Kansas
I was a very big Kansas fan during their
prime and saw a few of their concerts, once at a small venue and
then an arena for the Point of No Return tour.
Their first five albums are worthwhile, but after that I don't have care much for their music.
My two favorite Kansas albums are Leftoverture and Masque.
Kansas has several compilations.
Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection is a good choice if the price isn't too high. It has two CD's and one video disc. The music is
chronological and disc one covers the first four albums, Kansas,
Song For America, Masque, and Leftoverture; all of these albums
very good to excellent. The second disc has a large helping of Point of No Return material and a sampling of songs of material that extends to the Steve Morse era and beyond.
The DVD included with Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection is not one concert but excerpts of
a few different performances. In all cases the quality is not great, but not horrible. The first five songs get my
attention. They cover material up through
Masque and are from the Don Kirshners Rock Concert. These
performances remind me of why I used to listen their albums over and
over. The cameramen aren't as familiar with the material as they should as during
"Icarus," they showed Rich Williams hands rather than Kerry Livgren
during key parts. The video also includes a collection of their
MTV type of videos and a 2002 performance of two songs from Leftoverture.
There is another very good two disc cd option, The Ultimate Kansas.
This compilation focuses primarily on material with the bands
initial personnel line-up through Vinyl Confessions; that
album saw the first change, Steve Walsh was out and vocalist John
Elefante replaced him. The reason I don't like this CD as much as
Sail On is that it does not include one of my favorite songs,
"Icarus: Bourne of Wings of Steel." Also, Ultimate Kansas does not sequence the songs in chronological order or
in a sequence that flows.
Below we have listed a few
of the compilations that are available and the track list of their
first five albums. Be aware of the release dates of some of the
compilations as some are not the re-mastered versions. That is another
reason that our top Kansas pick is Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection,
or their first five studio albums.
Personnel at inception:
Robbie Steinhardt - violin, vocals
Kerry Livgren - guitar, keyboards
Steve Walsh - keyboards, vocals
Rich Williams - guitar
Phil Ehardt - Drums
Dave Hope - bass
Others
Steve Morse - guitar
Billy Greer - bass
John Elefante vocals
Greg Robert
David Ragsdale - violin
Regarding personnel, I
thought the partnering of Steve Morse would be a great match. I
haven't heard all of this material, but from what I have it is
Kansas' or Steve Morse's best material. I've seen both Dixie
Dregs and Steve
Morse and heard plenty on CD and that is where to hear Steve
Morse at his best.
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| Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection |
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August
2004
Disc: 1
1. Can I Tell You
2. Journey From Mariabrown
3. Song For America
4. Lamplight Symphony
5. Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel)
6. The Pinnacle
7. Child Of Innocence
8. Carry On Wayward Son
9. Cheyenne Anthem
10. Miracles Out Of Nowhere
11. What's On My Mind
Disc: 2
1. Point Of Know Return
2. Portrait (He Knew)
3. Dust In The Wind
4. Lightning's Hand
5. Sparks Of The Tempest
6. Paradox (Live)
7. People Of The South Wind
8. Hold On
9. Got To Rock On
10. Play The Game Tonight
11. Fight Fire With Fire
12. All I Wanted
13. Rainmaker
14. Desperate Times
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. Icarus II
DVD
Can I Tell You *
Journey From Mariabronn *
Death Of Mother Nature Suite *
Icarus (Borne On Wings Of
Steel) **
The Pinnacle **
Point Of Know Return
Dust In The Wind
On The Other Side
People Of The South Wind
Reason To Be
Away From You
Fight Fire With Fire
All I Wanted
The Preacher ***
Miracles Out Of Nowhere ***
Carry On Wayward Son ***
DVD performances from
*2/27/74 - Rock Concert
**1975 - Roc k Concert
***7/15/2002
as well as MTV, interviews, etc.
