Song For America - Kansas
1975 - Kirshner(Canada) LP
- Kerry Livgren / guitars, keyboards, vocals
- Steve Walsh / vocals, keyboards
- Robbie Steinhardt / vocals, violin
- Rich Williams / guitars
- Dave Hope / bass, vocals
- Phil Ehart / drums
1. Down The Road
2. Song For America
3. Lamplight Symphony
4. Lonely Street
5. The Devil Game
6. Incomudro/Hymn To The Atman
Kansas' first two recordings, their self-titled debut from 1974 and 'Song For America (1975) somewhat embodies the midwest mainstreet of small town rural America with an earthy authenticity of blue collar boogie stomp, southern hard rock and symphonic prog. The second album has basically the same structure and substance of their eponymous album but with more of that massive American sounding melodic hard rock with grand vocal harmonies and heavier progressive passages of the virtuoso instrumental interplay between the guitars, violin, keys and even the rhythm section, especially in the three epics tracks, "Song For America", "Lamplight Symphony" and "Incomudro/Hymn To The Atman" that propel and prosper these three polished prog songs. Original and down to earth.
The three shorter tracks, "Down The Road", "Lonely Street" and "The Devil Game" are Steve Walsh's prog heavy blues-rock compositions which contrasts the style of Kerry Livgren's extended complex grand arrangements with his creative hook-crooked time sig shifts. Surely "Song For America" was Kansas' first classic song but sadly would be later overshadowed by their MOR/AOR hits. The title track has tremendous tempo changes with subdued romantic keyboards and velvety violin lines prompted by breaks of interludes and mighty melodies of synths and strings with a rolling thunder rhythm of bass and drums. The ghostly, grim and grandeur of "Lamplight Symphony" is beautifully and darkly dramatically designed revelled in sparkling piano runs and stings with frenetic fiddling and scorching synth solos and is crowned by the over-the-top, bitter sweet vocals. The intro of "Incomudro/Hymn To The Atman" is mushy and melodramatic but eventually bursts into ******** solos from the keys and violin and then about the halfway point of the track a heavy, almost unbearable drum solo sets in and shortly (thankfully) expires into a suspenseful guitar solo accompanied by a rapid jubilent keyboard. Excessive but well excuted.
'Song For America' is well rounded and grounded. Subsequent releases, especially 'Leftoverture' and 'Point Of Know Return' hears the band browbeating, over-pompously and bomb-bastically trying to blast their UK symphonic prog contemporaries to smithereens and were also armed and augmented with their FM formulated top 40 hits, "Carry On Wayward Son", "Dust In The Wind" and "Point Of Know Return" which in turn aided in the claim by some that Kansas is/was the "greatest" American prog band of the '70's...Really?...Compared to whom?...Starcastle, Cathedral, Yezda Urfa, Styx and...ummm...hmmm. (lol)
Rating: 3/5