Monolith is a fabulous, wonderful album. Its only problem is that it's just not as good as Leftoverture and Point of Know Return. "Stay Out of Trouble" is the only "slightly" weak-link for this long-time listener. I'd take Monolith over Masque every time.

I'm very glad "No One Together" did not appear on Monolith, because like everything else on Audio-Visions, it seems very rushed and hastily thrown-together.

I'm one of those fans who believe the band was finding their footing and discovering their sound on the first 3 albums. Which is in no way to imply that they do not have any good material - far from it. There are good reasons why "Song for America" is as popular as it is. Yet there is also a feeling with most of the early songs that the band is simply trying too hard to impress and showing off. Leftoverture was the first album where they were confident enough to no longer be "Lynyrd Skynyrd meets King Crimson" and just be themselves without sacrificing their virtuosity or experimentalism. Not to mention the first 3 albums were recorded with extremely low budgets, so the songs sounded much better on Two for the Show, which includes the best songs from those albums.

Hector Enrique wrote: I was expecting a much better album after the successful “Lefoverture” and “PoKR”, and with the cover art of the proud Native American I even assumed a vindicatory conceptual theme and intense progressive developments. But except for "Angels Have Fallen" and "Away From You", and the occasional scattered spark of lucidity, the album fails to take off, at least for my taste, and especially for the expectations I personally had.

Yeah, that great gatefold sleeve (that inspired me to write SF novelas, long lost nowadays) was certainly very promising (outside), but fairly disappointing once played (inside). Not that I was ever all that convinced with their previous albums (IMHO, they never bettered their debut), but clearly, despite the imaginative imagery, their inspiration had waned after Leftoverture.

Monolith was certainly the last album I bought from the band (back then) and isn't present in my shelves (only the debut and a CDr comp of the next 5), but yes, I'd say that it is the last of their classics, but also the least of their classics (though Masque is fighting for that last place as well)

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The RIAA website just says gold. Where are you getting this halfway information from? 

I go by the RIAA website. https://www.riaa.com/

I like 'Masque' more than 'Monolith'.

I don't think Kansas ever made a bad album. But I have zero interest in any new material beyond 'Somewhere To Elsewhere'.

Wouldn't you think that Going for the One would be close to platinum also (or maybe even platinum by now). It went gold less than a month after being released. Tormato even went platinum less than two months after it was released. Weird. Yes, they need to update lots of stuff on there. They have David Bowies ziggy stardust album as only going gold. Seriously.

Maybe Monolith went gold in the long run, but it certainly didn't seem like it sold as much back then as their two previous albums.

BasedProgger wrote: I think Masque was when Kansas started to move towards a more commercial direction as evident in songs like "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)", not that it's a bad thing because Leftoverture and PoKR are both classics where they figured out their sound, balanced progressive rock with arena rock in a way that worked, and didn't have any weak songs. I agree it has some of their best offerings like the ones verslibre mentioned (I'd add "Child of Innocence" to that). In my opinion, Masque > Monlith but probably only because of "Mysteries and Mayhem" and "The Pinnacle" (should have been one song or at least segued into each other like "Apercu" and "Death of Mother Nature Suite").

Yes, Masque has two or three tracks I saved for my CDr comp of theirs (from SFA until Monolith), but the rest is subpar, IMHO, and was a vrather disappointment from the debut and SFA. Oddly enough, this album escaped my radar for years too.

verslibre wrote: Steve Wyzard wrote: Leftoverture was the first album where they were confident enough to no longer be "Lynyrd Skynyrd meets King Crimson" and just be themselves without sacrificing their virtuosity or experimentalism. Not to mention the first 3 albums were recorded with extremely low budgets, so the songs sounded much better on Two for the Show, which includes the best songs from those albums. Am I glad I don't hear anything Skynyrdy about their music!

Neither do I hear any Crimson (despite the violin).

Oddly enough, I was never enamoured by their Two For The Show, despite the accolades it gets.

It's like GG's Playing The Fool, could never get into it.

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verslibre wrote: I've never likened any aspect of Kansas to King Crimson. That's just as odd a comparison as Skynyrd, at least to me.

I probably wouldn't have reacted if they'd been compared to Yes (an obvious inspiration) and Skynyrd (in spirit maybe), but Crimson was just too much

As for missing personnel, well, nobody is indispensable in a band. The departure of a member from a band that has been active for many years, such as Kansas, which has been around for over 50 years, should not be viewed as a significant flaw in their last album. For example, The Absence of Presence features keyboardist Tom Brislin. He is the newest member of Kansas, who has previously played with Yes, Camel, and Renaissance. But beyond impressive playing skills, Brislin also brought to the table several of his own compositions and lyrics for some tracks on The Absence of Presence. He also handles lead vocals on the standout track The Song the River Sang. Kansas was indeed fortunate to get him as part of their lineup.

The other members of the band are doing extremely well on The Absence of Presence, too: lead vocalist Ronnie Platt and producer/guitarist Zak Rizvi, both of whom are now fully assimilated into Kansas. Violinist David Ragsdale, who joined in the early 1990s, is doing a fantastic job, and his work with the violin has been outstanding. Billy Greer, who joined in the mid-1980s, is still thriving in his role. The other continuing members are drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Richard Williams, who have been with the band since its inception. The seven men carry Kansas's rich legacy perfectly. Everything fits nicely: keyboards, violin, drums, vocals—including choruses—and even the overall production and album artwork.