NOT EVERYBODY'S GOLD

Salem Hill's followup to the pretty decent The Robbery of Murder doesn't sound quite as compelling to my ears - possibly because this time around the band's Kansas influence is much more prominent, and I'm afraid Kansas are a band that I've never been able to understand the appeal of. On top of that, the production values on the album seem to be a bit more rudimentary than those on The Robbery of Murder - and that was hardly an engineering masterpiece to begin with. It may be an OK listen for Kansas fans but I suspect even they would have to admit it's not a patch on its illustrious predecessor.