Kansas - Ultimate Kansas

26-track retrospective on 2 CDs containing their biggest hits, fan favorites & live tracks. The Ultimate Kansas is the most comprehensive overview of these American prog-rock pioneers. 2002. Album Description

Great Choices!!!

This must be the best collection you ever get from Kansas! There's two CDs. The first CD has the best songs from the years 1974-1976 the second CD has the best songs from the years 1977-1983 (+ Cheyenne Anthem). I think they have made great choices! I would have chosen the same songs! There's the great Kansas years. Kansas made music after the year 1983 too but these are the greatest years..."Dust in the Wind", "Carry on Warward Son" and the other great songs. If you are planning to buy a Kansas collection, this is the perfect one!
Stars: Point of Know Return, Carry on Wayward Son, Child of Innocence, Dust in the Wind, Death of Mother Nature Suite September 5, 2008

This is where it all began for me

Actually, that's technically not true. My first actual Kansas disc was a Christmas gift (it was a live CD, which I didn't like). I then went out and bought Leftoverture for "Carry On Wayward Son" (yes, I admit I was attracted to this truly overplayed song at one point). At that point I was left with a quandary: I really like "Point Of Know Return," but since it obviously wasn't on Leftoverture, I had to get it elsewhere. Another song which appealed to me was "Dust In The Wind." I was not particularly interested in the band, so I decided I would just buy the Kansas Greatest Hits collection and be done with it. Unfortunately, the venue to which I went to purchase this item (Virgin Records in Chicago) didn't have it. They had Point Of Know Return and The Ultimate Kansas. Seeing as the two songs I listed were both on Point Of Know Return, it all could have ended there. But I also wanted "Play The Game Tonight" (Vinyl Confessions, 1982), so I decided to spring the extra money and go for The Ultimate Kansas. It's the best decision I have ever made.

This compilation introduced me to the wonderful world of progressive Kansas. Believe me, "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust In The Wind" are NOTHING like the rest of the band's music. People always judge this band upon these two songs; Kansas is actually highly progressive in nature, contrary to the AOR label which has been fixed to the band. Yes, this compilation served its purpose when I first bought it.

And after that is just sat on the CD rack for about a year, untouched and forgotten. I was a bit guilty I had spent so much money for so few songs, and I resolved to forget that folly. All would change in May 2005.

By chance, "Paradox" (Point Of Know Return, 1977) came on my LAUNCHcast radio station, and I searched for the song on The Ultimate Kansas. Incidentally, that one's not there, so on a whim I tried other songs which began with "P." The first one was "The Pinnacle," which I immediately liked. I tried the other songs from Masque (1975) and realized I liked them as well. That evening, I listened to the entire first disc, end-to-end. I ended up liking almost every song there.

The second disc saw the advent of the Point Of Know Return cuts. I was particularly attracted to all these; in fact, the extreme minority of tracks were ones which I disliked. Kansas, which I had always considered marginal, shot all the way up to the hallowed ground of my second-favorite band of all time (it remains there to this day). And it's all due to this compilation.

The Ultimate Kansas has spurred me seek out several of the albums represented. One of these--Point Of Know Return--has just recently become the first Kansas album I had bought since Leftoverture.

Seeing as I am reviewing a compilation CD, I'll assume most of the people who are looking at this disc will be less-than-die-hard Kansas fans. To this effect, I assure you this will transform upon giving the tracks assembled here a fair listening. There will be at least one album (if not two or three) which you will want to buy after listening through this compilation. In this, this compilation serves as a really good window into just what Kansas was all about.

The recording quality of these tracks is very good. The Ultimate Kansas is compiled from the new remasters, so its sound is superior to earlier releases. In addition, it is more comprehensive than any collection except for the 1994 Kansas box set or the Sail On: The 30th Anniversery Collection 1974-2004 box. All in all, The Ultimate Kansas offers a very good collection of Kansas's greatest hits, as well as some of the more obscure progressive tracks. I could point out a song here or a song there which is not featured on this compilation, but then, that's why the individual albums have been remastered. If you feel the need, buy one. This compilation is a stepping stone. You will definitely want to buy at least one proper Kansas album upon listening to this compilation. January 22, 2006

A great Kansas compilation

The ultimate Kansas is a terrific compilation from this great progressive rock band from Kansas.the best part of this collection is the excellent remastering of the songs which sound much better than the previous versions.almost all their great songs feature here and I highly recommend this fantastic compilation to all rock fans. June 28, 2005

NO MORE COMPILATIONS PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE THERE THAT MANY SUPER FANS OUT THERE????? THEIR NEXT CD WILL BE ENTITLED: KANSAS COMPILATION IN 3D,REMASTERED, DOLBY, SURROUND SOUND, GOLD DISC VERSION. BUNCH OF BUFFALO CHIPS. June 14, 2005

UH, DOES ANYBODY GET THE POINT HERE?

With deference to the preceeding reviews, yes, there have been many "best of" KANSAS collections to date.

The point of this release is to bring a 2-disc collection to market that is in line with the sonic updating of the three best-selling catalog titles, "MASQUE", "LEFTOVERTURE" and "POINT OF KNOW RETURN" that have been remastered in the last two years.

All of the past "best-of's", including the box set, are sonically inferior and basically obsolete; the only exception being to the completist, as each older compilation has some demo or live track exclusive to that title.

The bottom line is, if you are looking for the most up-to-date sound, buy this CD.

January 28, 2005

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