69: Kansas – Masque

Yeah, I have a Kansas fan-boy deep inside me. Kansas' Masque (1975) is the album that introduced me to progressive rock. Masque is one special albums. I'd say it's probably one of favorite 100 albums of all time. Convenient huh?

What's great about this album is it clearly showed the difference in writing subject and styles between Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren. Walsh's "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)" opens the album and is not corny; it's a great song. Naturally Steve Walsh sings it two octaves above what a normal man can actually sing so there's that irony. Still, it's a solid start to this incredible album. The second song, "Two Cents Worth", a Walsh and Livgren collaboration, is written as a brilliant drunken ramble.

Suddenly, "Ircarus-Borne on Wings of Steel" starts and the listener is taken out of the bar and dumped into a surreal Greek mythos landscape. As only Kansas can do, these different songs all mesh into an album with infinite playability.

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