Pieces of Eight
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- Pieces of eight are also a form of currency. See Spanish dollar.
Pieces of Eight is the eighth album by Styx, released in September of 1978 (see 1978 in music).
The album was the band's follow-up to their Triple Platinum selling The Grand Illusion album. The band members produced the album and recorded it(like their previous three efforts) at Paragon Studios in Chicago with recording engineer Barry Mraz and mixing engineer Rob Kingsland.
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".
Coincidentally, eight of the album's ten tracks have vocals on it and features two instrumentals, the DeYoung synthesizer showcase "The Message" and Shaw's closing "Aku-Aku".
The album's cover was done by Hipgnosis and initially DeYoung hated the cover but grew to like it.
The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard album chart and like its predecesor would go Triple Platinum.
Track listing
- "Great White Hope" (Young) - 4:22
- "I'm Okay" (DeYoung, Young) - 5:41
- "Sing for the Day" (Shaw) - 4:57
- "The Message" (DeYoung) - 1:08
- "Lords of the Ring" (DeYoung) - 4:33
- "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" (Shaw) - 4:05
- "Queen of Spades" (DeYoung, Young) - 5:38
- "Renegade" (Shaw) - 4:13
- "Pieces of Eight" (DeYoung) - 4:44
- "Aku-Aku" (Shaw) - 2:57
Personnel
- Dennis DeYoung - keyboards, vocals, pipe organ
- Chuck Panozzo - bass, vocals
- John Panozzo - drums, vocals
- Tommy Shaw - guitars, mandolin, vocals, all guitars on "Sing For the Day"
- James Young - guitar, vocals
Production
- Producer: Styx
- Engineers: Rob Kingsland, Barry Mraz
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pop Albums | 6 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" | Pop Singles | 21 |
| 1979 | "Renegade" | Pop Singles | 16 |
| 1979 | "Sing For The Day" | Pop Singles | 41 |
See also
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