Roby86

Great review Green, with very interesting content: it's not a novelty that western films are overloaded with various clichés ("Cowboy=good, Indian=bad")... therefore I'm really interested to listen to this track to see what the natives being reviewed are up to. In the meantime, here’s a 5 for you!

In my opinion, it's the worst Genesis album, really flat and lacking in excitement... only the pleasant instrumental "The Brazilian" and the commendable mini-suite "Domino" raise the average a bit. Even "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" isn't completely trash. The rest is definitely forgettable.

@MAH!... I absolutely have to agree with you on Audio-Visions, as I also consider it a really well-made album. If you liked it, I recommend the previous "Monolith," which is quite similar (by the way, there's a review here on DeB, also by pier_paolo_farina). "Drastic Measures" doesn't convince me much, though... except for the stunning "Fight Fire With Fire" and "Mainstream," I think it's the most lackluster of the Kansas albums. - "Power," compared to the two you mentioned, is much harder... a very solid hard/AOR. If you're interested, check it out here on YouTube: --- www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6SFFCZ9Bo --- This is "Silhouettes In Disguise"... in my opinion, one of the best on the album. Let me know what you think!

* a typo in the previous comment: I meant to write "House On Fire".

Let's start with the review: excellent as always PierPaolo, maximum rating (as always, I would say, by now!). Now, onto the album... first of all, a thank you to Green Manalishi for naming me the official Kansas expert, ahahah! I find it to be a fairly convincing album, even if a bit inconsistent. It alternates between tracks that are absolute gems, like "House Of Fire" and "The Bells Of Saint James" (the first of which could easily rank among the best of Kansas), to others that are decidedly mundane and/or sugary. Overall, it's not bad at all (rating: 3 and a half stars)... it also conveys a good amount of pathos, particularly thanks to the massive presence of choirs with almost gospel tones. - I definitely prefer its predecessor "Power," though... even though it’s not a concept album (and the lyrics are logically much more light-hearted), I find it musically much more powerful and engaging compared to "In The Spirit Of Things."

In my opinion, "Abacab" is, all in all, a good pop-rock album. The title track is definitely well-crafted, both in the first part and in the instrumental outro. Another highlight of the album is "Dodo/Lurker," where we find Collins in great shape. "Another Record" and "Keep It Dark" are also enjoyable. As I mentioned in the review of "Genesis," I must emphasize the wonderful work done on the new 2007 mix.

In my opinion, it's an excellent album, underrated by many people. Inside, there's one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite by the Stones, which is "2000 Light Years From Home." "She's A Rainbow" and "Citadel" are also great (from which Simple Minds will draw heavily to compose "Changeling")... anyway, almost the whole album stays at a high standard.

I miss this album... great review, as always!

Since "Abacab" has been mentioned... for those interested, I would like to point out the excellent SACD version that was released recently, featuring the new mixing. With Collins' drums re-equalized (and brought strongly to the forefront), it sounds quite impressive... almost better than the original version. - By the way, unfortunately, "Abacab" and "Duke" seem to be the only two post-Gabriel albums that have come out well from this type of treatment... "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind & Wuthering" were, on the other hand, quite massacred.

I confirm the comment I left on the penultimate review of "Genesis"... the album, in my opinion, is decent (the rating would be 2 stars and 1/2). "Mama" is wonderful in the pop/rock context, and "Home By The Sea/Second Home By Sea" holds its own excellently. The real problem is the rest: it goes from decent ("Silver Rainbow") to terrible ("Illegal Alien"... compared to which even a song like "Who Dunnit" would seem acceptable).