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Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection |
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| Ultimate Kansas |
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| 2002
Disc: 1
1. Carry On Wayward Son
2. Song For America
3. The Wall
4. Lonely Street
5. Journey From Mariabronn
6. Child Of Innocence
7. Mysteries And Mayhem
8. The Pinnacle
9. Bringing It Back
10. Down The Road
11. What's On My Mind
12. Death Of Mother Nature Suite
Disc: 2
1. Point Of Know Return
2. Cheyenne Anthem
3. Fight Fire With Fire
4. Dust In The Wind
5. Hold On
6. No One Together
7. Play The Game Tonight
8. Closet Chronicles
9. Sparks Of The Tempest
10. Portrait (He Knew)
11. On The Other Side
12. People Of The South Wind
13. A Glimpse Of Home
14. Magnum Opus (Live) |
Ultimate Kansas |
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| Boxed Set |
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| 1994
Disc: 1
1. Can I Tell You
2. Death Of Mother Nature Suite
3. Journey From MariaBronn
4. Song For America
5. The Devil Game
6. Incomudro-Hymn To The Atman
7. Child Of Innocence
8. Icarus-Borne On Wings Of Steel
9. Mysteries And Mayhem
10. The Pinnacle
Disc: 2
1. Carry on Wayward Son
2. The Wall
3. What's On My Mind
4. Opus Insert
5. Magnum Opus
6. Point Of Know Return
7. Portrait (He Knew)
8. Dust In The Wind
9. Closet Chronicles
10. People Of The South Wind
11. On The Other Side
12. A Glimpse Of Home
13. Relentless
14. Loner
15. Hold On
16. Wheels |
Boxed Set |
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| The Best of Kansas |
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1999
1. Carry On Wayward Son
2. Point Of Know Return
3. Fight Fire With Fire
4. Dust In The Wind
5. Song For America
6. Hold On
7. No One Together
8. Play The Game Tonight
9. The Wall
10. The Pinnacle
11. The Devil Game
12. Closet Chronicles
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The Best of Kansas |
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| Kansas
Studio Albums - Their first five
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| Kansas
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1974
(re-mastered in 2004)
1. Can I Tell You
2. Bringing It Back
3. Lonely Wind
4. Belexes
5. Journey From Mariabronn
6. The Pilgrimage
7. Apercu
8. Death Of Mother Nature Suite
Bonus track
9. Bringing It Back (Live)
"Bringing It Back" recorded in 1975 at the legendary
Agora Ballroom in Cleveland
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Kansas |
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| Song for America
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1974
(re-mastered in 2004)
1. Down The Road
2. Song For America
3. Lamplight Symphony
4. Lonely Street
5. The Devil Game
6. Incomudro - Hymn To The Atman
Bonus tracks
7. Song For America (Single Edit)
8. Down The Road (Live)
The single edit of "Song for
America" and a live version of "Down the Road"
taken from a 1975 show at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland.
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Song for America |
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| Masque
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| 1975
(re-mastered in 2001)
1. It Takes A Woman's Love (To Make A It
Takes Man)
2. Two Cents Worth
3. Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel)
4. All The World
5. Child Of Innocence
6. It's You
7. Mysteries And Mayhem
8. The Pinnacle
9. Child On Innocence (rehearsal recording)
10. It's You (demo)
The bonus material from Masque is very poor quality.
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Masque |
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| Leftoverture
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| 1976
(re-mastered in 2001)
1. Carry On Wayward Son
2. The Wall
3. What's On My Mind
4. Miracles Out Of Nowhere
5. Opus Insert
6. Questions Of My Childhood
7. Cheyenne Anthem
8. Magnum Opus
Bonus tracks
9. Carry On Wayward Son (live) 1978
10. Cheyenne Anthem (live) 1977
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Leftoverture |
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| Point of No Return
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1977
(re-mastered in 2001)
1. Point Of Know Return
2. Paradox
3. The Spider
4. Portrait (He Knew)
5. Closet Chronicles
6. Lightning's Hand
7. Dust In The Wind
8. Sparks Of The Tempest
9. Nobody's Home
10. Hopelessly Human
Bonus tracks
11. Sparks Of The Tempest (Live) 1978
12. Portrait (He Knew) (Remix)
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Point of No Return |
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