Song for America [Import]

Most people, like myself, discover Song For America after their exposure to Kansas' more mainstream material and are blown away by what they hear. So much of this album defines what 1970s anthem rock was all about. Sweeping instrumental virtuosity and lyrics that critics call pompous, historians call quaint, and I call just plain perfection. Oh to have material like this these days!

Down the road rips the foam fronting off speakers and belies the power of Kansas in concert. The title cut, Song For America remains a Kansas standard to this day. Lamplight Symphony is the pure Kansas excess that I just eat up. The imagery of the lonely spouse who gains solace by seeing his wife's apparition is laid down perfectly. Lyrics aren't wasted and the instrumental bridge is wonderful. It remained a part of Kansas's concert playlist for years.

Lonely street demonstrates the breadth of Kansas' accomplishment. Its a bluesy tune (formerly called 11/8) that is one of the most unique Kansas tunes. I know of no other song in their catalog that explores the blues to quite this degree.

Devil Game is the only song that misses the mark, too much repetition, lack of characteristic Kansas depth (devotees of this album and Walsh's material will flame me on this assessment, I'm sure). But it does set us up nicely for what's to follow . . .

Incommudro remains one of my favorite Kansas songs - best of this album. Each member gets to showcase on this tune, particularly Ehart the drummer who shows his Peartish virtuosity and his King Crimson roots. This song is over-the-top. Its full of the excess that critics of the era hate but equally full of the nuances of the genre that I love.

Newbies, get Leftoverture first, then when you're ready, dive into Song for America

Many of us Kansas fans were probably frantically worrying when Kansas' first two albums -- 1974's s/t debut, and 1975's _Song For America_ -- would get the remastering treatment, since such other classics as 1975's _Masque_, 1976's _Leftoverture_ and 1977's _Point of Know Return_ had already gotten their shares. Well, we are finally able to put our worries to rest, as _Song For America_ is *finally* here in all it's remastered, and expanded glory. And, like the other remastered editions, there are bonus tracks; of particular interest is the exciting, rocking live version of "Down The Road", which is packed with so much infectious energy, it'll be hard to sit still.

This album has always been a sentimental favorite, and I only seem to enjoy it more and more as time goes on. The album seems to be divided into two conceptual halves: three elongated progressive rock tracks, showcasing the *prog* side of Kansas, and the other three tracks showcasing Kansas' earthy heartland rock, blues and boogie elements. "Down The Road" is a tasty, boogie-filled foot-stomper featuring violin scrapes that recall country music. An excellent opener to the album. The title track, to me, is far beyond brilliant, and shows Kansas at their most compositionally insightful. It contains all of the elements - and then some - to make an engrossing, enjoyable piece of music. Perfect and emotive vocal harmonies, brilliant arrangements, thoughtful lyrics, melody, convincing anthemic/dramatic attributes, which refrain from coming across as silly -- it's a 10. Everything just seems perfect: not a wasted note, no unnecessary meandering or imbalances. Even the quirky, yet powerful 9/8 instrumental section near the end of the song avoids sounding indulgent. This title track deserves all of the praise it gets - the kind of song in which it's power will still stand even after everything else has faded away. "Lamplight Symphony" is beautiful, lush and poignant. The lyrics concerning a man yearning for his deceased wife have been critcized for being corny, and I can understand that. But, in the end, it's the powerful musicianship that matters. I especially love the overlapping of (orchestral: synthesizer) ascending and descending phrases on this track: contrapuntal lines that could be on the level of those found in classical music. Gives the track extra doses of power and drama.

"Lonely Street" is a fascinating blues study in 11/8. Odd-timed and atypical (for blues), the guitar crunch on the verses exude an utterly menacing tone (to match that of the dark lyrics), while Steve Walsh's vocals plow along mysteriously, before he reaches this passionate climax near the end of the song. Overwhelming stuff. "The Devil Game" is excellent, as it reminds me of the kind of song that would be found on MASQUE ("Mysteries and Mayhem" comes to mind) and later albums - therefore reminding me of the *condensed brilliance* Kansas would show more of on later albums. A hard song to describe, sonically speaking, it's a condensed hard rocker, but contains enough complexity to remind one of the *classic* progressive rock attributes. "Incomudro - Hymn to The Atman" is a 12-minute mystical study. 80% of the track is instrumental featuring ethereal and encircling synthesizer textures, brief vocal parts, which at times sound like they are emerging from underwater, and later, a machine-gun drum solo from Phil Ehart. While this track is very compelling on it's own, the unissued live version found on THE KANSAS BOXED SET is an even more exciting listen. The drum solo is extended, and the passionate ending even lasts longer - and the musicianship is crisp, clean, clear, and the band doesn't miss a beat on that 16-minute blast of nirvana. Nevertheless, both are strong, and each have redeeming value on their own terms. I feel blessed having both versions, as I feel both are necessities (for me, anyway.)

Kansas are brilliant musicians in my book, and this album does not disappoint. It shows just one of the many facets this band possesses.

"Song For America" is the second album from the masters of American Progressive rock, Kansas. Although this was only their second album, the band had already established themselves as a solid live act and had delivered an impressive self-titled debut album which still ranks among their finest work. With "Song For America", the band successfully fused their tight hard rock sound with a decidedly more epic approach. Two of the album's shorter tracks, the opener "Down The Road" and "Lonely Street" display a heavy dose of bluesy bar-band boogie while "The Devil Game" is a short but musically complex piece with strong band interplay, odd time signatures and lyrics that are openly anti-satanic.

The album's three remaining pieces rank among the very best of Kansas's long epic pieces. All three were soley penned by bandleader/guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren and feature some of his finest compositional structure and arrangement work. The 10-minute title track pays homage to the beauty America and combines complex time signatures and dynamic musical themes with simple pop-rock melodic structures. The 8-minute "Lamplight Symphony" is a heavily keyboard-based piece and displays tightly arranged orchestrations alongside impressive vocal work from Steve Walsh and violinist Robby Steinhardt. The 12-minute "Incommurdo" is the oldest piece on the album dating back to 1971-72 (the original recording is on the excellent Kansas demo compilation "Proto-Kaw"). It is also the longest piece recorded by the classic Kansas line-up. The band's solid musicianship is displayed at its fullest here complete with Livgren's dramatic keyboard orchestrations and stunning lead guitar work, Steve Walsh's passionate vocals and Phil Ehart's powerhouse drum feature. The piece's lyrics are interesting in the fact that Livgren was still on a spiritual quest at the time of this song's writing and recording. Its subject matter dealing with philosophies of Eastern religion and Buddhist principles (again, this was roughly five years before Livgren embraced the born-again Christian faith).

On the expanded remastered version, there are two bonus tracks. One being a three-minute 'single edit' version of the title track. The other being a solid 1975 live version of "Down The Road" showing Kansas rocking hard with the pedal to the metal. The remastered sound quality is a revelation compared to the previous CD issue displaying full depth and clarity to the music. The booklet includes a newly written essay featuring commentary from several Kansas band members as well as providing an insight into the making of the album.

After 29 years, "Song For America" remains one of Kansas's greatest albums. The expanded remastered version is so fresh-sounding, it makes it worth buying the album all over again. With its solid rock numbers and progressive epics, the album is an excellent demonstration of the many musical trademarks of the band. From here, Kansas continued to improve and refine their sound paving the way for superstardom that was to come only less than two years later.

A highly recommended Progressive Masterpiece!!