POWER

I've been meaning to write a review for very long time but i gave up the idea seeing how so many people are so negative about this Kansas release. But still, I can only stick to my opinion and feelings towards this album - it's one of those albums i've always loved and found enjoyment when listening to. Don't worry, i realize and i'm conscient of the subjectivity of my words; I won't try to convince anybody that Power is a great underappreciated album but i'll try to explain why I enjoy it.

Power is not a bad album, not at all, but it's atypical in the Kansas discography. So was Drastic Measures but Power is a lot better. When I first listened to this album, I didn't know who Kansas was - I thought it was just a hard rock band with great keyboards. That was happening more than fifteen years ago. I was a highschool kid, listening to too much metal. My elder brother was into classic rock and prog-rock, but at that moment his music was not impressing me. One day he gave me a cassette - it said Kansas - Power. My teenage metal days were over. I had never heard music played with so much passion (there's passion even on Power, believe it or not); I found Steve Walsh's vocals amazing and Steve Morse's guitar playing trully great. As I took (obviously) the music of the album for what it was offering, I enjoyed every single sound of it. The good thing is that now that I know all Kansas albums, my thoughts and feelings for Power have never changed. Listening to this album was my first spep towards classic rock at first and then prog-rock (as strange as this statement sounds).

I understand why many people reject Power; no violin - once an essential "ingredient" in Kansas' sound, Kerry Livgreen is gone. Nevertheless, Steve Morse's work on this album (and also the next) is very good; also, in my humble opinion, Steve Walsh provides one of his best vocal performances here. in fact I've got nothing to object to any musicians performance on Power.

The highlights on the album are the album opener Silhouettes in Disguise, the title song, All i wanted (a great emotional ballad), We're not Alone Anymore, Musicatto/Taking In the View (reminding of old Kansas), Tomb 19 and Three Pretenders; also worth mentioning is the second ballad - Can't Cry Anymore (with great vocals from Walsh and great solo from Morse). i just realised the only song i didn't mention is Secret Service; which is by all means not inferior to the other songs.

So excuse me for my subective reviewing; but to me there's nothing wrong with this album. Surely I cannot recommend this album as an excellent addition to any prog-rock collection or to prog purists. Kansas - Power is essential in my music collection. Therefore only from this perspective I give this album 3 stars.