IN A WORLD

I do feel that this is a step up from the debut but it's still barely a 3 star album. I'm just not into KANSAS or bands that sound like them or have that AOR style. Just sayin'. This is an improvement though. Ragsdale is back guesting on violin and SPOCK'S BEARD guitarist Alan Morse also helps out along with some other guests.

"In A World" is spacey to start then it kicks in before 2 minutes.The tempo will shift throughout. Reserved vocals and strummed guitar before 5 minutes. A fuller sound a minute later takes over.Violin before 9 minutes as it settles right down. Reserved vocals follow. A Spanish section comes in before 10 minutes then it changes back with a long guitar solo. A calm before 13 minutes and reserved vocals return. It kicks back in one more time. Quite the ambitious opener. "This Dream Part I" is a short piece with strummed guitar and reserved vocals. "Common Ground" has a nice heavy sound that comes in quickly including vocals. Synths lead 3 minutes in then a calm before the vocals and a fuller sound return. "Merkaba" is uptempo and violin comes in before a minute. Guitar then synths follow.

"All Along" opens with piano as vocals join in. Some backing vocals too. "The Space Inbetween" is uptempo until it settles with vocals and strummed guitar.It gets fuller. A guitar solo before 3 minutes. "I Am The Energy" has some great sounding bass early on then vocals come in. Some light riffs then more prominant bass 3 minutes in. "Point Of View" has vocals a minute in. Not a fan of this one at all.Too poppy. "Power To Mend" is kind of spacey then it kicks in quickly.Vocals around 2 minutes. It settles down after 4 minutes.The guitar solos after 5 1/2 minutes and piano then vocals follow. "Find" has these melancholic background synths that I like. "The Balance" opens with synths then organ and a beat take over followed by vocals and harmonies.Very KANSAS-like. "This Dream Part II / In A World Reprise" doesn't sound that good to me, mainly the vocals, but the overall sound too.The second part is better as strummed guitar and reserved vocals take over but then it gets fuller and the vocals take a turn for the worse.

As I said earlier this is barely 3 stars for me.