u/BruhsterBuster

I've heard next to nothing from his solo projects but I've listened to all three Proto-Kaw albums (though I, for whatever reason, have not looked at Early Recordings From Kansas yet) over the past few months and really enjoyed them, I'd rank them in release order with BBA being my favorite

Overall the PK albums are just super well mixed and really please my ears in that facet but of course what matters most are the compositions and they are very entertaining most of the time, though there are some less interesting tracks here and there, particularly in the second half of Forth

I love the jazz influences all throughout the albums and Forth in particular at times reminding me of 70s 'Yacht Rock' like Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs which can only be a good thing (though it doesn't really compete with those artists)

Theophany is probably my favorite track overall but a some of my other faves are Quantum Leapfrog, Relics of the Tempest (close second), Physic, Melicus Gladiator, Gloriana, Daylight, and Pollex

Another thing that has sprung to mind is that PK doesn't really remind me of Kansas very often, it certainly has it's moment (Gloriana specifically comes to mind) but I was a little surprised (but pleasantly of course) how divorced the sound was

I've heard good things about his solo albums but, like I said, haven't dived into that much at all (I think I've only heard Portrait II because it was recommend to me on YT and Children of the Shadows because I really liked the demo version that was also recommended to me on YT (demo>actually released version)) so I wouldn't mind some recommendations but really I'm just interested in hearing thoughts on anything KL has done outside of Kansas from my fellow Kansas fans

Just epic in the way that they feel epic, I've been listening to a lot of prog recently and enjoyed like pretty much all of what I've heard but these tracks in particular have stood out to me for the grandiosity and the creative instrumentals even though they certainly aren't the most complex progressive tracks ever conceived (some would say it's a stretch to even call Lightning's Hand prog as it is relatively straightforward) (I mean I'm not necessarily looking for the most complex of prog tracks anyway when asking for songs like these two but I wouldn't mind really complex songs of course, I like Gentle Giant)

I've already listened to all of Queen's first 5 albums and Innuendo cause I loved the title track so much and I listened to every Kansas studio album so I'm certainly not looking for stuff from them and I doubt there's anything like these two tracks in the more commercial era of Queen (and know there isn't from Kansas'...)

please and thank you

I know No One Together was originally made for Monolith and it certainly feels a little out of place on Audio-Visions (even if many would consider it the only reason to listen to it which is a sentiment I disagree with (Curtain of Iron, Relentless, No Room for a Stranger, and Hold On are all interesting enough (CoI in particular))) so I've recently began to wonder where it would make sense in the track list and tried a couple different combinations (I listen to music on Spotify not physical media or anything so it's a lot easier to try out combos though I've only tried like two), I like Monolith but think it would be a stronger album with it and would rather it be there than AV

I've heard it was this song or How My Soul Cries Out For You that were fighting for space so I was immediately thinking it could be put around there but it didn't really make sense after thinking about it and trying it

I also tried it as the second song and it kinda made sense since the jump from OTOS to POTSW always felt a bit jarring and the gap felt like it was bridged better now also giving more space between the two most emotional tunes, the issue with this is that it's kinda odd to have two of the longest and most prog tracks back to back, while different enough feels like things aren't spaced properly

I've also though it felt like it could be pretty good as an opener but that's questionable and I feel like this album stands out in particular from the other 70's albums by opening with something slower and more emotional (only 3 others after the fact do that (maybe 1 more with PTGT since it's slower at times but eh))

I wanna put it in the second half since it feels like it needs it as the songs there are much simpler I feel the half may benefit from something more proggy but on the other hand that is kinda also part of what makes this album unique from the rest of the 70's, it doesn't end with some complex epic, it's much more laid back, Glimpse of Home feels like every aspect of that song was designed around feeling comfort and contentment and really like the conclusion to the whole six album spiritual journey of Kerry with the last three tracks being something of a coda or an epilogue

I feel like I'm putting too much thought into this but I really wanna have some sort of definitive order so please give perspective if care