Best and Worst of KANSAS?

Best and Worst of KANSAS?

What albums would you say are their best and worst?

Don't know about full albums, but "Fight Fire with Fire" always was a rockin' tune. And "Carry On" was the song I got sober to. And I saw a fairly recent concert and they were talented as hell. Hmm - never thought about it before, but I guess I am a Kansas fan.

We used to cover Wayward Son back in the day, but other than that & Dust in the Wind are the only 2 Kansas songs I know.

My favorite Kansas album is Audiovisions with the song "Relentless" being my alltime favorite Kansas song.

Don't have all their albums but for the ones I have I'd say the worst IMO is Drastic Measures. While Fight Fire With Fire is an awesome song, the rest just doesn't do it for me, especially Everyone's My Friend which is a little... maybe?

For the best I'd go with toho and say Audovisions followed by Somewhere to Elsewhere (yeah it's a reunion album and not one of their classics but I love every song).

DallasBlack wrote:

Don't have all their albums but for the ones I have I'd say the worst IMO is Drastic Measures. While Fight Fire With Fire is an awesome song, the rest just doesn't do it for me, especially Everyone's My Friend which is a little... maybe?

For the best I'd go with toho and say Audovisions followed by Somewhere to Elsewhere (yeah it's a reunion album and not one of their classics but I love every song).

I like Drastic Measures! But, it is more of a Elefante Bros album than a Kansas album

thejokeriv wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Don't have all their albums but for the ones I have I'd say the worst IMO is Drastic Measures. While Fight Fire With Fire is an awesome song, the rest just doesn't do it for me, especially Everyone's My Friend which is a little... maybe?

For the best I'd go with toho and say Audovisions followed by Somewhere to Elsewhere (yeah it's a reunion album and not one of their classics but I love every song).

I like Drastic Measures! But, it is more of a Elefante Bros album than a Kansas album

I like the Elefante brothers but that album just doesn't click with me (maybe the rest of the album is overshadowed by aesome Fight Fire With Fire).

Of the two Elefante albums, Vinyl Confessions is the better one.
My favorite is Point Of No Return followed by Leftoverture. The big hits but also some great songs if you dig deeper. Freaks Of Nature is a good one two even without Livgren.

The first 5 Kansas albums are essential...perfect American Progressive Rock:

Kansas

Song For America
Masque
Leftoverture
Point Of Know Return

These are worth checking into...they have some good songs:

Monolith
Audio-Visions

The Elefante years are good, but much less Prog and more AOR/Arena Rock...still, you can't beat an Elefante hook:

Vynil Confessions
Drastic Measures

When Walsh came back w/ Steve Morse in tow, they put out a couple "just" OK albums...overall these are kinda weak, but still have some moments:

Power
In The Spirit Of Things
Freaks Of Nature (no Morse on this one)

Then they did the "let's record w/ a symphony" thing and it was pretty cool...plus a cover of "Elanor Rigby":

Always Never The Same

Then, of course, they did the reunion thing...Robby Steinhardt, Dave Hope & Kerry Livgren re-entered the picture for one album...all written by Livgren with playing done by Walsh, Ehart, Williams, Greer, and Steinhart w/ guest spots from Hope & Livgren...the reviews were mixed, but this album sounded more like early Kansas than anything they did since Monolith:

Somewhere To Elsewhere

Kansas released some very memorable songs, but I've never felt the urge to collect them. I prefer the British style of progressive rock, the style Kansas played never really gelled for me. I think their more pop-oriented songs were their strength.

"The Best Of Kansas" was always plenty for me.

Love their cover of Elenor Rigby!

detuned wrote:

Kansas released some very memorable songs, but I've never felt the urge to collect them. I prefer the British style of progressive rock, the style Kansas played never really gelled for me. I think their more pop-oriented songs were their strength.

"The Best Of Kansas" was always plenty for me.

I think songs like "Journey From Mariabronn", "Icarus: Born On Wings Of Steel", "The Spider", "Mysteries & Mayhem", "The Lightning's Hand" and their Prog material is stellar...

When I was 13 years old, I won a 24" zildjian ride cymbal in a bet from this @$$hole dating an older sister of mine. They had this bar band thing going and were jamming on some stuff in a garage down the street. He was new to the area and just joined the band. My slut sisiter had to break him in as well....anyways, the dude was having issues with some parts of "Wayward Son" and I made a comment from the peanut gallery of neighborhood hangabouts peeking in the open garage door. He caught an attitude and ran his mouth and I got behind his vintage Gretsch kit and then the band began playing...well i ended up walking home with a killer 24" ride cymbal when it was all over. I tried the same hustle with the dude on "Hair Of The Dog" but he didn't bite. Once my sister got bored with him, she made his life miserable and on down the road he went. That girl was ruthless back then.

