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Kansas
Kansas
(Epic/Legacy)
Kansas
Song for America
(Epic/Legacy)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2004, Volume 11, #9
Written by John Metzger
In 1974, Kansas co-opted Britain’s progressive rock movement, colored it with
a healthy dose of Americana, and spiced it with hard-hitting Southern blues. It
was a formula that, over the course of a career that now spans 30 years, has
served the band quite well, particularly on its fourth and fifth outings — Leftoverture and Point of Know Return, respectively — and even if
there have been more lows than highs, its legacy continues to thrive, despite
the fact that many of its finer moments have been forgotten by many and no
longer fit within the increasingly narrow focus of classic rock radio.
Kansas’ self-titled debut as well as the subsequent Song for America,
however, were a jumbled mess that found the ensemble stumbling its way through a
series of misguided attempts to transform its strangely unique concoction into
something functional. In other words, the band was learning and growing in full
public view, a notion that seems foreign in today’s market of disposable one-hit
wonders. Granted, the overwrought falsetto vocals, banal lyrics, and whirring
synthesizers undercut some of Kansas’ music, and despite the virtuosic
proficiency of the instrumentalists and intricately complex arrangements of the
songs, both collections severely lacked cohesive visions and tended to drag
under the weight of imperfect melodic structures. Yet, the albums also featured
at least a few highlights — most notably, the wicked frenzy of Can I Tell You
and the sophomore effort’s majestic title track — that were as captivating as
they were quirky. Even lesser tunes — such as the sweeping epic Incomudro-Hymn
to the Atman; the pressure-cooked boogie of Bringing It Back, which
is stretched considerably on the concert rendition featured as the initial set’s
lone bonus track; and the sprightly bounce of The Pilgrimage, with its
Yes-like harmonies and quietly creeping Grateful Dead-meets-Allman Brothers
Band-inspired introduction — had their moments. Of course, none of this was
enough to overcome an abundance of exceedingly dull and overly pretentious
moments that zapped the band’s momentum long before it could ever gain traction,
but then again, this was clearly a work in progress.
So, just what is Kansas’ legacy? It’s a little difficult to grasp it from the
hodgepodge of material featured on either its eponymous album or Song for
America, but within the group’s uncertainty lay not only the promise for its
future successes but also the foundation upon which Widespread Panic sculpted a
few magnificent moments of its own.
Kansas — 
Song for America — ½
Kansas is available from Amazon.com.
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Song for America is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004
The Music Box
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