John Elefante is best known in secular circles as the guy who replaced Steve Walsh in the band Kansas. It was John who, sounding just like Walsh, belted out the Top 40 hits “Fight Fire with Fire” and “ Play the Game Tonight.” When Kansas broke up, then reformed, it was Walsh who answered the phone first and took back his spot in the group.

Like former Kansas multi-instrumentalist Kerry Livgren, Elefante is a man of deep Christian faith and found a successful career writing, recording, performing and producing Christian rock music. Now, he is back with a rock album. I suppose it is Christian rock oriented but the message is not smacking the listener in face, instead the music seems most important here.

While never a giant name on his own, Elefante may surprise rock fans with his ability to craft both power pop rock tunes and more Kansas-esque type material. In fact, Kerry Livegren plays lead guitar on several songs while REO Speedwagon’s Dave Amato also guests on the album.

The highlight of the album is “One Day Down By The Lake (See You Real Soon).” Livegren added so much to the song that if one did not know this was Elefonte they might mistake it as a long lost Kansas song. “Water into Wine (Fassa Rokka)” is another great, high-energy song. Elefante was on a creative role as “Revolution of Mind,” “Questions (It’s About Time),” “You Can’t Take Anything” and “The Western World” all are equally well written, performed and produced.