As native Chicagoans, the concept of this album is natural: the rise and fall of the Paradise Theater (1928-1958), interpreted as a sign of decline in American culture and morality (conceptually, it's a companion to The Grand Illusion). The music is only barely "progressive": there are a lot of keyboards and a few unusual moments (such as the closing instrumental "State Street Sadie"), but otherwise this couldn't really be considered a prog album. Most of the songs are well-crafted, well-played soft rock pieces that showcase the strong compositional skills of Dennis DeYoung, who wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven tracks. The album moves along briskly, with hardly any slow points at all.

There are a few downsides to this album: for one, DeYoung stretches out every note he sings, often for a long, long time. While this displays a good amount of technical skill, it grates on the ear after a while. Secondly, several of these songs do not seem related to the overall concept, but they flow naturally enough that I tend not to notice. Finally, some might find fault with the repetition of certain passages throughout the work, but I like this in concept albums as a means to unify the work (an example that comes to mind is Yes' Tales from Topographic Oceans).

My opinion of this work is that it is only decent as a prog album, but rather excellent as a pop-rock work. Those interested in exploring Styx's music should start either with this, their best album, or with their best progressive release, The Grand Illusion.