Authentic Pieces of Eight Coins - Rare Pirate Treasure & Collectible Gold & Silver Coins for History Buffs & Treasure Hunters | Perfect for Display, Gifts & Historical Reenactments

Styx was my favorite band growing up. THE GRAND ILLUSION was the 3rd album that I ever listened to. Back then they were the most popular band in America. They were the first band to ever score 3 multi-platinum albums in a row with THE GRAND ILLUSION, PIECES OF EIGHT and CORNERSTONE. They have an all-encompassing style that includes rock, metal, progressive rock, ballads, folk and pop. They are a heavily Beatles influenced band that threw in all other influences from the 70s but the kitchen sink. A band made up of consummate musicians and amazing vocalists that could compete with the most complex prog rock and also the sweetest pop bands. This proved to be both their strength and their undoing. With this much range and possibilities for musical direction, the main songwriters, Dennis De Young, James Young and Tommy Shaw would soon battle over creative differences that would soon split the band up a few years later.This album is probably either their best or second place. The other contender is THE GRAND ILLUSION. PIECES OF EIGHT was more dominated by hard rockers that established them as a pseudo-metal band. Renegade and Blue Collar Man are classic rock staples to this day. The first is about the pressures of needing a job to survive and the latter about what happens when you choose a life of crime to make money. The rest of the album is more of an exercise in art-rock with impressing results. Great White Hope, Lords of the Ring and Queen of Spades are prog-tinged rock pieces that are both entertaining and original. I'm OK is an anthem to self-affirmation. (You should value yourself regardless of the value society places on you). Sing For the Day is a song written by Tommy Shaw where he uses his daughter Hannah as a metaphor for eternal youth. He has said that the song is actually about his audience and how he wonders if they will still love him when he grows older (will they value him after he ages?). And of course, Pieces of Eight is that song that ties the themes together.This album is also darker than most of Styx's catalog and carries the distinction of being a pseudo concept album. Coming after their previous pseudo concept, THE GRAND ILLUSION, Styx were enjoying the height of their popularity and success. The main theme is that some things are more valuable than money, success and the cost of arriving there. This ties in with the Easter Island cover by citing the demise of the natives after deforesting the island to use the trees to build the iconic heads, in honor of their ancestors, so that they would be imbued with their ancestors spirits. The ancestral spirits were supposed to bring wealth and prosperity to the natives. The heads were turned towards the inside of the island as if to watch over its people. The trees were cut down to roll the huge slabs of stone to where they were to be erected. Archaeologists also theorize that Polynesians that came to the island introduced rats to the ecology, which contributed to the death of many more trees.As far as the album concept ties in though, the natives used up their natural resources and were doomed to stay on the island and die when there were no more trees to build boats with so that they could escape. The heads were built to bring wealth and prosperity, so in a sense the pursuit of money brought about the natives demise. The song Pieces of Eight is about not allowing the search for wealth to turn your heart to stone. The term Aku-aku means "spiritual guide" meaning the ancestral spirits within the stone heads. The women on the cover are wearing the stone heads as earrings (earrings are often status symbols amongst Westerners). The women are also obviously aging, which goes back to the Sing for the Day concept of "will you still be valued after you've aged"?SHM Version:This SHM disc does sound better than the original cd but it isn't a dramatic difference and I can hear some compression. There is definitely more fullness in the bottom end, but the midrange sounds a little lacking. Being that Styx remasters are limited, this is the only alternative to the original cd that I know of. It's expensive, so it's hard to say whether it is really worth the extra money. It is an improvement but it isn't amongst the best quality upgrades in sound that I've heard.The packaging on the other hand is phenomenal. It is definitely as high of a quality as packaging can get. It's a faithful replica of the original gatefold jacket also including the original sleeve with lyrics.