Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not vintage Kansas..., July 28, 1999
I'm being generous with the 4 star rating but like many who review second rate Kansas albums i need to consider how the music compares to other material out there not just to vintage Kansas like left overture, masque or point of know return. The two things i always liked most about kansas was their kick butt rock(carry on, opus insert, belexes ect) combined with their long play anthems(song for america, hopelessly human and hymm to the atman, pinnacle). What i like the most are those songs that seem to combine those two styles and attributes(the wall, borne on wings of steel and miracles out of nowhere). The ideal Kansas album in my mind would be a nice mix of all of those.Yes this was the last album by the original line up. Steve walsh left the band because he didn't like the born again christian lyrics livgren was writing yet those lyrics are already present in less obvious form in many of these songs. "Hold on" for example is livgren imploring his wife to come to christ.(I got this info from livgren's book). There are many good songs here. "No one together" is the best and "relentless"(more born again references from livgren) is solid. "Got to rock on" does just that and "hold on" is ok for a top 40 song. Then there is childish crap like "any thing for you" that is unforgivable. Most of the rest of the stuff is mediocre. Hard to get excited with "iron curtain". Once again the album is good but nothing like their best work. The main issue for me is which second rate Kansas album is better, this one or "monolith". Take the best songs from both and you have one pretty good album that would rival their best work. Take the worst songs from the two albums and you have something pretty terrible. ..........socks
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great last effort by the original Kansas, September 5, 2005
I've heard some of your other reviewers put down some of these tracks, but I really like every song. I kind of agree that some of the songs have cheesy lyrics, but when this was first released I didn't feel that way at all. I was such a diehard fan I ate up everything they recorded. I think that the first track "Relentless" should have been put out as a single. It is such a heart felt jamming song that I never tire of hearing it. Track two "Anything for you" is a great sounding song instrumentally, but a few of the lyrics are kind of cheesy. The song "No one together" is just an incredible progressive song that I cannot get enough of. "Curtain of iron" is right up their with "No one together", and "Relentless" as my favorite songs on this album. I think Walsh did some good writing on this album. I think he wrote or co-wrote seven of the ten tracks. Little did I know when I saw the AUDIO VISIONS tour in early 1981, that that would be the last time I would ever see the originals all together in concert. At this point in their careers they were no longer a cohesive team like they had been before. I think Walsh didn't like the lyrics about God, and thought they were turning into a Christian group, so he left and formed STREETS where he could write and perform what he wanted.
I would like to thank the sound engineers for making a superb sounding album. When I want to show off my great home stereo I just put this cd on. I don't think they will ever really need to remaster this, but I think Monolith sure could use one. Audio-Visions" is the very last album with the original six that I'm sure your customers should really enjoy.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shoulda, woulda, coulda, August 26, 2004
This one "shoulda been a contender" and it "woulda" had it been more consistent lyrically and musically...I "coulda" done without a couple of the cheesy tracks here. If you listen, you can hear the sound of the band spltting apart between Walsh's more straight-ahead rock and roll proclivities and Livgren's deeper, complex, spiritual yearnings. I saw them on tour during this period, and while they still retained their legendary stage might, they were not as cohesive. Enough psychoanalysis...what about these songs? Well, "Relentless" is a fantastic, driving rocker with superb lyrics and great, passionate performances all around. "Anything for You" is an unqualified clunker, a real stinker, an amazing letdown that has few equals in the Kansas canon. Dumb lyrics and half-baked music doom this one from the get-go. Thankfully, the band moves quickly back to a peak with "Hold On," a magnificent, gorgeous ballad that is a unique love song: a plea from Livgren to his wife to listen to the call of Christ. This song is both stately and impassioned which explains a lot about its enduring appeal. Walsh's vocal work here ranks with his best ever. So, can the band maintain the momentum gained by "Hold On"? Well, "Loner" makes a valiant attempt. It is a blazing little track, quite unlike anything else the band has done, with Walsh singing his guts out. The whole band really cooks here. And "Curtain of Iron" kicks it up a notch--it has the feel of those classic epics of yore. The lyrics are very prescient, with memorable instrumental passages in a suite-style presentation. But then...catastrophe strikes..."Got to Rock On" is another chessy bit of hokum, and the less said about it, the better. Fortunately, "Don't Open Your Eyes" sets things right--a wild frightmare of a ride that is reminiscent of "Mysteries and Mayhem" from MASQUE, albeit not quite as heavy. Kerry Livgren really steps up with the next track, the classic "No One Together," which is a superb prog presentation...stellar arranging, superb playing, uplifting lyrics, intriguing mood shifts. "No Room for a Stranger" is instantly forgettable and makes one grateful for the fast-forward button. However, the closing track, "Back Door" is a real winner, with a lovely melody, heartfelt words, and an innovative sound--is that bagpipes at the end? Epic/Legacy did a nice job of presenting this CD package and it sounds great. Overall, several tracks here rank among the absolute best that Kansas has ever done...but there are a couple of mis-steps to avoid that knock this one down a star.
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