NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE (A PROG OPERA)

Bless Robbie's heart! It was good that he released this before his death. Don Kirchner and his agents signed Kansas because of the hairy violin player and his mix into a rock band sound. Kansas are the pinnacles of American prog rock. I fell in love with the very first album and while Kerry Livgren's songs shaped most of the structure, Steve Walsh's contributions in the early days were essential and Steinhardt was involved in some of the writing on longer group compositions.

This album stunned me in that the songwriting is very reminiscent of Kansas in many ways and I am not talking about Prelude and Dust In the Wind though they are both done very well as a nod to his roots. The title song is a crack up with the weird little people talking but the instrumentation is awesome. So many tracks catch a listener and instead of me saying "I could see that coming" the songs take twists and turns I did not expect which in many ways is a good sign of talented songwriting and playing.

He pulled in some great talent on this. The great guitarist Pat Travers was who I would have least expected and Patrick Moraz on keys combined with Ian Anderson and Steve Morse. Overall I was very impressed with the album. My only complaint is some of the songs are based on the old 60's environmental and peace train thing. Yes we all want peace and we want to take care of the earth god gave us but thee themes have been overplayed over the decades.

Still, a great album and I would recommend anyone who likes the older Kansas will like this one.