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Styx - Caught In The Act: Live 1984 | 
 enlarge | Actors: Styx, Dennis Deyoung, James Young, Tommy Shaw, John Panozzo
Studio: A&M
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $9.90
You Save: $5.08 (34%)
New (13) Used (2) from $8.52
Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 23201
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Enhanced, Live, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MCMDB00092950
UPC: 602517373112
EAN: 0602517373112
ASIN: B000WUK1T8
Theatrical Release Date: December 11, 2007
Release Date: December 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Shrink wrapped! This is a brand new dvd in case. BRAND NEW direct from our warehouse to you! Be well.
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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 12/11/2007
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| Customer Reviews:
Not thier best era, but worthwile for the 5:1 remix. July 30, 2008
Somewhere in Texas (Planet Texas)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Looking back, it took guts for a major million-selling act to speak out against the emerging PMRC and Moral Majority censorship of the 80's while also embracing the MTV generation by creating a lengthy and expensive concept video (right before Michael Jackson got the idea - with better choreography!).
Styx were true trailblazers in doing this, but I wish the band had taken their own message and performance for "Kilroy Was Here" far more seriously. The end result was a silly, cartoony and embarrassing concept video, a weak and disapointing album, horrible reviews, old fans (like me) finally "jumping the shark" and the end of once was a outstanding classic rock band. About the only thing positive that came out of this mess was finally a Styx concert video and live album.
I just wish someone at A&M or their management had had the foresight to record and film a full concert during 1975-1978 while Styx was at their most powerful and hardest rocking peak.
The good news for old Styx fans is the excellent 5:1 remix on the concert and videos, its a big improvement over the weaker 2:1 mix. The video quality is disapointing, it's 1984 vintage and as sharp as the old VHS tape. I wish the DVD compilers could have used the original concert film stock and created a new Hi-Definition widescreen transfer instead.
If you skip over some of the weaker songs from "Kilroy" the concert is a lot of fun. Though the band members weren't getting along at the time, they still could put on a great show. I just wish they could have included a few songs pre-"Grand Illusion" (especially from Styx II, Equinox and Crystal Ball). The original videos and low price make it a great deal for old Styx fans.
 Tommy Shaw June 11, 2008
S. Fisher (West Palm Beach, FL United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Tommy shaw was so hot when he was in styx. He still does great songs. So does JY (Aka) James young,Chuck panzo and Denies DeYoung. And god bless John Panzo. They can still ROCK. I also love DAWM YANKES. KEEP rocking styx and dawm yankes.
Just Great Classic Rock! June 7, 2008
Thomas Hernandez
Four stars because the acting parts of the concert make me cringe! Five stars plus for the great music of Styx when having great musical and vocal talents were a part of music, unlike today with all the pre-fabricated "stars." Was thrilled to see this concert on DVD. I've had the video since it first came out and it was getting very worn. I ordered two discs one for myself and my brother who was very grateful. I really like the story line of Caught in the Act. I don't mean to be critical of the acting performances, but they're awesome musicians not actors. The acting is necessary to bring the story together. All in all I love this concert and will continue to watch it for many years. Domo Arrigato!
 Don't Let It End? May 3, 2008
Sterling C. Whitaker (Nashville, TN)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This concert film of Styx' 1983 tour in support of the 'Kilroy Was Here' album was originally released in 1984, and at the time - at the age of fourteen - I sincerely thought it was one of the most staggering, amazing pieces of work I had ever seen. I owned this on VHS, and my tape broke many years ago, so I was excited when I heard that 'Caught In The Act' was to finally see a DVD release . . . and with extras, no less.
In viewing it again after so many years, I was surprised by how poorly this has aged for me. Don't get me wrong, I actually still think that the basic premise of the theatrical 'Kilroy Was Here' live presentation had a lot of reasonably strong conceptual elements underneath it, and it was an interesting attempt for its time. The music is also very good, though this era does not represent Styx playing at its live peak. But where 'Caught In The Act' falls flat for me in the amateurish acting performances by most of the band members.
Styx leader, singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung - who also wrote the story upon which the conceptual 'Kilroy Was Here' was based - displays a strong, though undeveloped screen presence, and in fact would go on to eventually star on Broadway in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' to glowing reviews. Guitarist James "JY" Young also comes off well enough as the sinister Dr. Righteous. But singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw, despite his tremendous charisma as a live performer, is hopelesly lost in his role as Jonathan Chance, delivering his lines with all the dramatic flair of a defiant child being forced to perform in a school play by his parents. Dressed in an embarrassing costume and speaking such classic lines as "Did you kill this kid, or what?", Shaw appears alternately bored and mortified, looking at times as if he'd rather burst into flames. Drummer John and bassist Chuck Panozzo are practially non-existent in their aptly-named roles as Lt. Vanish and Col. Hyde, a passive-aggressive nod on their part to their frustration at the diminished role they were playing in Styx at the time (vanish and hide, get it?).
Apart from most of the acting, the musical performance is strong enough, highlighting a strong set heavily slanted toward the band's radio hits and featuring the layered instrumentation and blaring harmony vocals that are Styx' trademarks.
On a technical level it appears that this DVD was simply lifted from the old VHS; the quality of it is certainly not digital and it does not particularly seem as if a lot of effort was spent on cleaning it up from the old source tapes, so the picture quality is really that of VHS on DVD. The audio track has been cleaned up and mixed to a higher standard, and as an added buying incentive, many of Styx' older videos, previously unreleased, are included here. If you're a Styx completionist that might be a good thing, but frankly, most of the pre-'Kilroy' videos are little more than badly staged performance clips with the exception of "Too Much Time On My Hands", a terribly cheesy clip which was gleefully (and rightfully) lampooned by Beavis and Butthead. The clips for "Mr. Roboto" and "Don't Let It End" are much more professional, coming as they did right at the cusp of the MTV age and featuring effects by Stan Winston, who would go on to a stellar career with such movies as 'Terminator' and 'Edward Scissorhands'.
To sum it up, 'Caught In The Act' is an interesting document of a superstar act of the Seventies struggling to find its way in the new, more visual marketplace of the Eighties, and failing to a degree. Even so, in some ways it is an ambitious, entertaining and spectacular failure. This tour would mark the last time the members of Styx worked together for seven years, and 'Caught In The Act' is enough to make you think maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.
Sterling Whitaker
Author, The Grand Delusion: The Unauthorized True Story of Styx
Finally on DVD March 4, 2008
Mark (Smyrna, GA USA)
I have had the VHS of Caught in the Act since it came out. This is a solid show, but not Styx at its peak. The quality of the transfer is average, but given it is a $10 DVD, it is well worth the price. Finally, the included music videos are worth the price alone.
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