the band released four albums: "styx i" (1972), "styx ii" (1973), "the serpent is rising" (1973), and "man of miracles" (1974). these albums contained straight-ahead rockers mixed with prog rock flourish with a lot of guitars, drums, keyboards, percussion, and vocals solos. they established a fan base in the chicago area, but were unable to break into the mainstream, though the song "best thing" from "styx" charted on september 16, 1972, and stayed on billboard's "hot 100" chart for 6 weeks, peaking at no. 82. then, the power ballad "lady" (from "styx ii"), began to earn some radio time, first on wls in chicago in 1974 and then nationwide. in the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album had been released, "lady" hit no. 6 in the us, and "styx ii" went gold soon after. after the success of "lady", "best thing" was re-released.