DRASTIC MEASURES

By the time, Steve Walsh was long gone and Robbie Steindhart had just given up. Kerry Livgren was still there but is credited for only three songs, leaving the writing field to John and Dino Elefante. In result, as expected, you won't find much bond to prog music here. Just popular music, most often for the worst.

The aforementioned Livgren songs save the album from complete disaster. "End of The Age" is the only prog-related song, sounding like classic Kansas but not at its best. "Incident on a Bridge", at the opposite, sounds nothing like Kansas but is still a good AOR song. "Mainstream" is a straight rocker that, considering Livgren's religious belief, can be seen as a confession of his own sin : "For the masses in Consumerland, give'em everything they demand [.] We're in business, what else is it for ?". That says it all.

Other than that, you get some good ideas here and there -intros and verses from "Get Rich" or "Don't Take Your Love Away"- invariably ruined but terrible choruses and exasperating choirs. I don't know what guys like Phil Ehart or Rich Williams were thinking while recording songs like "Going Trough The Motions" just four years after Monolith but it must have been painful.

Can we still call it a Kansas album ? The cover gives the answer : no member of the band shows up . 2 tiny stars.

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