POINT OF KNOW RETURN

Just as "Carry On Wayward Son" had greatly boosted sales of the excellent "Leftoverture" as well as the popularity of Kansas, the emotive "Dust in the Wind" (an immortal ballad created by Kerry Livgren almost unintentionally while practising arpeggios on acoustic guitar at home) did the same a year later with "Point of Know Return" (1977), the Americans' fifth album, and also further strengthened the band's association with the roots of classic rock and it´s gentler variants.

But the energetic and vibrant tracks like the adventurous "Point of Know Return" (great interplay of Robby Steinhardt's violins and Livgren's keyboards), the questioning "Paradox" (brief but solid guitar solo by Rich Williams), the intense half-time Einstein homage "Portrait (He Knew)", or the menacing "Lightning Hand" (raspy, resounding riffs and guitar solos from the Williams/Livgren duo amidst a chaotic and voluble development), not only effectively feature hard rock elements, but are fused with progressive molecules to create those unique sonorities so typical of Kansas, and even the contentious rudeness of "Sparks of the Tempest" goes further with the surprising incorporation of funky harmonies.

What is unsurprising, however, is the band's commitment to their persistent navigation of progressive currents (though not as perilous in relation to the waters on the edge of the abyss that the caravel sails in the masterful, mythological cover art), as with the brief, delightfully Emersonian instrumental "The Spider", or the pretentious display of Livgren's synthesizers and Steinhardt's screeching violin in the acknowledgement of the visionary and eccentric Howard Hughes in "Closet Chronicles", or Steve Walsh's poignant singing over the delicate piano notes in "Nobody's Home", or the excellent closing with the philosophical and questioning "Hopelessly Human", a polychromatic development of the whole band and one of the best compositions of the album.

"Point of Know Return", like "Leftoverture", reached 4 million units sold, is another essential album of American progressive rock, and rounded off the period of greatest brilliance and massive recognition of Kansas.

4/4.5 stars