Styx stream title track of Crash Of The Crown, their first new album for four years

(Image credit: Todd Galappo)

US pomp rockers Styx have streamed the title track of their upcoming album Crash Of The Crown. The new concept album will be released onJune 18 on the band’s label, Alpha Dog 2T/UMe. You can listen to the track below.

The new album, the band's 17th, follows in the proggier vein of their 2017 album The Mission, which drew inspiration from the band's earlier days (Styx covered Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Fanfare For The Common Man on their self-titled 1972 debut album), and is a concept album centred around an amalgamation of historical events that occurred in 1066, 1455, 1775, 1861, 1941, and even 2001.

“We’ve never been a protest band. We’re more like a gospel caravan trying to send out positive messages wherever we go,” says Crash Of The Crown co-creator and overall visionary Tommy Shaw. “In order to share those positive messages, you have to look at what the problems are first to figure out all the ways you can help make sure everything’s going to be alright. That’s a very important part of how we do what we do.”

"I’m always looking for the one different thing we can do and still have it be Styx,” adds keyboard player and singer Lawrene Gowan. "I also got to use some gear I never thought I’d have the chance to play on a Styx record like Tommy’s Hammond B3 organ, my Minimoog, and my Mellotron.”

Additionally, for Record Store Day on Saturday, June 12, the band will also release The Same Stardust EP on blue 180-gram 12-inch vinyl only, which will feature two brand-new songs on side one; The Same Stardust and Age Of Entropia, as well as five live performances on side two of some of Styx’s classic hits previously heard during their “Styx Fix” livestreams that have been keeping fans company during the pandemic on their official YouTube page, including Mr. Roboto, Man In The Wilderness, Miss America, Radio Silence and Renegade.

Styx, who will venture out on tour in America with Collective Soul, will release Crash Of The Crown on clear vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and on digital platforms.

Styx: Crash of The Crown
1. The Fight Of Our Lives
2. A Monster
3. Reveries
4. Hold Back The Darkness
5. Save Us From Ourselves
6. Crash Of The Crown
7. Our Wonderful Lives
8. Common Ground
9. Sound The Alarm
10. Long Live The King
11. Lost At Sea
12. Coming Out The Otherside
13. To Those
14. Another Farewell
15. Stream

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.