SONG FOR AMERICA

1. Down the Road
A very nice track, but not in coherence with the prog spirit of the rest of the album. This one could easily be a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, as it's a straight-forward Southern rocker. Much closer to the spirit of their debut album, it's a surprise that they didn't chose to play that live during their live gigs with ZZ Top!

2. Song for America - a Kansas classic - best song of the album
Excellent conduction, not the best arrangement. This is one of the most well known Kansas songs, and rightly so! The lyrics are wonderful, it's the only song I know talking about the way colonization ruined the nature of America, and it does so in the most beautiful way imagined. Non the less, I wish they chose a different arrangement, not only for this song but the entire album. There is too much synth and less violin than I would like, the song sounds unnecessarily digital. The classical adaptation they did for the "Always Never The Same" album in 1998 sounds FANTASTIC.

3. Lamplight Symphony - a Kansas classic - most Prog song of the album
Another majestic prog rock song, with the only downside of it (for my taste of course) being the excess usage of keyboards. It's actually a dark ballad and the lyrics are of much different kind, as a man mourns the loss of his wife and hopes they will meet again in the afterlife. The intro is a killer, but I consider it only the second best of the album. They kept the best for last!

4. Lonely Street - a Kansas classic
Wow, what happened here?! That's an outstanding blues rocker that grooves like hell! Steve Walsh sounds like a seasoned blues singer, and the whole band gives the impression there is no music genre they can't play at it's best! It's clearly anticlimactic and feels like it belongs to a different album, but the quality of it undeniable.

5. The Devil Game - worst song of the album
Christianity doesn't seem like the best inspiration for Kansas, as almost every religious song they composed is not great. This one has almost comical anti-Devil lyrics which sound like a preach, and the music is good but definitely not at the same level as the rest of the album. Not a bad composition but it pales in comparison.

6. Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman - a Kansas classic - my favorite song of the album - most underrated song of the album
OH-MY-GOD. This is the most majestic intro Kansas ever played! A huge wall of drums, bass and keyboards playing an outstanding melody, and the keyboards finally sound proper in this album! It's the best example of a Kansas song being a synthesis of different musical "sections", and Phil Ehart's drum solo is my favorite bridge in the entire Kansas discography. Every member has it's chance to shine as protagonists through different sections of the song, and taking the time to showcase their ability and inspiration makes the song the lengthiest of their entire career, as it runs over 12 minutes! It really devastates me they played it live very few times throughout their career, and it's by far the most underrated song of the album. It's intro, majesty, lengthy instrumental session, awesome reprise and frenzy outro makes it the perfect song for a Kansas concert encore.

RATING:
With different arrangements this one is a 4,5 stars album for me. I really love it's songs but I wish they sounded differently, less digital and more orchestral. Although it's compositions make it a better album than their debut, I prefer the original Kansas sound by far. I will give it a 4 stars rating acknowledging it's greatness, but I prefer to listen to it's songs in later live performances (mostly from the late 90s and on) where they sound much less digital.

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