SONG FOR AMERICA

Kansas has been a band that I've always wanted to check out, but for some reason I'd never bought any of their albums aside from the greatest hits collection that my father owns. Song For America served as my introduction to this band, and I must say that I am very impressed! I'm looking forward to purchasing and reviewing some more Kansas albums in the future, as Song For America got me very interested in the band.

If you're unfamiliar with Kansas, they are (at least during this era) symphonic prog, with heavy southern blues/hard rock influence. Robbie Steinhardt's violin adds most of the southern rock influence, though some of the compositions and guitar styles hint towards the southern blues rock scene as well. Song For America consists of 6 songs, 3 of which are symphonic rock epics (Song For America, Lamplight Symphony, and Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman), and the other 3 are bluesy hard rock songs (Down The Road, Lonely Street, and The Devil Game). I tend to prefer the more symphonic prog-oriented songs (especially the title track), though all of the songs are pretty good.

I don't really have any major issues with Song For America, but I must say that it doesn't quite grab me as much as albums from the other 70's prog giants. There are some really breathtaking moments on the album, but some of the music leaves me quite cold (especially Lonely Street>). Of course, these parts are in the minority, but it is what keeps me from giving this album my highest recommendations.

The musicianship is fantastic; it's actually some of the best from the 70's. Kansas really shows their chops without showing off or overdoing it. The production is really great as well. I have no complaints whatsoever on the delivery of this album.

Conclusion:

Song For America is a classic American prog album by Kansas, and is worthy of the praise it gets, because this is a very high quality album. Even though Song For America isn't one of my favorite seventies albums, it's hard for me to deny how great this album is. For me this is a 3.5 star album, but I've got to round up considering that score is just based on my own personal taste, and not the quality of the music.

4 stars.

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