is for the hard-core Styx fans to buy. So if you are a hard-core Styx fan buy this album today.

4.5 stars - The best of the Wooden Nickel albums.......2005-05-27

The Serpent Is Rising (1974.) Styx's third album.

Although Styx would rise to rock and roll fame in the mid-late seventies, the band would release four virtually-unknown albums on the little-known Wooden Nickel label (A division of RCA) before gaining any recognition. Before getting their major record label deal, the band's popularity was virtually non-existant. But this didn't mean that the group wasn't making good music yet. Already the group had begun to discover the sound that would later make them living rock legends. Dennis DeYoung, James Young, and the rest of the guys released their third album, The Serpent Is Rising, on Wooden Nickel in 1974. Read on for my review of the album.

The Wooden Nickel albums certainly hint at the sound that would make Styx popular, but at the same time sound different enough that they maintain a serious sense of uniqueness when compared to later releases from the band. The general sound on this album sounds somewhat like a cross between the band's stylings of the later seventies and mainstream, straight-up seventies hard rock. The end result is the best of both worlds - hard rock and progressive rock alike. It's not a rehash of sounds the group used on other albums nor is it generic seventies rock; it's the happy medium of the two. Many of the band's best songs ever recorded came from this record - Witch Wolf, The Grove Of Eglantine, 22 Years, and Jonas Psalter, to name a few. There's also the extremely humorous and unlisted Plexiglas Toilet, which immediately follows As Bad As This (unfortunately, the two tracks are fused together as one, so you can't just skip around one or the other. Hopefully later versions of the album will fix this.) One of the album's greatest triumphs is its three-part finale, which features the title track, Krakatoa, and a cover of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (all three of the first three Styx albums have a classical music cover on them (Styx I had Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man and Styx II had Bach's Little Fugue In G.)) This is a tough album to describe since there aren't a whole lot of things out there that sound like it, but what is here is nothing short of excellent. Of the Wooden Nickel albums, this one is my favorite.

Styx's Wooden Nickel albums were long out of print and tough/expensive to find. Fortunately, the problem has been corrected with the release of the two-disc set The Wooden Nickel Recordings, which has all four albums plus a rare bonus track. At long last, it's inexpensive to purchase these long-forgotten recordings, and they're easy to find too! If you like Styx, it's a set worth picking up.

And there you have it. The third Styx album truly is great. All four Wooden Nickel albums are underrated gems, but this would have to be the best of that lot, in my opinion. Although the Wooden Nickel albums are NOT the place to start if you're new to Styx, any tried and true fan of the group with an open mind is likely to grow to love them. If you're a die-hard, the Wooden Nickel albums are must-owns. If you're just a casual fan, stick with the more popular, major label albums from the late seventies and early eighties.

Early Styx at their best.......2002-05-18

I am a collecter of undiscovered rare music gems, and this ranks up there as a good one. This album was obviously very heavily influenced by JY and John Curulewski. Both guys bring a dark presence to the music which seemed to be an early Styx trademark, and worked well but was underappreciated. Serpent Is Rising has a lot of different things on it; rocking songs by JY (Witch Wolf and Young Man), a slow accoustic song by Curulewski (As Bad As This), a hilarious campy tune (Plexiglass Toilet), a pirate song (Jonas Psalter), a JY/DeYoung singing duet (22 years), and somewhat of a mini concept (The Serpent is Rising/Krakatoa/Halleluhjah Chorus). Serpent is Rising is a very dark song with dual lead guitar harmonies and sung by John Curulewski followed by the sinister recital of Krakatoa. At first listen the song Serpent is Rising really blew me away as I was surprised at how evil sounding it was.
Too bad this album was discontinued in the U.S., but it's worth the price. In my opinion The Serpent is Rising has strong enough material to stand the test of time (unlike Kilroy Was Here). The sound is raw, unpolished, and has a lot of fire behind it. The vocal harmonies are top notch in true Styx fashion. I suppose the church song Halleluhjah Chorus is on the album to ensure that fans don't take the dark album too seriously.

