MONOLITH

"Monolith" is a very hard KANSAS album to review, because it's obvious they have already left their peak behind, but still the classic and melancholic essence is there, most surely we won't listen the vast majority of "Monolith" songs on a concert of the band (Except maybe "On the Other side"), but there's not a bad track in all the disk (Most are average)..

Some tracks like "People of the South Wind" are very close to the AOR sound of the 80's but still the characteristic sound of Kerry's violin is enough to maintain the interest of the listener. On the other hand, songs like "A Glimpse of Home" present us the delicate blend of Hard Rock, Symphonic and Country that made them famous.

If I am asked to chose one song, I will go wit the brilliant "Away from You", that takes me back to 1976 when KANSAS released the fantastic "Leftoverture", but we are only talking about reflections of the past, because it's not a solid release, or maybe KANSAS set the bar to high with their previous albums.

Well due to he fact that the original lineup is complete (despite the internal problems) and being able to listen Steve's voice still in the highest level, makes me rate "Monolith" with no less than 3 stars.

II usually write very long reviews, but in this case, there's not much to say about a release that is a great addition only for KANSAS diehard fans, but an average album for most Progressive Rock listeners.