The Prelude Implicit (Deluxe Edition)

Wow, simply great!! Nothing more to say.

I think that this is a good but not great Kansas album. I certainly prefer it to any of the albums Kansas did without Kerry Livgren. It sounds like Kansas but it also sounds a bit different from their other albums. Judging by the songwriting credits it looks like it was a group effort, which is good. My complaints? Ronnie Platt, while being a very good singer, sounds more like Jon Elefante than Steve Walsh. Then again, Steve Walsh hadn’t sounded like Steve Walsh on the last handful of Kansas albums. I also think there is too much violin. I wish there were more exciting instrumental sections and more complex songs...or even a few more simple heavy rock songs, for the original Kansas were a very good hard rock band as well. Still, this is an enjoyable and inspired album. I hope this line-up will record another album and maybe be more adventurous and play it less safe next time.

Ok I’m wrong... after listening to this album for a while it’s getting very good. Has the classic Kansas sound .

I pledge my $12.99 toward Phil and Rich's retirement! This is a nicely produced, arranged and recorded album of very fine musicians, but where are Kerry's words? The vocals seem to struggle with notes that Steve would have breezed through. And boy, do I miss Robbie's baratone harmonies, and violin. I love Billy. I love his vocals, love his playing, always thought he was a great contribution to Kansas. But are we in Kansas anymore? Without Kerry's words, Steve's soaring vocals and Robby as our master of ceremonies, what we have here is Phil and Rich's new band. Which can play their asses off, by the way. Someone labored over these compositions to capture all of Kerry's key and time signature changes, and the arrangements are appropo, the recording is as good as digital audio gets, but it still sounds like a commercial to me. The lyrics are just cliches. Could this version of Kansas ever convince Kerry to write some new material for them? I would give that a listen, but I still don't know if I would call it Kansas.

The players may have changed, but if "The Prelude Implicit" is any indicator, this lineup remains faithful to the heritage of the band: Heartland multi-layered prog rock with deep thought behind it. Kerry Livgren, Steve Walsh, Robbie Steinhardt and Dave Hope were excellent, even stellar players, but this lineup brings the music in that same spirit...and excellence.

this album takes me back to Kansas glory years. The songs are beautiful, they rock, they soar. Right out of the gate my favorite is "Summer". The chorus is catchy as hell and the upbeat quality of the song is pure feel good. The instruemtnal version of Shenandoah gives me goosebumps. It may be old fashioned, it may be corny, but god what a bold choice and what an incredible perfromance. Love this whole album!

In posting a prior review, I incorrectly identified the vocals as being done by original member, Steve Walsh. I stand corrected... he is not the singer on this album. That said, what a testament to the new guy (name unknown), he had me fooled! I truly thought it was just an older Steve. Still a great album. Hope to see them live, soon.

Home on the Range and Shenendoah bumped this down to 3 stars.....

I love this album. The songwriting is excellent and the vocals are back up where they should be. Good job on the songwriting.

I had doubts about this album but the new memebers do a great job of recreating the Kansas sound while making it sound fresh. Playing is top notch