A DARK CONCEPT.......2002-01-05

I remember when I first got his album (cd), I put it on and cranked it up. I was totaly blown away by the opening track, Witch Wolf, JY had created an awesome rocker. But things didn't stay that way for long.
The Grove of Eglantine, by Dennis falls flat. But JY, again saves the cd with the third track, Young Man. This track has a meaning behind it and kicks butt.
JC, enters the game with a good As Bad As This, but by the time the track is over, a non listed song pops up, Plexiglass Toliet. This has to be the worst Styx song in history. Its a embarresment to listen to, when I play the cd now, I have to turn it off at this point. It's hard to keep listening to the cd after hearing this song, most of the time, I'm able to hit skip, to move on to the next song. But since its a "hidden" song its tacked onto the end of As Bad As This, and you can't program your player to skip without skipping the first.
The next song is Winner Takes All, a good message, but Jy voice is whiny, and the cd never really recovers with the following tracks.
The cd really tries to rock, and at points it really does. Witch Wolf, and Young Man are two of JY's finest. Dennis writes three songs and sings vocals on two, one of witch is a duet with JC. As a concept cd, which it tries to be, it comes up short with its dark message.

Very underrated!.......2000-08-02

This is Styx third album and probably their most forgotten one. If you find a review of this album it will probably be a bad one, but I think this is the best Styx from the Wooden Nickels years. Witch Wolf is pure hard rock, and The Grove of Eglatine is Dennis DeYoung at his best (James Young sings on most of the tracks). Young man is probably the best song on the album and As bad as this is very moody. Side two is a little weaker but the title track is worth mentioning because it's the heaviest Styx song ever. This is not pop, many of the songs I would even call Heavy Metal. Maybe that is why most Styx fans don't like it. I have friends who like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple who used to tease me for liking Styx until they heard this album. Maybe it's not classic Styx, but it's classic hard rock!

Average customer rating:

Styx finest Wooden Nickel album
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Long Live Jonas Psalter!
Great album
Possibly THE BEST Styx Album Ever.

The Serpent Is Rising
Styx
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Styx
Styx II
Styx Classics Volume 15
Brave New World
Crystal Ball

ASIN: B000008L8C
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Witch Wolf
Grove of Eglantine
Young Man
As Bad as This
Winner Take All
22 Years
Jonas Psalter
Serpent Is Rising
Krakatoa
Hallelujah Chorus

Customer Reviews:

Styx finest Wooden Nickel album.......2007-01-21

Styx was no overnight sensation. Neither was Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, or Genesis. Before hitting big by first signing to A&M and then acquiring Tommy Shaw (following John Curulewski's abrupt deptarture from the band at the end of 1975), they were basically a struggling band recording for an RCA subsidiary, Wooden Nickel. The best known song from this era was "Lady" from the Styx II (1973) album, but of course, it wasn't an immediate hit, not until 1975. The Wooden Nickel albums obviously showed each of the band member's personalities and you can see this split personality through (when they signed to a major label, their influences were more cohesive). Dennis DeYoung seemed to be rather eclectic, from ballads to rockers to prog rock epics (and he seemed most consistent), while James Young was most content doing straightforward hard rock. John Curulewski seemed more schizophrenic, doing full-blown prog rock on one song, and another being a boogie rocker.

The Serpent is Rising seems to be their most consistent of their early Wooden Nickel recordings, despite the presence of "Plexiglass Toilet". Perhaps the most unusual thing is the presence of Mellotron, not an instrument you associate Styx with. I even seriously doubt Dennis DeYoung ever owned one, so I suspect he borrowed one for this album (since starting with Man of Miracles he quickly went to the ARP Sting Ensemble string synth). You will notice unmistakable tron flute and strings on songs like "Grove of Eglantine", "Jonas Psalter", "Young Man", "As Bad as This" and "Krakatoa".

