“The Grand Illusion” by Styx

Dennis DeYoung wrote "The Grand Illusion" on his own and made it the title song of the 1977 Styx album on A&M, and it does more than lend the record its name: it sets the theme for the whole thing. Appearances lie, the song argues, and it's a con to believe that success brings happiness or that failure guarantees misery; the band had learned firsthand that making it hadn't cheered them up, and the song also chews on the pressure of life as a media star.

DeYoung sings lead and plays keyboards and synthesizer, Tommy Shaw brings acoustic, electric and 12-string guitars, James Young adds more guitar, and Chuck Panozzo on bass and John Panozzo on drums round it out, all four joining in on vocals. It never came out as a commercial single, but radio played it heavily anyway.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.