SONG FOR AMERICA

I grew up listening to the American classic rock format on radio, and my favorite band from age 8 up was the Doobie Brothers (shields face from prog tomatoes). As "Carry on Wayward Son" was and is one of the most oft-played songs on such formats, I found it comparatively complex and lyrically competent. As time went on it became one of my favorite songs. Well, I wandered into the basement and found that my father had a nearly complete collection of Kansas albums - dating back to the debut album. The albums I kept finding myself drawn to were Song for America and Masque, and of the two I think that Song for America wins, if only for that majestic title track.

While many have commented on the prog-less nature of Down the Road and My Two Cents Worth, they are interesting for what they are. If it weren't for those songs in my early days I may never have explored the deeper and better regions of the album. I actually remember hearing Song for America and wondering when the lyrics would start. Then they started and stopped, started and stopped, and then were replaced by more intstrumental passages. It confused me...was this the same band that played Carry On Wayward Son, Play the Game Tonight, etcetera. But I respected its musical complexity, and as I took seven years of Piano lessons, sang in choirs, played Clarinet, grew up also listening to classical music (etcetera), I greatly respected the musicianship and the spot-on vocals. So I trudged on, determined to acquire this new taste. Well, it was worth it.

Song for America and Lamplight Symphony would definitely be two of the ten songs I would bring to a deserted island (and I can't say for certain what the other eight would be...). They are lush, bombastic, intricate, lyrically interesting (though I understand why some people would view Lamplight as cheesy - I simply think its interesting and moving, especially in concert with the emotional music and transitions that accompany them), and genuinely cerebral. I have listened to Yes (much props), Genesis (still don't get the high praise), Jethro Tull (if Kansas isn't prog, I don't know what Tull is, though I adore Tull - Thick as a Brick is wonderful), King Crimson, and most of the other progenitors of prog (four-letter alliteration!) as we know it. Yet I always come back to Kansas. Perhaps I am biased by unconscious national pride. Perhaps its because your first love is always your fondest and strongest. Perhaps its because Kansas' blend of pure prog, pop-prog, hard rock, and pop makes it easy for those weaned on classic rock here to become entranced (and if in a non-prog mood, not have to change albums). I happen to think it is a combination of those reasons with the fact that Steinhardt's Violin, Livgren (who is my hero) and Williams' guitar, and Walsh's extremely underrated keyboard form some of the most thought-provoking and tightly arranged epic songs on either side of the Pond.