Soft rock balladry like "Lady" seems absent here, even Dennis DeYoung rocks on songs like "Grove of Eglantine". There's a stronger hard rock presences with great songs like "White Wolf" and "Young Man". The latter, written by James Young has some nice acoustic passages, as well as some tron flute. I really like those high notes being hit in the more heavy passages. John Curulewski's "As Bad as This" is a rather nice, acoustic piece, but then out of nowhere another song, this time uncredited, his attempt at calypso with "Plexiglass Toilet". I seriously doubt the band even wanted "Plexiglass Toilet" included, that's why no mention on the album, and it was treated as the second half of "As Bad as This". But Wooden Nickel was apparently not the most reputable of labels. The only Styx song to ever get played on the Doctor Demento Show, humor is obviously an element alien to Styx, so they tried their stab at it. Curulewski also gave us "22 Years" and the title track. The former is more or less a boogie number stating it took him 22 years (he was around 22 years old when he recorded this album) to find his true love. The other is more of a prog rock number where he has this strange raspy voice. I really like "Jonas Psalter", a sea shanty done by James Young. And of course, this isn't "Sailor's Hornpipe", this is Styx. It's a song where the sea and sailing is its theme, just like later songs, like Dennis DeYoung's "Come Sail Away" (The Grand Illusion) and Tommy Shaw's "Boat on the River" (Cornerstone). And like this latter piece, there's some nice use of concertina, but unlike that 1979 song, it also features some nice Mellotron flute to go with it. "Krakatoa" is a weird number with strange electronic effects and narration from Curulewski himself. Then comes this big pipe organ. It obviously inspired Deep Note, the sound you hear that introduces the THX logo when you watch a movie that uses it. Then it ends with their take on Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus". Big pipe organ played by Dennis DeYoung, but I doubt it was the band singing the choral part, I believe it was simply lifted from a church choir recording. The band often had access to a pipe organ, as you hear it one some of their other albums, like Pieces of Eight ("I'm Okay").

While I always felt their first four major label efforts (Equinox, Crystal Ball, The Grand Illusion, and Piece of Eight) are better places for people who didn't run at the thought of Styx to start with, this is a nice album to have for fans.

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!.......2006-09-25

This another music masterpiece done by Styx. Seriously Styx has done the music world a favor by becoming a band. The best songs on here have to be "Jonas Psalter", "Winner Take All", "Witch Wolf", "The Grove Eglantine", and "The Serpent Is Rising". This CD though is not for beginning Styx fans that is what the later multi-platinum and greatest hits albums are for to get you started into Styx. This is for the hard-core Styx fans to buy. So if you are a hard-core Styx fan buy this album today.

Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Long Live Jonas Psalter!.......2006-02-05

This album is so underrated it makes me wonder: where did America's taste in music go? DON'T MISS IT! Witch Wolf, Jonas Psalter, and the title track are all masterpieces, containing classic riffs. The Grove of Eglatine, 22 Years, and Winner Take All aren't far behind. And the "Plexiglass Toilet" bonus track WILL crack you up, guaranteed. They do rip off Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band a little, but they do it in their own, unique, pre-power-metal-band-out-of-Chicago way. Classic album. I've never heard the CD version, but the actual record is great, so buy it anyway.

Great album.......2005-07-15

This is an album where Styx have experimented a lot to get a new sound that perhaps would sell better. Originally, Styx II, the previous album, bombed badly. As it turned out, this didn't sell well either, though it did make it to like No.175 on an album chart, I read that somewhere. Bigger and better things were awaiting Styx II but for the time being Styx needed to come up with something new.

