Kerry Livgren Seeds of Change Kirshner 1980

Kerry Livgren Seeds of Change Kirshner 1980 CAT# NJZ 36567

Kerry Livgren was a founder of Topeka's finest, Kansas. He was a fundamental part of the band and behind their biggest successes. So, apparently, that meant make a solo-album, in 1980, when people stopped caring about Kansas. Coincidentally, in 1980, Livgren was still an active member of the band, this LP even features the likes of Steve Walsh and Phil Ehart just to prove things were still on the up and up.

It's ambitious, but that doesn't make it good. There's all sorts of synth and prog-rock moves, but honestly, the best parts of Kansas weren't about the prog-rock. It's also got some 80's pomp-rock metal moves, but who has time for that.

It features a pretty impressive cast of fill-ins as well, Ronnie James Dio sings a couple tracks (they sound super metal, bro), there's a member of Jethro Tull, and some dudes from Ambrosia as well. So not your A-Team by any means, but for Topeka, that's pretty solid.

Apparently, there's also a book Livgren wrote surrounding the concepts found within the album. If it's about the cover, which shows a fetus being extracted from a diamond with a razor blade... it's probably the best book in the history of the world, who doesn't want to read about that, right?

Kerry Livgren with Ronnie James Dio

Topper At Last Scott Records 1977

Topper At Last Scott Records 1977

Man, Rudy Passonno is quickly becoming a legend in my book.  As a producer, everything I he touched out of his small recording studio in Liberty, Missouri sounds professional and is worth searching out (at least, everything I've heard).  Second, his keyboard work is phenomenal.  He just swirls around tunes and jumps in at the right moments with bringing absolute absurdity and brilliance.

This album usually gets classified as prog, likely for the previously mentioned Passonno keyboard flourishes all over it.  However, it isn't like an unheard version of the band Kansas.  Topper isn't challenging the Brits, they just have moments that fit in the genre.  It's just as rooted in jazz, blues, and rock n' roll as anything else you'd hear from the same era.

Telling you though, just when you think the band is going all standard bar-band, there's some insane out of place Mellotron moment that finds it's way in and makes the track.  I mean, the lyrics are awful and again, most things with the exception of few stand alone moments are pretty typical, but the keyboards come in and just kick everyone's ass.

At one time, the album was bringing high dollars in the collectors market.  It's tapered down in the last few years, the music is out there on YouTube and traded mixes.  The people who really want the LP have it, the ones who still do can now grab it for a reasonable price.  Either way, it's worth checking out, worth buying jsut for the craziness of "Phaze 1" and "Phaze 2" on the second side...you'll also love the lifting of "Stairway to Heaven" on Topper's "Smile for the Clown"...and hey, don't crap on Topper for lifting the Zep; Page was the just as great of thief as he was a guitarist.

Smile for the Clown
HYPE THE CD!

Kansas Masque Kirshner 1975

Kansas Masque Kirshner 1975 CAT# PZ 33806

Man, I've listened to more Kansas than I thought possible.  I've grown to like them...a little.  Once you get what they're doing, they're a lot easier to swallow.

This Masque album was the band's second release in 1975, following A Song for America from what I understand.  By this point, they've established who they were as a band; a little prog a little boogie and incapable of any sort of one up-man-ship on their British counterparts.  They have a flair for dramatic and love romantic melodies as much as they love bloated studio production.  In less than year, the band had went from the over-reaching of A Song for America to a sound they could excel in, that's impressive.

The sound found here would be perfected on the next two albums, Leftoverture and Point of No Return, by the far the pinnacle of the band's career.  There are some hard rocking moments on this LP, but no masterpieces.  It's a decent album, but only essential to fans of the band and prog rock enthusiasts.

Child of Innocence

Kansas Drastic Measures CBS 1983

Kansas Drastic Measures CBS 1983 CAT# QZ 38733

There are worse albums than this, but, there are now albums worse than this by the band Kansas.  This is the bottom of the barrel for the band.  So long prog. rock and hello desperate attempt at over produced 80's hard rock.

