SONG FOR AMERICA

The album starts off with Down the Road, one of Walsh's rocker, this one about a drug dealer. It makes use of bluesy organ fills and dual lead guitars, something Boston and their like would soon make use of, but it is used to its full glory on this album. Song for America is the album's best song, and possibly Kansas's best song. It's a great piece of symphonic progressive rock, with lyrics lamenting the destruction of the natural world in favor of one more civilized, with amazing keyboard, violin, and guitar work throughout. It's followed by Lamplight Symphony, a song about a man being comforted by the ghost of his dead lover. It's melodramatic and the lyrics border on cheesy, but I still love this song. It's another progressive piece, and the instrumental work is every bit on par with that on Song for America, or anything on Yes's Fragile album. Lonely Street is another one of Walsh's songs, a dark blues number about a man who kills another man for raping his woman. The progressive rock isn't entirely absent though, as this is not a typical blues progression by any means, the time signature is way off standard (I think it's 11/8, according to one of my friends, but I'm not entirely sure.) The guitar work is brilliant, and it stands as the hardest-rocking song on the album. The Devil Game is another one of Walsh's songs. It's not bad by any means, actually it's very catchy if the Christianized lyrics don't bother you (I'm not a Christian, and they don't bother me) but comes off as a bit mediocre, partially from having to follow Lonely Street. Incomudro: Hymn to the Atman is another one of Livgren's progressive songs, but this one isn't as good as Song for America or Lamplight Symphony. It features a decent drum solo, although I get the idea he could have done much better, and finishes in a literal explosion (this happens a lot with the music I listen to....), a fitting conclusion for an album of this magnitude.

This is an amazing album. Those only familiar with Kansas's radio songs should give this a listen to hear them at their best. Fans of progressive rock and classic rock in general could definitely appreciate this. And a lot of the former probably have already heard it.