The first three songs on the album are complex pieces with a medieval quality and a hard rock sensibility. These songs were written mainly by James Young except 'Grove of Eglantine', which was a Dennis DeYoung composition. Then there's John Curuleski's 'As bad as this', a dark, introspective folk song with a souful vocal. And I'm not sure if the two are different songs or if 'Plexiglass toilet' is a continuation of 'As bad as this'? Anyway, I really like the whole six minutes. Although 'As bad as this' is listen as lasting 6:06 or something, it's actually '3:41' and Plexiglass Toilet is approx. '2:25'. There are many lampoon foreign accents on 'Plexiglass toilet'. The second half of the album sought of leads into territroy of the next album, 'Man of miracles'. 'Winner Takes all' and '22 years' are fine examples of the joyous 70's rock n roll numbers that would half-fill the next album, while 'Jonas Psalter' is a medieval tale but it muscially also leads into the style taken on the next album. 'The serpent is rising' is a hard-rocking John Curulewski rocker that often sounds like a King Crimson rocker with a Styx touch, love the choral backing vocals from Deyoung, Young and the Panozzo's, giving the 'serpent' theme a Biblical feel. Then there's some experimental tracks.

It's a very inspiring album with many great new ideas bursting forth, along with much unrequited (at that time) talent. It's Styx building the sound that would everntually make them famous as well as some unqiue gems that have nothing to do with their later sound but are gems anyway. In short: Great album

Possibly THE BEST Styx Album Ever........2005-06-13

Fast forward in time. Will Ferrell on SNL snarls, "Yeah! That was BEFORE Styx started SUCKING BAAAAD!" That was 1993.

What Will was referring to were the Styx albums starting with "Paradise Theatre" and ... er ... domo arigato - need we say more?

In fact, their immediately preceding album, "Cornerstone," was a harbinger of doooooooooooom for Styx. "Babe," despite its myriad admirers, is and NEVER will be admired by true Styx aficionados. "Babe" was a pure sell-out; Dennis DeYoung's swan song, and the beginning of Styx's swan dive into commercialistic caca.

But let's keep going back, and see what we find. "Pieces of Eight" was a kickass album, good mojo. Back. "Crystal Ball" was an uneven masterpiece, with the debut of Tommy Shaw on board.

Back. "Equinox" was a triumph. ARGUABLY the best Styx album ever. Just about every garage band I know has covered "Suite Madame Blue."

Back. "Man of Miracles" - another uneven masterpiece, but very beautiful in places - like the wistful, haunting "Golden Lark" and "Mr. Christopher." Not a triumph, but certainly not commercial.

Stop. Now we come to "The Serpent is Rising." Can you think of a bad song on this album? Hmmmmm. Listen to it. Does it not evoke "Equinox?" The energy. Tremendous energy, beautifully harmonized and synchronized - "Witch Wolf," it doesn't rock harder or truer than this. "Grove of Eglantine," beautiful and powerful. "Young Man," a kick in the synapses. The funny little "easter egg" song - "Don't Sit Down on the Plexi Glass Toilet" - not to be missed. And "Jonas Psalter" - a biographical rock operella, with James Young crying out like the true-life pirate himself. Finally - "Serpent is Rising" - a nice wrapup to an album with at least 5 *AWESOME* rockers; how many of today's albums can boast of THAT many good songs.

And important to note: Nothing from "The Serpent is Rising" EVER became a commercial hit. Higher praise than that, no progressive rock band can wish for.

This album is the best kept secret of the REAL STYX - before they sold out, not only to Will Ferrell, but to True Styx Lovers everywhere.

With the recent "reunion" album "Brave New World," there is a VESTIGE of the good old Styx. But JUST a vestige. One good song (maybe two) - "Cool World" and "Hip Hop Hippocracy." But we're not reviewing the present.

This is a rearview mirror into the past, and if as Marshall McLuhan insists, "we're fast-forwarding into the future staring intently into our rearview mirrors," then maybe this is not so much a curse as a blessing. At least in the case of "The Serpent is Rising." Go back to 1973 with me. Come on. And stay for 40 minutes or so. Put on your Sennheiser HD 650 headphones. Plug in. Tune in. If the serpent doesn't rise up your spine after hearing this album, you're either deaf, dead, or not a Stygian. Stygians only, please.

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