Review of Styx: Return To Paradise

Introduction

Another disc, another arena rock band from the seventies and eighties reunited, this time Styx, who are perhaps best known for the ballad "Babe" from their 1979 "Cornerstone" album. The successful "Paradise Theater" album followed, but the familiar story of success breeding unrest in a band saw the group unable to hold onto their position as one of the top rock acts in America.

The band reformed in the mid nineties, and this disc contains a concert performed in 2002, featuring a selection of the groups` tunes.

Video

My second Sanctuary disc of the evening also features NTSC video (again, complete with Federal warning screen), but presumably (hopefully) the retail Region 2 release will feature PAL video.

Once again, Visually, this is alike umpteen other music DVDs, with the band strutting their stuff on-stage, with an pretty dull stageshow and lighting not generating much visual excitement

Again, the picture quality is average, nothing special, and nothing to cause concern.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 or Dolby Digital 5.1.

I listened to some tracks with both soundtracks to make a comparison and predictably the Dolby Digital 5.1 version is far superior, adding considerable extra depth to the music, and once again injecting some life into a dull vocal track. Again, the rear channels are used for crowd noise.

The overall sound quality just above average, with some compression evident in the soundmix, and some of the vocals a little muffled with a general lack of power in the sound.

Features

Extras consist of a "Styx Story"; some bonus footage from the 1996 tour (including a photo gallery) and a preview of the new album.

The Styx Story is a merely a brief history of the band presented via three text screens along with a discography. The bonus footage isn`t particularly interesting and the preview track from the new album didn`t excite me much.

Conclusion

Overall, whilst REO Speedwagon have a number of memorable songs, the only Styx tune I remember is "Babe", and I didn`t think that the general quality of songs from Styx was as good as the setlist that REO Speedwagon performed.

The sound and picture quality are average and the extras minimal, and once again, the NTSC video of the test disc is also a concern.