STYX's First Studio Album in Four Years is Out Today

 A new era of hope, survival, and prosperity is here with the release of CRASH OF THE CROWN, STYX’s new studio album, which was written pre-pandemic and recorded during the trying times of the pandemic.

 
The legendary rockers--James “JY” Young (lead vocals, guitars), Tommy Shaw (lead vocals, guitars), Chuck Panozzo (bass, vocals), Todd Sucherman (drums, percussion), Lawrence Gowan (lead vocals, keyboards) and Ricky Phillips (bass, guitar, vocals)--released their 17th album today on the band’s label, Alpha Dog 2T/UMe today, which is available as clear vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and on digital platforms and at Styxworld.com.
 
They’ve already released two singles from the new album:  the title track which premiered exclusively during Eddie Trunk’s “Trunk Nation” program on SiriusXM Satellite Radio last month, and “Reveries” which dropped June 4.
 
In early reviews, Vintage Guitar raved, “Returning to their guitar/keyboard-fueled ’70s style, the band takes prog’s grandest elements and condenses them into punchy songs – no question, that classic STYX crunch is present.” While SonicPerspectives.com praised the album’s “…fantastic three part harmonies, widdly, bombastic synths, blue-collar working man electric guitar solos and memorable melodic rock songs that flirt with prog elements just enough to have a little extra edge…This record exudes massive musicianship…The road tested warhorse of STYX shows remarkable resilience and capacity to generate energized new music that retains the proven classic elements of the band’s signature sound and straddles the lines of American prog, arena rock and a little bit of acoustic folk.” While Insite called it, “…a passionately relatable sonic parable, tailor-made for openminded 2021 listeners.”
 
CRASH OF THE CROWN is the follow-up to STYX’s 16th studio album, THE MISSION (their first in 14 years at the time, which critics called “a masterpiece”) which was released June 16, 2017 on the band’s label, Alpha Dog 2T/UMe. The highly anticipated two-disc reissue of THE MISSION was released on July 27, 2018 via Alpha Dog 2T/UMe, which includes a CD of the original album, as well as a Blu-ray of the album mixed in 5.1 surround sound accompanied by stunning visualizations for each of the album’s 14 songs based on the album artwork. It originally debuted on various Billboard charts, including: #6 Top Rock Albums, #11 Physical Albums, #11 Vinyl Albums, #13 Current Albums, #14 Billboard Top Albums, #16 Retail, #17 Mass Merch/Non-Traditional, #29 Digital Albums, and #45 Billboard 200 (includes catalog and streaming).
 
In touring news, STYX and COLLECTIVE SOUL are rested, healthy, and ready to hit the road for their first-ever multiple city tour together. STYX had previously announced their return to Las Vegas with a three-night sold-out engagement at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas on September 24, 25, and 26.

Amazon Pick of the Week: Elvis: Destined to Die Young

Elvis Presley would've been celebrating his 86th birthday on January 8, had he been granted a longer life. Could anyone or anything have saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, or was Elvis Presley Destined to Die Young? In Sally Hoedel’s captivating, expertly researched book into the health struggles of Elvis, she reveals compelling evidence of a genetic legacy of chronic medical conditions that not even the King himself could overcome.

Order Here: https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Destined-Young-Sally-Hoedel/dp/1733652612

Historian and author Sally Hoedel, however, doesn’t see Elvis as a cautionary tale of self-destruction. Instead, she sees a man who struggled, every day, to survive.

In her compelling, thought-provoking new release, Elvis: Destined to Die Young, Hoedel offers factual and scientific data, plus never-before-published information she gained by interviewing people who personally knew Elvis, to dive deep into his struggles with multiple chronic health conditions

Hoedel examines Elvis Presley — devoted son, husband, father and friend — while plowing through the negative hype and legendary myths surrounding the man. Elvis’ downward spiral of health struggles is intertwined with his life story, and for the first time, it is revealed that he suffered from disease in nine of eleven bodily systems. Five of those disease processes, Hoedel finds, were present from birth. She expertly puts all of this into historical context, pointing out differences in medical treatments and protocols for the time.

Hoedel’s extensive research provides answers to lingering questions about his death and dispels the long-held theory that abuse of prescription drugs is what killed Elvis. Readers may be surprised to learn that, based on Elvis Presley’s family history and the genes he was dealt, nothing could have saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The result is a totally fresh, unique, humanizing approach to Elvis.

“I wrote this book because I genuinely believe this is a story that Elvis would want known,” Hoedel says. “He needed to be a strong American male while he was alive, and he hid his pain and his body’s weaknesses. Yet, he always knew he was just like everyone else: human. I believe he would be OK with everyone now understanding just how human he was. He struggled but he tried. My only hope for this labor of love is that it makes someone stop and think about Elvis just a little bit differently. He deserves it.”

Sally A. Hoedel, a lifelong Elvis fan and historian, has a journalism degree from Michigan State University and is co-owner of Character Development and Leadership, a curriculum business. She lives in Northern Michigan with her husband and their four daughters.

For more information, please visit www.ElvisAuthor.com.

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