ROBBY STEINHARDT

Bless Robbie's heart! It was good that he released this before his death. Don Kirchner and his agents signed Kansas because of the hairy violin player and his mix into a rock band sound. Kansas are the pinnacles of American prog rock. I fell in love with the very first album and while Kerry Livgren's songs shaped most of the structure, Steve Walsh's contributions in the early days were essential and Steinhardt was involved in some of the writing on longer group compositions.

This album stunned me in that the songwriting is very reminiscent of Kansas in many ways and I am not talking about Prelude and Dust In the Wind though they are both done very well as a nod to his roots. The title song is a crack up with the weird little people talking but the instrumentation is awesome. So many tracks catch a listener and instead of me saying "I could see that coming" the songs take twists and turns I did not expect which in many ways is a good sign of talented songwriting and playing.

He pulled in some great talent on this. The great guitarist Pat Travers was who I would have least expected and Patrick Moraz on keys combined with Ian Anderson and Steve Morse. Overall I was very impressed with the album. My only complaint is some of the songs are based on the old 60's environmental and peace train thing. Yes we all want peace and we want to take care of the earth god gave us but thee themes have been overplayed over the decades.

Still, a great album and I would recommend anyone who likes the older Kansas will like this one.

Despite his claim of "not being in Kansas anymore", Robby indulges in the same kind of AOR leanings pervading the late 70's Kansas output (e.g. Monolith or Audio-Visions), a trait mainly fleshed out in the massive solidarity of full-blown vocal harmonies with hard riffage that opens proceedings, and recurs along the entire album. I'm not complaining, however, he was helped by tremendous vocalists, including Bobby Kimball from Toto, and that is sonic value, indeed.

But take it easy, there's nothing to fear for the symphonic progger who comes to listen in good faith, because the golden violin in fact comes to shine in tracks like 3. Mother Earth (Is Calling You), 4. Rise of the Phoenix (a great instrumental prog moment for the whole band), 5. The Phoenix, and in the cover of Dust In The Wind, as well as in a some more lighthearted passage like Pizzacotto (yes, despite the silly pun).

The composition is rich in melodies, moods and nuances, and it's certainly worth the effort that he must have devoted to the task. Every song has received its own identity, not only by name or number, but, more importantly, by the ideas shaping its form, and an inner sense of purpose that comes to the light more and more with each listen. Still, there is occasion for fun and a good measure of irony too, like in track 9. Downtown Royalty, an AOR tour de force paying hommage to the golden era of stadium rock, while serving also as an ironic wink on the social background.

The fans of Kansas will love it, I guess, as anybody with an open ear and a rocking heart will.