POWER

After Steve Walsh's eight year departure from Kansas, he returns as a different creature, at least audibly. This (kind of) reunion album marks the noticeable decline of quality of his voice. It is nowhere near where it would be in just a few years, so there's still some semblance of the vocalist he used to be. Dave Hope and Kerry Livgren had gone the way of Robby Steinhardt (in fact, all of Kansas had disbanded after the tour supporting the last album). To fill in on bass and backup vocals, Walsh brought in a man from the Streets, so to speak- Billy Greer, who has done a more than excellent job on every Kansas album he has performed. The more noticeable addition to the band, however, was guitar guru Steve Morse, who adds many interesting textures and cuts loose by shredding throughout the album.

"Silhouettes in Disguise" The album kicks off with a song that at least lets Kansas fans know that the band can at least still rock with the best of them. Morse employs his rapid-fire but entirely clean picking.

"Power" The title track is an FM radio-ready song. It is reasonably good, but not a song I find myself frequenting.

"All I Wanted" Things slow down even more for this well-done 1980s love ballad, which garnered some success on adult contemporary radio at the time.

"Secret Service" This is a mostly forgettable rock track. It sounds like a nod to Blue Oyster Cult, but one that remains ludicrous throughout.

"We're Not Alone Anymore" The previous track goes right into the most upbeat rocker on the record. It's a place that serves the guitarists really, letting them do their business as fast as they can over a shuffling rhythm. During the guitar soloing, the song sounds an awful lot like "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson.

"Musicatto" The closest thing to progressive rock on this album is an instrumental. It has some grand guitar playing and excellent drumming. The keyboards mainly serve in the backdrop, however, and escort the listener to the next track.

"Taking in the View" In spite of Kansas's attempt to show themselves as a band who can still rock out, I find this acoustic number to be the best thing on the album. In fact, I think it rivals "Dust in the Wind," particularly for its lyrical relevance and meaningfulness. Walsh's voice is as it once was, and a group of children sing in whimsical bridge. The words in recent times have given me pause about the matter of aging, and aging family.

"Three Pretenders" The band offers another straightforward rocker, but at least the lyrics are more intriguing than some of the other fare here.

"Tomb 19" Having heard this often on a compilation I owned well before this album, I admittedly grew to like this song. It has some strange lyrics about the cursed jade treasures of a Mayan temple. The music is good, even if nothing special.

"Can't Cry Anymore" It's inexplicable why this generally hard rocking album closes with a completely insipid power ballad. This one should have been cut or placed elsewhere. Even if it showcases Walsh's waning ability as a vocalist, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.