THE MUSIC OF KANSAS

Just when I thought Kansas couldn't find any new ways to package their classic stuff, here comes their edition of the Epic Box Set Series. Taking a page from 'Sail On: Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection' and the remastered 'Two For the Show' the band (Phil Ehart mostly) has assembled another multi-disc set from their deep archive of material from their heyday of 1974-1983, typically considered to be the period in which the group delivered their best and most memorable music.

The first two discs are all remastered versions of well-known songs from the first eight studio albums, with the third CD being all live material lifted from the 'Two for the Show' remaster.

All the hit singles are here, or at least most of them. "Carry on Wayward Son", "Dust in the Wind", "Point of Know Return", "Portrait (He Knew)", "Hold On" and "Fight Fire with Fire" were all hit singles and all appear as remastered versions of the studio originals. For some reason the band decided to leave out several other key hit singles, including "Lonely Wind", "People of the South Wind", "Reason to Be", "Got to Rock On", "Chasing Shadows" and "Right Away", as well as "All I Wanted" and "Power" from their 1986 comeback album 'Power' which had a much revised lineup. No big deal though, as all of those songs are available on 'Sail On' which is a must-have Kansas compilation (except "Chasing Shadows" and "Right Away" from the John Elefante era and not generally mentioned when discussing classic Kansas music anyway).

And there are a few gems that aren't included in any previous Kansas compilation as far as I know, most notably "Hopelessly Human", Lonely Street", "Questions of my Childhood" and "Bringing it Back", a J.J. Cale tune and one of the very few covers the band every recorded. There's also "Down the Road" which appears on the 2006 'Works in Progress', an album that is basically a reworked version of the ill-fated 'Live full of Whiskey' CD recorded during Walsh's coked-up period, but the version here is the original 'Song for America' one and much better.

As with the 'Two for the Show' remaster, the real jewels are on the last disc, all live recordings. And as it turns out all from that same remastered edition, which was a rare multi-platinum album when it was first released during at the apex of the band's career. If you want to hear what this group sounded like live when they were firing on all cylinders back in the day there are only two places (the 'Two for the Show' remaster and here) to get primo live versions of "Hopelessly Human", "Cheyenne Anthem", "Miracles out of Nowhere", "Sparks Of The Tempest" and "Bringing it Back". All of these are also available on various well-known and widely distributed bootleg recordings from around the same period, but here they are all legitimate and result in both artistic and royalties credit for the band so this is the one you want to add to your collection.

I can't say there's anything new here because there isn't, but as someone who has every compilation and live recording the band ever released I have to say this one ranks with 'Sail On' as the most comprehensive and representative of the Kansas sound. And with the exception of the handful of Elefante tunes this one beats 'Sail On' in that it leaves out the later material that most serious fans tend to pan anyway.

The best part of the collection is that I was able to pick it up brand-new for less than $9USD. I only bought it because I'm a serious fanboy, but if you are fairly new to Kansas and are looking for a reasonably-priced compilation that will deliver nearly everything you need to hear to appreciate the power and range of this band, I would highly recommend you start right here. Four out of five stars both for the music and for Phil Ehart's sage understanding of what his fans want. Well recommended.

peace