THE BEST OF KANSAS (1999)

Due to lack of money, and the relative rareness of Kansas in Australia (No one likes Kansas in Australia unfortunately), the 1999 version of "The Best of Kansas" was my only album by the band for a long while. I have only very recently acquired some of their other albums through imports, though luckily I was able to find 'Song For America' easily. So as you can imagine I have listened to this album many times, and it has been a great source of enjoyment against the backdrop of a dreary day. The album was remasterd in 1999 and in the CD booklet there is a quote from the band, "With the Inclusion of The Pinnacle, The Devil Game and Closet Chronicles, we feel that this is truly our best." This quote leads me to believe that this collection is the band's idea of their best songs. It's strange because many of the songs on the album couldn't necessarily be considered to be their best works. So now I'm beginning to think that the band's idea of their best songs is different to that of you or me, interesting perspectives.

Of course, no Kansas best of album go without "Carry on Wayward Son" or "Dust in the wind." As usual a couple of the songs have been cut short slightly, but in these cases it isn't a major loss. Because of the sheer enjoyment I've received from listening to this album both in the past, and now today, for me it is worthy of a three star rating. Just to clarify, "The Best of Kansas" was remasterd in 1999 and three additional songs were included, The Pinnacle "The Pinnacle", "The Devil Game" and "Closet Chronicles." The CD also included slightly different packaging and a Mimi fold-out poster of some of the band's best albums. Excellent addition to any prog music collection