Audio CD review:
Kansas - The Kansas Boxed Set (Slipcase)

Kansas - The Kansas Boxed Set (Slipcase)

Band: Kansas Title: The Kansas Boxed Set (Slipcase) Rating: Release Date: 27 January, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Can I Tell You (Demo) 2: Death Of Mother Nature Suite 3: Jorney 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 11: Carry On Wayward Son 12: The Wall 13: What's On My Mind 14: Opus Insert 15: Magnum Opus: A. Father Padilla Meets The Perfect Gnat/B. Howling At The Moon/C. Man Overboard... 16: Point Of Know Return 17: Potrait (He Knew) 18: Dust In The Wind 19: Closet Chronicles 20: People Of The South Wind 21: On The Other Side 22: A Glimpse Of Home 23: Relentless 24: Loner 25: Hold On 26: Wheels (New Recording)

Customer Reviews Awsome The Ultimate Kansas Collection of 26 tracks on 2 CDs. This is actually what it states it is. All classic album cuts from the first Kansas album to Audio-Visions plus an unissued Demo recording along with 3 unissued live recordings and a new song. It also comes with a well done 36 page full color booklet. I find the unissued recordings refreshing and the rest of the songs an awsome greatest hits package. Well Done. Good, but "fans only" It is indeed a retrospective, the best feature being the very informative booklet that comes with it. This is an "odds 'n ends" collection of album tracks, demos and live tracks from the original Kansas lineup of Steve Walsh (vocals, keyboards); Kerry Livgren (guitars, keyboards); Richard Williams (guitars), Dave Hope (bass guitar), Robby Steinhardt (violin, vocals) and Phil Ehart (drums). It is the story of a rock band who clawed themselves up from obscurity in Kansas to superstardom - back in the pre-MTV age, when about the only way for a band to make it was through the hard work of touring, recording, touring, recording. . . and Kansas did plenty of this. As for the tracks themselves, this probably could have been shortened to a single disc by deleting the tracks that are available on the original albums and/or other compilations (really, how many times can these guys' music be repackaged?). The demo tracks show how tight and good they were even in pre-recording days, and the live tracks show that they really could reproduce all the extended soloing live (remember when that was cool?) - as if there were any doubt. There is only one truly new track here, "Wheels", recorded with Kansas' '90s touring lineup (Dave Hope replaced by Billy Greer, Robby Steinhardt replaced by David Ragsdale). The booklet says Kerry Livgren wrote it for a solo project, but I'm not sure if he actually plays on it. I saw them perform it live in a club in the early '90s. It could sit comfortably on "Power" or "Freaks Of Nature". It's good, but not great. I'd recommend this to hardcore fans only who want to see how this wonderful band evolved over the years. For a "background music" compilation, get "The Ultimate Kansas" or, if you're only into the stuff that got played on the radio, one of the many repackagings of "The Best Of Kansas". Kansas boxed set Live re-recording of Hymn to Atman is incredible!. Awesome classic rock music. . You can see a complete list of all Kansas discography, or go back to the Kansas tabs