KANSAS

Kansas' self-titled debut is one of their best releases in my opinion. It shows their strong radio country rock song writing tendencies, but improved with fitting fiddling and sophisticated vocal melodies. All of the musicianship on this album shines through wonderfully, and the feel of the album is definitely of the down-south sort. I've never been a fan of southern rock by any means, but I've always felt that Kansas was the one band that could do it right. The absolute best track on this album and a classic among Kansas' more progressive work is "Journey from Mariabronn", which features melodic violin lines and beautiful piano throughout. The whole track is fast paced and energetic, and they feeling of a journey definitely comes through. Anyone who is a fan of the more radio friendly sounding progressive rock from southern America should find this album appealing if they don't already know about it.