The album was so lost with itself that it marks a break-up for the band.  After this, they called it quits for a brief time.  Just listen to the song, "Mainstream," you can tell the band was having trouble keeping it fresh as the lyrics describe the pressure of staying true to the band's sound, but trying to stay in touch with the pop rock trends of the day.

The band would later re-form and do a little more than just reunions.  But, they turned back to their days of 70's progressive rock.  The ideas on this album were left alone and died in 1983.  I could be a douche-y tool and make a bunch of puns with the word "drastic" or I could make snarky remarks about how awful this album is...but, it's not really worth it.  Everyone is well aware this isn't any good.

Mainstream

Kansas Point of Know Return Kirshner 1977

Kansas Point of Know Return Kirshner 1977 CAT#34929

After the first two songs on this LP, "Point of Know Return" and "Paradox", it's abundantly clear, this is the Kansas high point.  "Point of Know Return" was a huge hit for the band, they had perfected their progressive boogie rock and by the second track even found a way to make the fiddle work.  While the first two tracks don't match the scale of "Carry On My Wayward, Son," they rock and that goes a long way.

The band get's super prog-y on the synth driven instrumental "The Spider," but it's not as aimless as the band's previous work.  It gets in and gets out.  Kansas get pretentious for only a brief minute before bringing the straight ahead rock of "Potrait (He Knew)", which also happens to be insanely Christian, but that was in vogue at the time.  The first side rounds out with "Closet Chronicles", which when compared to the rest of the side is pleasant filler.

Song by song on Side 2 is further proof that this represents Kansas' best LP despite a few soft spots.  "Lightning's Hand" is a bit silly at times, but its high tempo and guitar solos make it one of the band's heaviest outings and can be considered 70's heavy metal.  The next track, "Dust in the Wind" is a ballad and was another huge hit from this album.  "Sparks of the Tempest" is another heavy metal track and a bit over the top, obviously trying to compensate for the brief foray into sad, bastard music because another ballad, "Nobody's Here," follows.  Its surprisingly good in parts, namely the bridge, but could have done without all the prog elements.  The final track, "Hopessly Human," is based in baroque-era Bach (much of the album is), but it's made especially evident here.  It's a bit too heavy for it's own good, but a decent closer.

Portrait (He Knew)
Point of Know Return

Kansas Power MCA 1986

Kansas Power MCA 1986 CAT# 5838

Good news that if I've actually had to pay for a Kansas LP, I haven't paid over a dollar.  Bad news, this is awful.  It's what you'd expect from a band like Kansas in a year like 1986, though.  Just overproduced pomp rock.

I like Kansas for the most part, well, it's kind of a love/hate thing, but I can certainly respect them.  They have a very devoted fan base, but I can't imagine those fans call out for songs from this LP at shows.  It was a reformed band at this point, Steve Walsh who was previously out was now back in, Phil Ehart was still on drums, but Kenny Livgreen left along with John Elefante.  Instead of prog. rock, you get douchy hard rock.

Even the sole attempt at prog. on this LP, "Musicato", is filled with simple guitar licks and tons of cheesy 80's studio effects.  Such a disappointment.  Despite that, the band still managed a minor hit out of the song "Power" and a top 20 hit out of "All I Wanted".  Good for them, I guess.  The fact that people were still interested in Kansas in 1986 is a testament to their popularity and success.

All I Wanted
Power

Kansas Song For America Kirshner 1975

Kansas Song For America Kirshner 1975 CAT #PZ 33385

The third album from Topeka band, Kansas.  They tried extremely hard on this LP to keep up with their British prog. contemporaries.  Long, drawn out tunes; only 6 total.  Heavy on synth and orchestration.  They use odd time signatures and bob in out of movements within the songs.  It is an ambitious album and has it's moments, but it pales in comparison to other progressive bands that surrounded them.

