Kansas (2) – Monolith

As Kerry Livgren stated in a quite recent interview, Kansas began a prolonged down slope in of quality post "Point of Know Return". The 1979's release "Monolith" is a very mannered, unfocused and stale offering from a band that just before positioned itself at the top of american progressive music, suffering from ideas badly molded together from which you can feel a drain of inspiration and an evident fatigue in the Kansas' camp. Some of the tracks are easily the worst of the original line-up, such as "People of the south wind", "Angels have fallen" and "How my soul cries out for you", connoted by weird or poorly refined arrangements. Livgren is the usual band's benchmark and is able to deliver the best tunes of this selection: the opener "On the other side" has a gigantic epic riff, a nice arpeggio and gracious moments in which Steve Walsh vocals stand out beautifully; "A glimpse of home", with its operistic colorful coda, is the most convincing prog construction of the album, albeit the big guitar chords repetitiveness is a bit crudely attached to a song that should have gone somewhere else; "Reason to be" is quite pleasing but it 's no more than a too simplistic "Dust in the wind"-wannabe ballad. Steve Walsh' best output is the lively but busy "Away from you" and the more playful "Stay out of trouble", but they are definitely sub-standard for Kansas. 2,5/5.

In total agreement! It wasn't that way for my first 20+ years of Kansas fandom, but this album has crept up on me. Now stands right there along with all the prior greatness before it. Listen deeply.

It's not difficult to make a case for this being Kansas' finest hour. This is such an amazing record! One of the best album covers of all time too. Find an original copy-- they are not hard to find, and it's worth it. No modern reissue will ever equal the excellence of a AAA original pressing.