SAIL ON: THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION 1974-2004

This is, to me, the best Kansas compilation so far. It is not (by far) the best possible compilation, but it's the best yet. It really shows off Kansas' amazing abilities. Tracks like "Journey From MariaBronn", most definitely "Icarus: Borne on Wings of Steel", and "The Pinnacle", rival anything Yes, Genesis, or Pink Floyd produced. The DVD is great, especially "Death of Mother Nature Suite", which I'm surprised to see is not on the CDs.

The remastering is very good, the gripes I have are with selection. I don't like that they decided to release one song from every Kansas album. Everything between Freaks of Nature ("Desperate Times" is fantastic) and Somewhere to Elsewhere could've easily been cut out. "Rainmaker", "All I Wanted", "Got to Rock On", and "Hold On" are not worth paying for. Where is "A Glimpse of Home"? The Eleanor Rigby cover seems completely misplaced and uninspired. And we get those tracks instead of utter classics like "Closet Chronicles", "Song For America", "The Devil Game", "No One Together" (I realize that those were all on The Best of Kansas, but they're too good to be ignored). What really bugs me is the noticeable absence of "Incomudro-Hymn To The Atman" and "The Wall", two of their most brilliant works.

See my forum post on the real best of kansas.