Styx: Cyclorama : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

In 1990, STYX's bombastic single "Show Me the Way" became a popular Gulf War anthem. Now, as the band enters its fourth decade, the blitzkrieg pop of "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" -- "First you lose your looks/Then you lose your luck/Take the hit/Now blow me up" -- may accompany the sound of more bombs over Baghdad. It's fitting that "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" features backing vocals from Tenacious D, since the song brims with the gonzo bravado that Jack Black and Kyle Gass so deliciously parody. (Other tracks include vocals from Brian Wilson and Billy Bob Thornton but are merely half-formed curiosities.) Overall, Cyclorama is quintessential Styx, bursting with the overwrought guitar and syrupy harmony that made them one of the biggest and cheesiest bands of the Seventies.