If you know classic rock, you know Styx from hits like “Come Sail Away,” “Lady,” “Babe” and “Too Much Time on My Hands.”

Although Top 40 radio made the group famous, the band from Chicago can be better appreciated for its albums than singles.

Despite pop and mainstream leanings over the years, Styx is a progressive rock band at heart, producing theme-based albums with unusually-structured songs and thoughtful lyrics.

Styx is in concert, 8 p.m. July 31, Penn’s Peak, 325 Maury Road, Jim Thorpe.

Styx has had devoted fans since the band’s formation nearly 50 years ago. In a phone conversation from Wisconsin, vocalist and keyboardist Lawrence Gowan recalls the group’s previous night’s show at the Lakefront Music Fest in Minnesota:

“It was a great night with perfect weather. You could see clumps of different people, some of the fans who have been with us from the beginning. and others of young people who were singing the words to every single song.

“The audiences are different every night. They start out as a diverse grouping, but at the end of the night they are in the same emotional place, feeling ecstatic moments because of the music.”

“Crash of the Crown,” the group’s 17th album, was released June 18. Fans can tell within a few seconds that this is Styx because of Gowan’s keyboard settings, and the group’s trademark vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar breaks, and complex lyrics and melodies. The production is state of the art. The lyrics reflect modern concerns.

“It is representative of the band we are today, but we remain tied to our legacy. When we are recording, it crosses our minds every 15 minutes that we want to remain true to our sound,” says Gowan.

“Crash of the Crown” went to No. 1 on Billboard’s rock albums chart. Even in the age of digital downloads, the album has generated a lot of physical copy sales.

“As people fall in love with the record they want the tactile appreciation to go along with an album,” says Gowan

Gowan says that Styx can best be appreciated by listening to one of its entire albums.

“The progressive side of Styx is what I’ve always admired. Songs like ‘Fooling Yourself’ were cut down for radio play by the record company. But it was part of the overall picture. It is better to hear all of the ‘Grand Illusion’ record.

“Since the pandemic, people have discovered albums again,” he says.

The Penn Peak’s concert was originally scheduled for March 2020 and then rescheduled for November 2020. The first concert was one of the first coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-related cancellations for Penn’s Peak and Styx. The band did its first post-COVID concert June 16. Pre-pandemic, Styx did approximately 100 concerts annually.

“There was a mandate when I joined the band that live presentation is essential to our focus,” says Gowan.

Gowan is a “new guy” in the group, although he has been in Styx for more than 20 years. He replaced Dennis DeYoung.

Even Styx’s most ardent fans might be unaware that the fifth moon of Pluto is named after the group, sort of. The band was invited by NASA in July of 2015 to view the New Horizons spacecraft arriving at Pluto.

The group members wondered why they were asked. Mark Showalter, who led the team that discovered Pluto’s moon in 2002, named it.

Names of moons and planets traditionally come from Greek and Roman mythology. Styx is the name of Greek goddess of the underworld river of the same name. Showalter has said, “I’m really such a Styx fan. I thought I could slip it in there.”

Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com; Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000; Penn’s Peak box office; Information: https://www.pennspeak.com/events/all; 866-605-PEAK