THE BEVIS FROND
Triptych
(Rubric)
Though it was his fourth album, following Miasma, Inner Marshland and the Bevis Through the Looking Glass compilation, Triptych, originally released in 1988, was the record that made Nick Saloman, AKA the Bevis Frond, a hero to indie rockers and psychedelic hipsters alike. While not the Frond's best platter, it's a rock-solid example of what makes Saloman special: his ability to take a variety of approaches to psychedelic rock and do them all well. Triptych has heavy rock ("Gemini Machine"), folk ("Corinthian"), nostalgic pop ("Old Man Blank"), wistful pop ("Hurt Goes On"), a longform epic ("Tangerine Infringement Beak") and garage rock ("Nowhere Fast"), as well as a nifty punked-up cover of "Hey Joe," done as a duet between Saloman and his mom. There's also one Frond standard, the wonderful, chiming "Lights are Changing," the kind of immediately arresting pop tune most artists would kill to have written once, but that Saloman comes up with constantly. This edition also includes a sextet of bonus tracks from various periods in the Frond history, including the excellent pop tunes "Time to Change" and "You Got to Unwind" and the snarling piledriver "Through and Through." Throw in song-by-song liner notes penned by the Frond himself and you've got an essential package for Frond fiends and an excellent starting point for neophytes. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Creation, the Pretty Things, the Flaming Lips

KANSAS
Point of Know Return
(Epic/Legacy)
The followup to its commercial and creative breakthrough Leftoverture, Kansas' Point of Know Return was an even bigger success on the charts thanks to its massive (and massively overplayed) hit single "Dust in the Wind." Creatively, however, it's a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's one of the sextet's most consistent albums, with nary a duff track to be found. That said, it has fewer true standouts than previous records. "Closet Chronicles" is one of the band's best prog anthems, an effortlessly majestic fusion of rock riffs and classical melodies that the likes of Styx spent years trying to achieve. Fueled by an outstanding Steve Walsh vocal, "Portrait (He Knew)" (which also appears in remixed form as a bonus track) is a soulful nod to that most unlikely of rock heroes, Albert Einstein. The bouncy title tune manages to turn philosophical musings into catchy rock. But too many of the tracks sound like Kansas-lite. "Sparks of the Tempest" (which also appears as a live bonus track) and "Lightning's Hand" are both decent hard rockers, but hardly on a par with the band's best, and "Paradox," "Nobody's Home" and "Hopelessly Human," while not at all bad, are a bit paint-by-numbers. Still, there's nothing here to bring a frown to the face of a prog fan, and the band's command of melody and complex arrangements is as strong as ever. There's a sense, however, that the band knows it's taken its sound as far as it can go. Kansas would take a turn towards hard rock on subsequent recordings, leaving Point of Know Return as the first great American prog band's last gasp of greatness. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Spock's Beard, Camel, Yes