My favorite Kansas album is "Song For America"

I have trouble with the Elephante albums ? After issues with them during one of those many Regency comps... espect the talent but.....................

detuned wrote:

Kansas released some very memorable songs, but I've never felt the urge to collect them. I prefer the British style of progressive rock, the style Kansas played never really gelled for me. I think their more pop-oriented songs were their strength.

"The Best Of Kansas" was always plenty for me.

Same here very talented band no doubt but I much preferred the British prog bands maybe I will pick up some of their albums if I see 'em dirt cheap

Leftoverture is the only kansas I own but I really like that one.

Kansas:
S/t - 8/10
Song for America 8/10
Masque 8.5/10
Leftoverture 9.5/10
Point of Know Return 8.5/10
Monolith 7.5/10
Audio-Visions 9/10
Vinyl Confessions 6.5/10
Drastic Measures 7/10
Power 7/10
In the Spirit of Things 9/10
Freaks of Nature 8/10
Always Never the Same 7/10
Somewhere to Elsewhere 8.5/10

Thats how I rate Kansas, one of my favorite bands of all time!!!!

Manny, Thrasher and Detuned:

Just give the first 5 a shot. If you don't like those, you won't like anything else they do. Those 5 albums have some monster prog, great epic ballads and a brilliant blend of melody and musicianship.

I forgot to mention, I lived in Kansas from 1979-1983, they were played on the radio ALOT during that time!

I used to have the first 3 on vinyl, I enjoyed them but they were among the albums I never upgraded to CD.

I also remember Vinyl Confessons being different, but pretty good.

Best:
Kansas - Journey Fromm Mariabronn... That's all I have to say.
Song For America - the title track and Incumudro slay.
Masque - a very dark album, Mysteries & Mayhem + The Pinnacle = Awesome!
Leftoverture - Great all around album, Opus Insert is the unsung hero on this LP
Point Of Know Return - Many great tunes here as well, Hopelessly Human is a great way to end an album.......
Monolith - This album never gets its due coming out after 2 hit albums and the rising popularity of punk and disco. Also, the first Self-Produced album... no Jeff Glixman. Angels Have Fallen and Glimpse of home are priceless...

Two For The Show - Excellent live album!!!! Hearing Magnum Opus from this album is what got me to look further into Kansas beyond the "hits". Some of these songs sound superior to the studio versions. Magnum opus being one of them, Icarus ROCKS and the musical journey from Mysteries & Mayhem to The Wall is just beautiful.


Worst:
Drastic Measures - the problem with this album is that the good songs are good and the bad songs blow!!! They are REALLY BAD! There are like 4 maybe 5 good songs everything else is just poo........Andi, Get Rich, Everybodys my friend

I generally agree that Point of Know Return and Leftoverture are really good. I like a lot of the Elefante era songs, too. Of the newer material I would say I like Power the least, that whole album just doesn't seem to have any, you know, power to it.

Glad to see some love for Kansas here! I agree with everyone who has said the first 5 are their strongest. I have all of them and spin them frequently. My older brother had Leftoverture and Point of Know return when I was growing up and I think I listened to them more than he did! This is the band that got me interested in prog. If I had to choose a single epic song, I would choose "Song For America," but there is very little I don't like. I lost interest after Vinyl Confessions. Kerry Livgren's solo album, Seeds of Change, and the first three albums with his post-Kansas band AD are also very good. Anyone heard anything from Proto-Kaw?

I have the second Proto-Kaw album and I like it quite a bit but only listen to it sparingly (when I'm in the mood). Speaking of Kansas, if you like the more poppier Kansas, you should try out Native Window featuring former members of Kansas:

http://www.nativewindow.com/

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Manny, Thrasher and Detuned:

Just give the first 5 a shot. If you don't like those, you won't like anything else they do. Those 5 albums have some monster prog, great epic ballads and a brilliant blend of melody and musicianship.

OK I added them to my list, if I see dirt cheap I will pick them up and give them more of a shot

I have the first Proto-Kaw album. Monster Prog in the vein of Van Der Graaf Generator, early jazzy King Crimson and Soft Machine. It is interesting to hear Belexes and Incommudro (which has horns instead of the later synths and violin). I quite like the first one!!!

manny wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Manny, Thrasher and Detuned:

Just give the first 5 a shot. If you don't like those, you won't like anything else they do. Those 5 albums have some monster prog, great epic ballads and a brilliant blend of melody and musicianship.

OK I added them to my list, if I see dirt cheap I will pick them up and give them more of a shot

I filled out my collection using the Amazon Marketplace and found most for less than $5 plus shipping. Of course, I was actively looking for them!