It's strong when the band adeptly moves from synth driven interludes to boogie rock.  The 1st track, "Down the Road" is intense and to be cliche, "rocks."  Other parts of the album "rock" as well, the 1st track of side 2, "Lonely Street" deserves mention as does "The Devil's Game."  The final track also contains some insane drumming, that's cool.  However, even in those mentioned tracks most the album meanders around and can become exhausting to listen to.  Many of the bands fans will argue this is the band's crowning achievement.  The sweeping arrangements and time signatures make it their most "progressive" album and it's easy to get swept up in all the studio perfection.  But, if you look past all the smoke and mirrors, it's really just sub-par prog LP with nice moments.

Down the Road
The Devil's Game

Kansas S/T Kirshner 1974

Kansas S/T Kirshner 1974 CAT #32817

The best thing about the debut by Kansas is the cover.  This is the greatest cover on any album ever.  You don't like John Brown and the story behind Bleeding Kansas?  Fuck you, you're a racist.  Yeah dude, Kansas was on the right side; Free State.  That's how we roll, you're welcome.

Other than that, there's an absurd amount of fiddle on this LP.  I've never thought to myself, hey, these keyboards and rambling chord progressions could really use some fiddle.  But, the band Kansas did.  I guess that was going to be there calling card back in the day.  They were going to be that prog-rock outfit with a fuckin' fiddle.  Heads will explode.

Aside from that, there's a lot of boogie in the album.  It has its moments within the songs.  But, it lacks any sort of focus.  It's all the bands tricks at once.  They would get better, focusing on boogie and harmonies more so than all the prog and fiddle.  All lot of the songs show promise at the start before the band just starts lumping everything they have into them.  For one, The Pilgrimage, could have been solid had they not destroyed it with an organ break and a guitar vs. fiddle dual.  It's just that way throughout the entire thing.  The band focuses too much on trying to show you their virtuosic skills rather than their songwriting skills.

The Pilgrimage

Kansas Leftoverture Kirshner 1976

Kansas Leftoverture Kirshner 1976 CAT #34224

I don't really want to buy a bunch of Kansas (band) records for the sake of this blog that no one reads.  So, I suppose it's a good thing I got this one free from my old man.  If there's a Kansas album you have to own, I assume this is the one, right?  It's got the hit, "Carry On Wayward Son," made famous by the 1970's, AOR Radio, and later the video game Guitar Hero and the cartoon Southpark.

There are some things I love about the band Kansas.

1.  They are legitimately Kansas dudes, form Topeka.

2.  The song, "Carry On My Wayward Son" is pretty f'n good.

3.  They are about a 100 times better than the band called Missouri.

4.  They are virtually the only American Prog Band worth a shit.  Boston, maybe?  They had prog tendencies, right?  Journey sucks and can hardly be considered anything but overproduced.  Who else is there?  The great prog bands were British with the exception of Rush who is Canadian.  I'm sure there is some sort of hyper-obscure American prog-outfit out there.  However, in terms of going toe to toe with the Brits, these guys from Topeka are America's answer.

5.  Continuing on the prog-theme, Kansas made their version American.  Nothing about Kansas' music sounds plastic or over thought.  The songs have a groove--prog-rock you can dance to and girls actually like.  I love that this band had the balls to do it.  That's being a Jayhawker, man.  It's not always about what's par for the course, sometimes it's about finding your own thing, and Kansas certainly did that.

What I don't like about Kansas; it's that they are a prog-rock band.  I mean, I have a guilty pleasure in Rush, The band Yes is good.  And, you might catch me raising my fist to an Emerson, Lake & Palmer song.  But yeah, I wouldn't consider myself a fan.  However, what becomes apparent after listening to Kansas is that they are nowhere near the talent level those other bands are.  Thus the reason they probably throw in a bunch of boogie rock, it's to hide their inadequacy as a prog-band.  Again, cool they had the balls to do it.  They took beatings in the world of rock journalism because of it, but still made out like bandits.

Randy Marsh does Kansas