Kansas stood apart from their peers, since they were an American band that dared play on the epic scale of such English art rockers as Genesis.
Consequently, Kansas is a truly weird hybrid of British pomp, doggedly artistic concept, and arena boogie, all served up with more violin than there is flute on a Jethro Tull album.
It's hard not to admire their blatant ambition in one sense, since few bands try as hard as Kansas do here.
Still, there're a lot of scales and arpeggios, galloping triplets, dramatic organ, and stately ballads that signify nothing and go nowhere.
Since it's as grounded in boogie as it is in art, the group never gets as weird as their more interesting counterparts, but that reliance on arena rock does make them unique.
But uniqueness isn't the same as good, or even interesting listening, even if Kansas remains a period piece like no other.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Can I Tell YouPhil Ehart, Dave Hope, Steve Walsh, R. Williams, Rich Williams | Kansas | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | Bringing It BackJ.J. Cale | Kansas | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 3 | Lonely WindSteve Walsh | Kansas | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | BelexesKerry Livgren | Kansas | Play | 04:23 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | Journey from MariabronnKerry Livgren, Steve Walsh | Kansas | Play | 07:55 | 18 MB | 47 MB |
| 6 | The PilgrimageKerry Livgren, Steve Walsh | Kansas | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 7 | ApercuKerry Livgren, Steve Walsh | Kansas | Play | 09:43 | 22 MB | 57 MB |
| 8 | Death of Mother Nature SuiteKerry Livgren | Kansas | Play | 07:43 | 17 MB | 45 MB |
| 44 mins | 102 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 260 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.J. Cale | Composer |
| 2 | Phil Ehart | Composer, Drums |
| 3 | Wally Gold | Producer |
| 4 | Dave Hope | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Bass), Vocals |
| 5 | Kansas | Primary Artist |
| 6 | Kerry Livgren | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Moog Synthesizer, Organ, Piano, Vocals |
| 7 | Robby Steinhardt | Violin, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 8 | Dan Turbeville | Engineer |
| 9 | Steve Walsh | Composer, Congas, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Vocal Harmony, Vocals |
| 10 | R. Williams | Composer |
| 11 | Rich Williams | Composer, Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |