Kansas
Leftoverture

THE REVIEW

Reviewing an album like this is difficult. How can we ignore "Carry On Wayward Son," a true anthem, which has gone down in history as the most famous and representative of the band, even if I don't consider it the best. Secondly, because when an album "captures" you like this one, it's hard to maintain objectivity without being swept away by enthusiasm. Lastly, describing it by labeling, comparing, and noting similarities and resonances is reductive, futile, and in a certain way offensive, especially when we're talking about a group like this and an album that made history across the ocean: quadruple platinum album, not just pizza and figs!

Every time I listen to it, I have the same feelings. It is liberating, airy, lively, and a bit pissed off: it's like getting into a car at dawn and driving for miles and miles through unknown landscapes, without thoughts, leaving worries behind, a true great escape indeed. Steve Walsh accompanies us on this journey, with his voice that effortlessly reaches unreachable pitches, always remaining clear, clean, sharp, never strained, with no faltering or smudges. The music is a powerful, rounded rock, never out of line. Each track has its own story, although the overall result is homogeneity. The influences are too many, and perhaps they will also influence, with this one, the works of those who will follow in the years to come, like Journey, Boston, REO Speedwagon. Certainly, there is much of the British progressive tradition fused with that of the American on-the-road rock, although in this, which is our fourth work, the former is less marked to give more space to the latter.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the only sin committed was placing Robby Steinhardt's violin, which represents the trademark of Kansas (brief digression: if you see him in today's photos, he looks exactly the same as thirty years ago, with a beard-hair blend that makes him resemble an ogre!), in the background. The tracks are a slow, gradual crescendo without ever overdoing it, following a precise line dictated by the right calibration of times and rhythms, until reaching "Cheyenne Anthem," for me the best piece of the whole CD. It's a choral performance, sometimes masterful, in which there is ample room for everyone; the speed, in almost seven minutes, changes multiple times: accelerations, slowdowns, even making the melody pass through what seems like the notes of a children's TV program theme. A piano arpeggio from a classical music piece and here we are at the end, in the most classic prog style. "Magnum Opus" is the grand finale, almost entirely instrumental, a classic closing piece, where more than quality we find the creativity and solos of the individual musicians, all in one breath with glimpses of good pre-literal hard rock.

What is missing is the speaker announcing the lineup, so it truly seems like a live performance. Because this is truly a show. Some may find it exaggerated, but I think it's among those albums that you absolutely must have, at least if you want to truly understand what music was in 1976 and beyond. And not only...