THE ULTIMATE KANSAS

Another "Ultimate" Kansas collection?? Well, it looks like it. the main difference here from the other Ultimate Kansas Collection from 1994 is that the tracks here are all remastered which makes the tracks from Monolith specially atractive for exemple since this is one of their albums yet waiting for its remastered edition. Other than that this is a pretty good collection of trheir best stuff indeed, although for some reason they skipped one of Kansas greatest songs ever: Icarus (Born On Wings Of Steel). How they missed this classic track (and live favorite) is beyond my comprehension. The fact that there was enough space available on both CDs only enhances my puzzlement. Belexes is another great one missing here. However, for a newbie The Ultimate Kansas serves well its purpose: it has most of the hits, several prog epics of high caliber and a real fantastic overall sound. It gives a very good overview of the group´s legacy without having to buy all of their CDs.

Like the 1994 release, this compilation concentrades mostly on their progressive stuff of the 70´s, but it also has some of their 80´s hits too, like Fight Fire With Fire and Play The Game Tonight. It´s strange to hear those two AOR tracks thrown together with the more progressive material of early. It would be much more interesting to have the tunes in chronological order, so one could notice their development through the years. I´m not sure but it seems that the live version of Magnum Opus was edited for this release. I particularly liked the inclusion of People Of South Wind (a very underated song), the brilliant kind of forgotten masterpiece of The Pinnacle and A Glimpse Of Home, from their excellent ´come back´ album of 2000, Somewhere To Elesewhere.

Conclusion: seldom a compilation of sorts can satisfy most of fans and this one is clearly the case. Some omitions may sound criminal to some and the inclusion of others might be questionable to others. Still, The Ultimate Kansas has most of the essential stuff for anyone who wants to get started with this legendary band from the USA. and the sound quality is the best available from any other best of collection.

Rating: 3.5 stars.