[2] Tommy Shaw wrote the emotionally deep ballad "Man in the Wilderness" after watching a Kansas performance in Detroit, which they had played as the opening act.

[4] However, DeYoung revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of The Grand Illusion) that he was depressed when he wrote the track because Styx's first two A&M offerings, Equinox and Crystal Ball, had sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "Lady."

In the middle of the second half it features a minute-long instrumental break on synthesizer, characteristic of progressive rock, after which the guitar returns with a catchy chorus.

Rolling Stone critic Joe Fernbacher called "Miss America" "the most dynamic song on the album" but said that it "simply reeks of misogynistic misdirection.

"[10] The Daily Vault critic Melanie Love called it a "crunchy, hard-edged rocker from guitarist James Young" and said that "the snarling vocals do verge on being laughable, but it's an entertaining track nonetheless.

"[7] Hamish Camp said that it "continues the theme of combining the keyboard ethos of the progressive movement, with the crunching guitar riffs of their more rock-oriented peers.