10 tracks · 43 min
Pieces of Eight is the eighth studio album by Styx, released on September 1, 1978. Like the band's previous album, The Grand Illusion, it managed to achieve triple-platinum certification, thanks to the hit singles "Sing for the Day", "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" and "Renegade". The band members produced and recorded the album (like their previous three efforts) at Paragon Studios in Chicago with recording engineer Barry Mraz and mixing engineer Rob Kingsland. "I'm O.K." was recorded at Paragon and St. James Cathedral. This would be the last album to be produced at Paragon Studios. Some consider the album to be Styx' second concept album, The Serpent Is Rising arguably being the first, as well as the last Styx album with significant progressive rock leanings that characterized their previous albums. The theme of the album, as Dennis DeYoung explained on In the Studio with Redbeard which devoted an entire episode to Pieces of Eight, was about "not giving up your dreams just for the pursuit of money and material possessions". Two of the album's ten tracks are instrumentals: the DeYoung synthesizer showcase "The Message" and Tommy Shaw's closing "Aku-Aku" (although for the latte…
