KANSAS

I might surprise a few people when I say that I've never owned a single Kansas album. The reason for that comes from my early years where these records were constantly playing in our household. So even though I know most of the band's early songs by heart, I can't really call myself a huge fan of their music. This doesn't necessarily mean that Kansas haven't recorded some excellent material back in the day. Their debut album is in fact a great example of just that!

Since I haven't heard most of these songs in years, it was a very pleasant experience revisiting this album again. I had a very vague recollection of the songs off the record but most of it came back very quickly to me. It's safe to say that the quality of compositions included on Kansas debut release is quite excellent and I would easily rank it among the band's top three best recordings.

Can I Tell You lets us know pretty early on what Kansas is all about as this upbeat album-opener serves as a great introduction to their music. Lonely Wind takes the music into a much mellower direction, which to the general audience might seem to be Kansas' natural habitat. To me, this is easily one of the band's two most accomplished ballads since it features a beautiful melody and the instrumental arrangement is spot on! I'm also very fond of the much shorter, but just as memorable, number called The Pilgrimage. It's actually the tune that I remember the most off this record just for its pure harmonic bliss.

Still, I'm sure that most progressive rock fans of this band are mainly interested in the suites and that's where the 8-minute long Journey From Mariabronn comes in and shines in all its glory. I really love the way all of this composition's different sections manage to seamlessly interact with one another while featuring one of the band's signature melodies. The two other longer suite-like compositions, titled Apercu and Death Of Mother Nature Suite, are also pretty solid even though the latter does come off sounding way too preachy at times.

Although I prefer Leftoverture and Point Of Know Return slightly over this release, the self-titled debut album from Kansas is one great debut that should not be forgotten by fans of the U.S. prog music scene!

***** star songs: Lonely Wind (4:15) Journey From Mariabronn (7:55)

**** star songs: Can I Tell You (3:31) Belexes (4:22) The Pilgrimage (3:42) Apercu (9:43) Death Of Mother Nature Suite (7:43)

*** star songs: Bringing It Back (3:33)