AUDIO-VISIONS

I have almost the same opinion about this album as for Kansas previous efford: very good for the the time it was released, a minor CD in their classic discography. In fact, in many aspects I like this one more than Monolith. Times had changed, and for an american band to survive it had to change too, at least in some aspects. And Kansas did it without sacrifying its original spirit: after all, they always had a hard rock side. And there are enough prog elements here (notably in No One Together) to satisfy non radical prog heads..

I think Audio Visions is more balanced and regular album than Monolith. It could be their beginning ofa new path. But unfortunatly the tensions between Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren would prevent that. They had completely different ideals at the time and it´s really amazing how they would still make such this album at all.

With very good tracks and using their tight musicanship to their favor, Audio Visions is a very good album that sometimes borders the excellency. Unfortunatly is much maligned and misunderstood. If you´re a Kansas fan and hear it with no prejudice you might find some forgotten gems. If you like prog rock in general, then chances are you might like it a lot. I did.

Not really essential, but still a fine record by this great band. 3,5 stars.