POINT OF KNOW RETURN

IMHO - and I'm not alone at this - 'Point of Know Return' is Kansas' masterpiece. The sixsome manage to keep the cohesive sound and crucial energy they had already achieved in a level of perfection on its predecessor 'Leftoverture'. But as an issue of improvement, I find that Livgren's and Walsh's writing talents are not only intact, but at times even more inspired than ever before. Not only the compositions, but the arrangements are full of stunning creativity: it was actually the only way that the more concised tracks (all of them are under 8 minutes long, with only two surpassing the 6 minute mark) managed to keep up with and fulfill the pretentious demands of symph prog, while retaining that American flavour emanated from hard rock, country and electric blues that Kansas always was in touch with. The firs two tracks are fine examples of how Kansas managed to create songs full of interesting surprises in their melody lines and rhythm patterns, without going for the extended opus format (Well, GG did the same in 'Octopus', right?, and so did JT in 'War Child'...). The namesake opener is both joyful and clever, making a true statement of pleasant prog-country rock; 'Paradox' is an exercise on "hardened Gentle Giant" with a pertinent American-style rocking dose. Then comes the ELP-ish two minute pyrotechnical instrumental 'The Spider', which is a fiery tour-de- force that burns at white hot level: Walsh reaches one of his undisputable peaks as a composer here, also performing wild progressions and leads on organ, piano and synth i nalternating dialogues with the guitar and violin. The rhythm duo performs on a humanly impossible level as well. This track serves actually as an intro to 'Portrait', a catchy blues-oriented rock piece, that ends in a breathtaking climax (something that they would work out further on live renditions). Another burning track is the explosive 'Lightning's Hand' - a prog metal number "before its time" -, while in contrast, the prize for the most compelling manifesto of melancholy goes to 'Nobody's Home', a symphonic ballad concerning the fate of humankind and the palnet we live in. On this one, Steinhardt makes his violin literally mourn with all the amount of sadness that a human heart can hold. I've heard it many times since I first purchased this record, and I still cannot believe how a t hing can sound so full of human grief (... but it's real). 'Hopelessly Human' is one of the two opuses, dealing with Livgren's spiritual quests for essential truths (he was on the brink of becoming a Christian, but not yet...); but my fave opus is the other one, 'Closet Chronicles', which is more somber and dynamic, and shows the band's cohesiveness at its tightest level in this album. 'Sparks of the Tempest' is another hard rock tune, with a slight funky twist a-la Bolin-era Deep Purple, while 'Dust in the Wind'... well, who doesn't know this timeless beautiful acoustic ballad? Their most relevant commercial hit has been consistently mentioned by recurrent Kansas revilers who label them as a mere AOR band who could play prog now and then. All in all, Kansas don't have to apologize for having a worldwide hit single in their career nor for emphasizing the rock aspect of prog, and I certainly am not in position of doing that job for them either. I just enjoy 'Dust in the Wind' as what it is, a beautiful acoustic ballad... and I as well enjoy 'Point of Know Return' as a North American top achievement in the prog genre.