SONG FOR AMERICA

One of the most interesting things about this album is way the style alternates between songs. Walsh and Livgren have very different sounds, which are excentuated on this album by the way they each write their own songs, then mix them together on the album. This albums jumps back and forth between Walsh's boogie rock and Livgren's hardcore prog. It makes this certainly one of the most unique albums in prog and one of the most interesting from this band.

It kicks off with Down The Road, the only song that Walsh and Livgren wrote together, though it reflects Walsh's style almost entirely. For a while, I thought that Walsh had written it by himself. It is a very strong boogie rock track, and one of their better ones. Though their boogie rock is generally a weak spot, in my opinion, I rather enjoy this song. It's an excellent opener.

This is where things get really interesting. Pace switches dramatically from Down The Road to Song For America, one of the band's most definatively prog tracks. This is one of Kansas's masterpeices and an absolute must for prog fans.

Lamplight Symphony is a relatively unknown track, but is one my very favorite Kansas songs. One of Livgren's fantastic works; symphonic and brilliant. The exceptional lyrics are some of the most interesting Livgren ever worte, describing a man's haunting experience of seeing the apparition of his deceased wife. Fantastic vocals from Walsh.

Lonely Street is another Walsh song (though many other band members pitch in) talking about roads. It is not as centered around boogie rock as the first track, but is more hard rock. Some excellent guitar on here.

The Devil Game is Walsh again, though it has a more prog style than his other two tracks. There is violin reminiscent of the title track, but the sounds surrounding it are more intense. The sound of this song is definately centered around hard rock, though.

For the finale, we turn it back over to Livgren for Incomudro - Hymn To The Atman. This is a 12 minute prog spectacular. Another masterpeice. Wonderfully symphonic. Also features one of my favorite drum solos by any drummer. One Kansas's best (and most prog) songs. A fantastic work.

Originally, this was one of my least favorite Kansas albums. You see, back when I got this, I was not nearly as in to prog as I am now (I probably didn't even know what it was then). It is only now that I have become a prog enthusiast that I can truely appreciate how wonderful this album is. This would be a definate 5 star album if not for one thing: three of these songs are not actually prog. While these songs make up less than 1/3 of the album as far as actual time goes, they cannot be ignored. Despite the fact that they are very good, in my opinion, they do bring the rating down because they do not belong in an album that is considered a "masterpeice of progressive music." However, these songs aside, you are left with 30 minutes of fantastic prog rock. Song For America, Lamplight Symphony, and Incomudro are absolute essential tracks that every prog fans needs. As I have seen some people here say: this album is 4.5 stars, really.