Unknown Soldier

This is one my all time fav bands full stop. They did prog rock mixed in with a windswept mid western sound that was unique to them. Their first 6 studio albums are all classic releases and not too many bands can match that for consistent quality. The writing team of Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren though was the key. Steve Walsh compositioned most of the shorter more accessible material, but it was the material of Kerry Livgren that turned them into a classic band with darkly focused less accessible masterpieces. The singing team of Steve Walsh and Robby Steinhardt also complemented each other perfectly.

Their debut album is really a hodge-podge of sounds but it works really well and its a great album, but the prog masterpieces are Song For America, Masque, Leftoverture, Point of Know Return and Monolith these are the classics. Leftoverture was the album they made their breakthrough on and its was recorded under a lot of pressure from their label and amazingly a large amount of the material was left over material from their previous albums that was just revamped and "Dust in the Wind" was a last minute addition to the album. Point of Know Return saw the band at their creative height and brilliance and its a masterpiece of an album. Masque is a personal fav of mine and another masterpiece that`s severly underrated and the guitaring of Rich Williams and the drumming of Phil Ehart on that album are something I`ll always remember.