 |  | OK 80's rock album, but not good Kansas |  |
If you listen to this album without knowing it is Kansas, it's an alright piece of 80's rock. However, it is one of the worst albums Kansas ever made (the two studio efforts that followed are the only ones worse).
1983's Drastic Measures (which wasn't particularly good either, but had some high points) was the last Kansas album before they disbanded. Walsh reformed the group in 1986 with a different lineup and, glaringly, without Livgren and his songs.
If you were to make a list of the top 15 best Kansas songs and the bottom 15 worst Kansas songs, very few, if any, Walsh written songs would make the top 15 and, likely, the bottom 15 would be filled with songs he penned. While Walsh did surprisingly well writing for Power, it's still not good enough to recapture the traditional Kansas sound. In other words, the album just doesn't sound like Kansas. And I think the concept of Kansas would have been better off had Walsh and company given their "new" band a different name.
Finally, the song Three Pretenders is a very low blow to Livgren, Hope and Elefante and completely unnecessary. I can't stand this song at all because Livgren and Hope are so important to the history of Kansas and to stab them in the back like this on an album with the name Kansas on the cover makes me sick.
Bottom line: not bad for the 80's, not good for Kansas.
March 29, 2008 | | Kansas - Steve Walsh And Steve Morse Together With Excellent Results | |
Kansas for all practical purposes disbanded in 1984. After spending several years in the band Streets, original vocalist / keyboardist Steve Walsh decided to come back to the fold and a new Kansas was born. Original members Walsh, Guitarist Rich Williams, and drummer Phil Eheart were augmented by bassist Billy Greer and legendary guitarist Steve Morse. For me "Power" is one of Kansas most underrated albums. I have always really liked it, and I think it still holds up well today. With Kerry Livgren out of the picture Kansas had definitely become Steve Walsh's band and it is reflected in the overall heavier writing style that Walsh had been using in Streets. Steve Morse absolutely kills on guitar throughout the album and the rest of the band is all in fine form. Most of the songs are short, but they are all well written, and band does throw in a progressive rock bone with the great little instrumental "Musicatto". "All I Wanted" was the single from the album that actually cracked the top 20 and got a lot of MTV airplay. Still, the album did not sell all that well and the second single "Can't Cry Anymore" charted briefly and then dropped out of sight. Speaking of "Cant Cry Anymore" this is another one of those songs that came along at a perfect time in my life. I was going through the breakup of a relationship and could have literally written the lyrics for this one myself. It is a great power ballad that really shows off Walsh's voice. Really, I think every song on this album is good and to me this is a must own Kansas disc, and was a great artistic comeback for the band at the time.
June 27, 2007This album saw Kansas change there lineup. The addition of Steve Morse gave them one hell of an axeman. Listen to the solo at the end of Track 1, Silouettes in Disguise and you'll see what I mean. Most early Kansas albums had a couple of tracks that were listenable but the remainder of the album would contain songs that were too long and would make the listener lose interest. With this album they only did it once. It is an album that is more mainstream rock with Kansas' edge. I believe this to be their best album, yet when you see any compilation albums, this material is left off. Too bad. Bottom line though...Do yourself a favor and get this album and you won't be disappointed. I wore the cassette out when this was first released in the mid-80's and was pleased to finally see it on CD.
April 28, 2007However, this is actually an attempt to merge band members from Chicago, and Survivor into Kansas....well that's how I heard it anyway. Kansas is just one of those bands that sound the way they want to sound. I mean I heard some of thier earlier material before "Point Of No Return", and it passed easily as an earlier rendition of the sound on this album. I enjoyed most of this album as it kicks off appropriately with "Silohuettes In Disguise" a fast moving song that just gets the blood flowing, and could be a good way to kick off thier concert. The title cut follows, and from there the direction gets askewed, and then comes the power ballad "All I Wanted". The haunting memories of this song take me back to Monday January 5th, 1987, and I got ridiculed by my mother again. I made a mistake, and she gets all over me for not thinking, and all the while this song's playing on my stereo. It was a bad time for me as I was still out of school with no job, and coming off a horrendous semester in college, so I know I was at a low in the self-esteem department, and I look back, and ask myself: Why didn't I look for a job then?" I just sat there, and took it all in, and now I have to free this from my soul. The long weekends as I had no money, no car, no nothing except sitting in my room. I have many regrets not having done this back then; I ask myself "Why didn't I just face my fear, and take it upon myself to look for work?" I know that it's something I can't do anymore; I have a little boy depending upon me, and I have to deliver. I leave this almost 20 year old memory where it belongs right here. The rest of this album is more of the same, and to me it's about average for the music that was coming out at this time. I will say though it was one of the better albums that came out in 1986, and for me that's saying alot.
October 8, 2006 | | A breath of fresh air in 1986 | |
After the decidedly un-Kansas "Drastic Measures", Kansas called it a day.
For a while, Steve Walsh played side-stage keyboards for Cheap Trick after the split-up of his under-rated band, Streets, who were more straight-ahead rock than Kansas.
When this album came out, I was sceptical since I didn't care much for the final Kansas 1982-83 output.
However, after hearing the album, I was very pleasantly surprised. The songs are written well, former Streets bassist Billy Greer (a Walsh sidekick to this day) slotted nicely into Dave Hope's bass position, and Richard Williams and Phil Ehart were back. A real treat was former Dixie Dregs and current Deep Purple virtuoso Steve Morse on guitar.
There were excellent songs like "Silhouettes In Disguise", "Dust In The Wind" soundalike "Taking In The View" and "Tomb 19". These were more akin to Streets than classic Kansas, however. On the negative side, "All I Wanted" and "Can't Cry Anymore" sounded too slickly tailor-made for mid-80's US radio play. Deduct half a star.
Mostly good to this point. But there was something missing...
NO VIOLIN. Robby Steinhardt was glaringly absent for both "Power" and "In The Spirit Of Things", though David Ragsdale came aboard for live dates and later recording and did an admirable job before Steinhardt rejoined in the late '90s. For a band whose distinctive sound depended so much on the violin/keyboard/guitar interplay, the lack of violin left a definite void. Deduct another half-star.
Don't let that stop you from buying this, though. As I've said, the songs are mostly very good, and without the tension between Walsh and Kerry Livgren, the sound is quite cohesive.
I've seen the band live three times since this reformation, and they've never disappointed. These songs sound even better live than in the studio, as later live discs will attest.
November 4, 2005More reviews at Amazon.com ...
