Comments for Kansas, Freaks Of Nature

This new Kansas album sounds more like the original Kansas stuff than anything since "Audio Visions." David Ragsdale plays some excellent violin on this album! The whole band sounds great and this release should be getting more airplay than it is! What the hell is wrong with the radio stations out there! WGBF in Henderson is one of them!

Well, this is not a terrible album, but the 8 year hiatus really shows on Steve Walsh's voice. This album is certainly more like the early music than anything since "Drastic Measure"s, and Ragsdale's violin is perhaps the main reason why. In fact, it's most similar counterpart is probably "Masque". But the struggled vocals grate on me a little bit. There isn't nearly as much forced and failed vocal harmonization as was so rampant with Walsh & Robby Steinhardt on "Masque" (I can't listen to Icarus in it's entirety because the harmonization is so bad), but the vocals aren't nearly as good as they were on "Power" which is where I believe Walsh peaked. On the up side, "I Can Fly" is an outstanding song, "Desparate Times" is catchy, Livgren's "Cold Grey Morning" is very reminicent of good early Kansas, and the ending of "Peaceful and Warm" is one of the better album endings in the Kansas catalog. All in all, not an outstanding album, but worth the money if you miss the violin, and "I Can Fly" almost makes the album a must have for Kansas fans.

An ill-fated attempt to return to the glory years of the past. Most of the material is just plain weak!

Freaks Of Nature is an outstanding effort by an outstandinggroup of musicians. With this album, Kansas, in many ways,returns to their musical roots -- complex arrangements,probing lyrics, and very tight musicianship. ViolinistDavid Ragsdale joins the band and really adds the icing withgreat flair. Rich Williams finally gets a chance to showmore of his considerable talent with the guitar, and PhilEhart`s drumming is as good as you`ll ever hear by anyone.This album is a real treat for Kansas fans, and an excellentintroduction for those with only a passing interest in theband. This CD has the best sound quality of any CD I`ve everheard, bar none. Sound like this is the reason we buyhi-fi equipment.