Kansas Debut (Self Titled)

I credit Kansas with getting me into prog, leftoverture and point of know return precisely, but over time I’ve grown to like their first two albums the best. I listened to this for the first time in a while and man it’s so damn good. I might go as far as to say it’s their best album. Every track is good, they come right out of the gate showing off their unique american symphonic sound, and the intensity of the playing on this album is unmatched throughout their discography. While the short tracks are all great, particularly belexes, the three longs: Journey from Mariabronn, Apercu and death of Mother Nature Suite are the highlights. Each one is just great symphonic prog. Recommend this and song for America if you’ve never heard them

yup, IMHO, they never got better than the debut... It's kind of the blueprint that set the band's lifelong career, and all attempts to refine and finalize the formula proved unconvincing (IMHO, of course), but it's clear they owed a lot to Yes in the debut album (and the next one as well)... The only thing missing on that album (besides a gatefold cover) is the logo that would appear with SFA (and disappear with Masque)While I like it, I think in SFA, they go a little overboard in  near-ELP sense with the overtly symphonic thingy in the Lamplight or Incommudro (forget which one).

Edited by Sean Trane - July 30 2019 at 02:05

Wow, I just figured out the name is a pun on protocol. Lol. Anyway, I never heard that one but I do like the first Kansas album(1974)quite a bit. I need to dig it out again.

Sean Trane wrote: yup, IMHO, they never got better than the debut... It's kind of the blueprint that set the band's lifelong career, and all attempts to refine and finalize the formula proved unconvincing (IMHO, of course), but it's clear they owed a lot to Yes in the debut album (and the next one as well)... The only thing missing on that album (besides a gatefold cover) is the logo that would appear with SFA (and disappear with Masque) While I like it, I think in SFA, they go a little overboard in  near-ELP sense with the overtly symphonic thingy in the Lamplight or Incommudro (forget which one).

Probably thinking incommudro, though I’m a fan, I could see how it may be perceived as overboard. Big fan of side one in general though