Fuel Crisis Comes To Small Town

Yesterday I wrote about my little foray into the world of the gas crisis here in the Nashville area. I had mentioned that my little town (which is 65 miles south of Nashville and 10 miles from the nearest interstate) did not seem to be bothered by the lack of gas that was causing a huge stir in the big city.

News from the sister-in-law last night proved otherwise. Apparently, the Shell station a quarter of a mile from the house was out of regular unleaded. I was flabbergasted. I never thought the crisis would hit this close to home.

Today as I was out an about with the wife running errands we decided to fill up for the week ahead. When we pulled into the BP station I saw this sign:

Hopefully we can get some relief soon. Not just from the lack of gasoline but the economy as a whole. It is starting to look like one of the worst eras in the history of this nation. That depresses me.

So, to make me feel better we are heading out to the Flying Saucer tonight for our first Blogger get-together. Come on out and have a drink with me to cheer me up.

Hidden Gem: The Grand Illusion

It has been since January that I last posted this “series” I like to call Hidden Gems. If you have no idea what is going on here, basically I take an album from my old man’s collection (sometimes my own, to be completely honest) and give it a spin on the old record player. In the past I have posted about Queen here, Pink Floyd here and Jethro Tull here.

Today I am talking about one of the more underrated rock and roll bands from the ’70s. I think most people think of them as a kind of cheesy pop band from the ’80s but they would be oh so dead wrong. Yeah, it is Styx and their hard rocking 1977 record The Grand Illusion. Now I broke this record out of Pops’ collection the other day and forgot about how much these guys play the hard rock. Now sure the whole album isn’t that way but most bands toss in a slower track to appease the ladies, right?

From the opening riffs of the title track that brings along great harmonies that are a staple of the Styx sound to the more whimsical keyboard sounds of the hit song “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” this album keeps the head bobbing. The major hit from this record was the FM radio staple “Come Sail Away” that transforms a nice love song into a tune about aliens. Of course, I can’t help but think of South Park every time I hear it nowadays.

The entire album seems like it used a very similar, straight-forward formula of heavy, infectious guitar riffs like in the popular live track “Miss America” to several non-single cuts like “Man In The Wilderness” and “Superstars“.

If you aren’t a fan of Styx because of “Mr. Roboto“, please try and forget all about that travesty and give this record a whirl. I think you will appreciate it as much as I do.

Here is the popular “Come Sail Away” for your listening pleasure:

I have also been so kind to provide one of my all-time favorite Styx songs called “Snowblind“. This one isn’t on the album but you get it anyway: