Kansas

AMG Review of Kansas

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

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 oogie, 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 allads that signify nothing and go nowhere. Since it's as grounded in oogie 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.