The Grand Illusion
is the seventh
studio album
by American
rock band
Recorded at
Paragon
Recording Studios
in Chicago,
the album was
released on
July 7, 1977,
by A&M Records,
intentionally choosing
the combination
7th
on
7/7/77
for luck
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 album launched
the band to stardom
and spawned
the hit singles
"Come Sail Away"
and
"Fooling Yourself."
The title track
also received substantial
FM airplay
and continues to be a
mainstay on
classic rock radio,
but was never released
as an official single.
The album cover art
is based on
Rene Magritte's
1965 painting,
"The Blank Signature."
Background and 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 late 1970s,
such as
"Castle Walls,"
"Superstars,"
"Miss America"
and the title track,
which touches on
"The Grand Illusion"
of fame and fortune
and how they are not
what they appear.
Classic Rock
critic
Malcolm Dome
rated the title track
as Styx all-time
greatest song.
He also rated
"Come Sail Away"
as the band's
7th greatest song.
Tommy Shaw
wrote the emotionally deep
acoustic ballad
"Man in the Wilderness"
after watching a
Kansas performance
in Detroit,
which they had played
as the opening act.
He has called it
"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 acoustic rocker’s 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 strategies
of politicians in
Washington, D.C.
"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 theme
symbolized by
"a gathering of angels"
singing
"a song of hope."
The ending lyrics
explain a transformation
from a sailing ship
into a starship:
"They climbed aboard their starship
and headed for the skies,"
words evoking
biblical verses from
Ezekiel (1:1-28).
However,
DeYoung revealed on
In the Studio with Redbeard
which devoted an
entire episode
to the making of
The Grand Illusion
that he was depressed
when he wrote the track
because Styx's
first two A&M offerings,
Equinox
and
Crystal Ball,
had sold fewer units
than expected after
the success of the single
"Lady."
Musically,
it combines a plaintive,
ballad-like opening section
(including piano and synthesizer interludes)
with a bombastic,
guitar-heavy second half.
In the middle of
the second half
it features a
minute-long instrumental break
on synthesizer,
characteristic of progressive rock,
after which the guitar returns
with a catchy chorus.
"Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)"
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 title track is well known
in the classic rock genre,
although it was never
officially released
as a pop single.
The closing track,
"The Grand Finale,"
combines the themes
of the songs
on the album.
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