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As the fifties had belonged to the American acts and the birth of Rock and Roll,<br />
Elvis Presley on top of them all, the sixties unconditionally belonged to The Beatles<br />
and a host of British acts rising in their shadow.<br />
The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Moody Blues, all would capture the world's love and<br />
attention while shifting the ballance of world popularity towards the United Kingdom.<br />
With the event of King Crimson in 1969, the table was set for the progressive driven<br />
seventies, where again British acts would rule the game.<br />
Genesis, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd and The Van der Graaf<br />
Generator, undoubtedly the most important pieces of the puzzle, followed the path set<br />
by KC's 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' and were at the heart of the most creative<br />
and exciting music decade in rock music history.<br />
The progressive movement created by the British soon started to spread in many parts<br />
of the world, thus reaching America, where a lot of bands began to follow the path.<br />
Among the many US bands that would embrace the pure progressive style, like Happy The<br />
Man, Starcastle, Ambrosia, and even Styx to a certain extend, Kansas would undoubtedly<br />
become the most innovative and most distinctive of them all.<br />
Formed in Topeka in 1970, the founding members of the group were guitarist Kerry<br />
Livgren, bassist Dave Hope, and drummer Phil Ehart with the addition of classic<br />
violinist Robbie Steinhardt. <br />
As they grew in popularity they formed a bond with the people of the East coast state<br />
of Pennsylvania.<br />
During the early years, Kansas played the great north east state as a warm up band for<br />
headliners such as The Kinks, Mott the Hoople, and Queen. <br />
By 1975, Kansas became a headliner themselve and played an impressive concert at the<br />
Stanley Theater in downtown Pittsburgh in December of that year.<br />
In October of 1976, they were back to play for their Pittsburgh fans again.<br />
This time, it was at the Syria Mosque; site of a very impressive Genesis concert just<br />
six months earlier.<br />
They brought with them a band called Ambrosia from California to warm up the crowd.<br />
Both bands were making their name in the developing genre of Progressive Rock but<br />
Kansas, with their unique driving melodies and use of the violin was the band everyone<br />
came to see.<br />
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Kansas - 1974-2004 [24CD@320kB/s] BeLight<br />
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<br />
1974 Kansas<br />
1975 Masque<br />
1975 Song for America<br />
1976 Leftoverture<br />
1976 Mayhem Symphony (2CD)<br />
1977 Point of Know Return (Bonus Tracks)<br />
1978 Two for the Show<br />
1979 Monolith<br />
1980 Audio-Visions<br />
1982 Vinyl Confessions<br />
1983 Drastic Measures<br />
1986 Power<br />
1990 Carry On<br />
1994 Box Set (2CD)<br />
1995 Freaks of Nature<br />
1995 In the Spirit of Things<br />
1998 Always Never the Same<br />
1998 King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents<br />
1998 Live - Dust in the Wind<br />
1999 Definitive Collection (2CD)<br />
1999 The Best of Kansas<br />
2000 Somewhere to Elsewhere<br />
2002 Device-Voice-Drum<br />
2004 Sail On - The 30th Anniversary Collection (2CD)
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