POINT OF KNOW RETURN

When I first bought this album I pretty much dismissed it as a AOR album with some proggy undertones, and it sat on the shelf for awhile besides the occasional time I wanted to play along to "Dust In The Wind." When I started to come back to it though and give it subsequent chances my initial impression became harder and harder to justify. Many songs on this album do give off a poppy or AOR feel, especially with many of the vocal harmonies, especially on the rockier numbers. However, excluding "Dust in the Wind" and the title track, the songs are very proggy at their heart despite sometimes having an AOR facade.

At the time of writing, the only albums I've come to acquire from Kansas are Leftoverture and this one, and growing up in the 90s the only songs that exist from Kansas are "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust In The Wind" so I cannot attest to how progressive this album is in comparison to previous or speak of them losing their sound, etc. I can say though that the album contains three of the finest progressive songs I've heard in "Closet Chronicles", "Nobody Home", and "Hopelessly Human." The instrumentation and interplay among band members is strongest on these tracks and they make up the focal point of the album. Aside from these you're left with a bunch of rockier numbers with strong bass work and "Dust In The Wind." The latter mostly everyone is familiar with and the former aren't the most progressive tracks in the world but they are certainly well written and exhibit some great guitar work.

The only complaint I have about the album besides the vocals which sometimes go a little bit too far to the AOR side is "Sparks of the Tempest." It's pretty much just a standard rock number and not a very good one at that. Still, one out of ten ain't bad. I'm probably in the minority of actually preferring this album to Leftoverture. So according to my limited scope of Kansas, this is a great place to start.