Audio-Visions Songs Ranked

Audio-Visions is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band Kansas, released in 1980. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 1996 on Legacy/Epic and again in 2011, as a Japanese import vinyl-replica CD, as well as part of the Sony/Legacy domestic boxed set, Kansas Complete Album Collection 1974-1983, which packages all of the band’s original releases on Kirshner and affiliated labels CBS/Columbia. In 2018, Friday Music released a 180-gram “blue-splatter” translucent vinyl remaster of the album, featuring a gatefold cover with the original sleeve artwork, and an insert in the first sleeve of a foldout poster of the album cover. Here are all of Audio-Visions songs ranked.

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10. Relentless

“Wisely, the album opens with “Relentless”, which is the best straightforward rock song Livgren had penned in a while. If religious preoccupation annoys you (as it does me), one can at least be grateful that the inspiration of the music here overwhelms the religious conviction in it.”

9. Hold On

“Hold On”, another religious exhortation by Livgren, is a beautiful, compelling and moving song. The brief opening lick, with its stately guitar and singing violin lets you know you are safely in Livgren’s castle; the essentially acoustic arrangement for the verses, with lots of reverb, only adds to the haunting and effective character of the song and the guitar solo is as soulful and tasteful as anything by Gilmour.”

8. Curtain of Iron

“Curtain of Iron”, more Livgren religion, opens with his now-reflexive instrumental introduction before settling into a very lovely piano and vocal arrangement. The heavy chorus is typically grand and, overall, the established fan will feel very at home here, will feel ahead of time the typical twists and turns of Livgren’s songwriting.”

See more: Kansas Albums Ranked

7. Don’t Open Your Eyes

“Don’t Open Your Eyes”, a band-effort compositionally, reminds me of Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand” in sound. The verse and chorus are pretty bland to my ears, but the bridge cuts loose a bit–not for long enough, of course.”

6. No Room for a Stranger

“Walsh (and William’s) “No Room for a Stranger” follows the intricacies of the last song with more straightforward rock. The contrast in this case works well enough, but Walsh’s lyrics continue to be ridiculous (“I had a girl, so young and so healthy. I lived for her night and day. But all of her friends said since I wasn’t wealthy there’d be no room for a stranger to stay.”)”

5. Back Door

“The last song, “Back Door,” thankfully shows off the more reflective side of Steve Walsh, being more of a piano ballad than a guitar rocker. It also features those full-chorused backing vocals characteristic of so much Kansas as well as a soulful violin solo and something of a bagpipe march at the end. It is a worthy close to an album much more deserving of recognition than it ever received.”

See more: Kansas Songs Ranked

4. No One Together

“No One Together”, by contrast, opens with yet another compelling Livgren introduction, full of interesting chord changes, witty variations on the 4/4 rhythm, crisscrossing musical lines and demanding musicianship. The expected piano and vocal bit follows, with a more orchestrated chorus and a complicated bridge in full instrumentation, including marimba.”

3. Got to Rock On

“Walsh’s “Got to Rock On”, as one might guess from the title, is a pretty conventional pro-rock anthem, carried off here with style and the good taste of the band’s collective talent.”

2. Loner

“Walsh’s “Loner”, is positively embarrassing lyrically. A driving rock song otherwise, it’s just not possible to stomach lines like “You’re hair was long, and so was mine.” A real shame too, since the chorus (like in “Anything for You”) is nifty. Learn how not to hear the lyrics, and this is a fine song.”

1. Anything for You

“”Anything for You” is simultaneously a bit loungy, cheesy and charming. It features unbelievably goofy lyrics (“I fell for you, cuz you were nice and tall. I liked what I could see.”) The thing that saves this song is the sudden soulfulness of the short chorus, which bursts into the overall cornball nature of the song to almost magically save it.”