Kansas : Song For America (Expanded Edition)

 

ACROSS THE SEA

THERE CAME A MULTITUDE

 SAILING SHIPS UPON THE WAVE

FILLED WITH THE VISIONS OF UTOPIA

AND FREEDOM THAT THEY CRAVE

RAVAGE,

PLUNDER,

SEE NO WONDER

RAPE AND KILL

AND TEAR ASUNDER

CHOP THE FOREST,

PLOW IT UNDER

Song for America

 is the 

second 

studio album 

by American 

progressive rock band

 Kansas

 released in 1975.

  The 10-minute title track

 was edited down

 to three minutes

 for release as a single.

 The 45 R.P.M. edit 

resurfaced 29 years later 

as a bonus track

On The Re Issue

 which provided

 improved sound 

as well as

 expanded 

liner notes,

 rare photos, 

and a

 live version of 

"Down the Road"

Reception

AllMusic

In a retrospective review, 

praised the 

"intense energy" 

of the album's

 shorter songs, 

but contended that

 the longer songs

 require too much 

active listening to appreciate. 

They concluded that

 the album is

 "a good (if not adolescent) recording 

for a group of this genre."

 Conversely, 

Gary Graff

 described the title track as 

"one of prog-rock's sonic gems," 

recommending the album to 

"Those interested in 

Kansas at its most bombastic."

Steve Pettengill, 

writing for 

Sea of Tranquility webzine, 

describes the album as

 "full tilt symphonic rock

 with none of the 

stadium rock numbers 

that would pop up 

on later albums. 

Comprising four lengthy

 intricate pieces 

and two very 

American style romps, 

Kansas' 

second album 

very admirably showcases

 the band's 

trademark duality as

 proggers and rockers."

Ranking on the

 Billboard album chart 

with a peak of #57,

 Song for America 

would in the months 

subsequent to its 

February 1975

 release sell approximately 

250,000 units. 

Like all three of Kansas'

 first three album releases, 

Song for America 

attracted new commercial

 interest due 

to the platinum success 

of the band's fourth

 and fifth studio albums:

 Leftoverture

 (1976)

 and 

Point of Know Return

 (1977). 

Reported as having

 sold between 

300,000 and 400,000 units

 in January 1978, 

Song for America 

would be certified Gold

 for sales of

 500,000 units

 in June 1980

TRACKLIST

Down the Road

Song for America

Lamplight Symphony

Lonely Street

The Devil Game

Incomudro-Hymn to the Atman

Song for America

 (Single Edit)

Down the Road 

(Live at the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, OH/ 1975)

Excerpt From Lamplight Symphony 

(Live)

Lonely Street

 [Live]

Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman

 (Live in Cleveland, OH/1975)

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