The third album from Topeka band, Kansas. They tried extremely hard on this LP to keep up with their British prog. contemporaries. Long, drawn out tunes; only 6 total. Heavy on synth and orchestration. They use odd time signatures and bob in out of movements within the songs. It is an ambitious album and has it's moments, but it pales in comparison to other progressive bands that surrounded them.
It's strong when the band adeptly moves from synth driven interludes to boogie rock. The 1st track, "Down the Road" is intense and to be cliche, "rocks." Other parts of the album "rock" as well, the 1st track of side 2, "Lonely Street" deserves mention as does "The Devil's Game." The final track also contains some insane drumming, that's cool. However, even in those mentioned tracks most the album meanders around and can become exhausting to listen to. Many of the bands fans will argue this is the band's crowning achievement. The sweeping arrangements and time signatures make it their most "progressive" album and it's easy to get swept up in all the studio perfection. But, if you look past all the smoke and mirrors, it's really just sub-par prog LP with nice moments.
Down the Road
The Devil's Game
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