KANSAS (1974; Billboard chart peak - #174; gold certification [500,000 sold]) - The first album, though definitely not their best, shows the genesis of what would soon become the classic Kansas sound. The production is mediocre and there are a lot of rough edges in the songwriting, but spectacular instrumentation is obvious and the album has more than its fair share of great moments. Mysteriously, this album is the only one on which lead vocal parts were about evenly shared by keyboardist Steve Walsh and violinist Robby Steinhardt. Too bad, as Robby's sharp ability to both growl angrily and deliver soft, pleasant, mid-range parts was a great complement to Steve's high notes. Compositionally, it is one of Kansas's 2 or 3 darkest albums. Commercially, it was hardly a super seller, but did establish the group a solid cult following and sold fairly well over the long term.

1. Can I Tell You - Quite interestingly, the song that introduced Kansas to the record buying public is the only song in their career that was written entirely by orignal group members but not Steve or keyboardist/guitarist Kerry Livgren (drummer Phil Ehart, bassist Dave Hope and guitarist Rich Williams are credited). And even more interestingly, it's the song that got Don Kirshner interested in signing them. While the composition itself is mediocre, it does a fairly good job of displaying Kansas's knack for intricate arrangements and long instrumental breaks. And, of course, their most distinguishable feature, the violin. It also shows the hard rock edge that would always remain a part of Kansas's music, another element that made them distinct from the British prog forefathers.

2. Bringing it Back - Up next is the only released song from the original line-up that was written outside of the band (J. J. Cale). It's one of my least favorite Kansas songs, but it's still not bad, just mediocre. (Remember, Kansas at its worst still annihalates Nirvana at its best!) Ordinary up-tempo rock most of the way, but Robby Steinhardt's violin is spectacular.

3. Lonely Wind - Long before Styx made it cool for rock bands to do ballads, Steve came up with this much overlooked classic! The fact that this song, the album's only single release, failed to chart is living proof that most major record company execs need to have their heads checked! The oh-so-sweet melody would have been enough to make the song work, but throw in the gorgeous violin, the pounding drums and the extended chord progression during the instrumental break (rare during those days) and you have one of rock's first true "power ballads." And the outstanding harmony between Steve and Robby during the climactic final chours is the icing on the cake! Sadly, this one hasn't been done live in many years (to my knowledge), but the sympho album would be a great time to bring it back! By the way, check out the deep, possibly spiritual, lyrics - "When I'm needing a friend, I can talk to the wind, God, I sure am glad that I found him. Sometimes he seems to be the only one besides me who can feel the Lord's breath all around him." Is this really the same guy who had trouble with the Christian lyrics that Kerry would write in the early '80s?!

4. Belexes - One of the most menacing pieces that Kansas ever released. One of those rare songs on which everyone got to stand out. Beginning with a hot organ solo and leading into one of Dave's most ferocious bass lines and Steve's dramatic, screaming vocals. Rarely would he ever belt out a song with this much intensity. Or hit such high notes, as he does in the chorus!

5. Journey from Mariabronn - I don't like this one nearly as much as many of the die-hards, but it is a pretty good composition and a stellar performance. It's not as polished as some of their later overtly prog material, but shows how they got to that point. The verses, choruses and coda are particularly compelling. But a few of the instrumental sections don't reach out and grab me the way those of such later classics as Hopelessly Human, No One Together and Crossfire would. A good start, though.

6. The Pilgramage - The introduction to this song is perhaps the most unusual of Kansas's career - sort of like a jazz band rehearsing, I guess. But this turns out to be a good, catchy, upbeat pop song with vocal harmonies throughout about as good as those on the last verse of "Lonely Wind." In fact, when I listened to this track last night, I got excited thinking about the next Kansas studio album? Why? Because just think of how good the vocal harmonies can be now, adding Billy Greer's voice to Steve's and Robby's!

7. Apercu - Musically, this is a much overlooked prog classic, even, to some extent, among Kansas die-hards. The dramatic chorus is particularly effective. The fast section was later repeated, somewhat, on Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman and the violin near at the intro is similar to that of Mysteries and Mayhem. Unfortunately, the lyrics are pretty overtly about reincarnation (the title is a French word meaning "insight"), an idea that most Kansas fans, including me, reject (as the song's lyricist, Kerry, would shortly afterward). Maybe someday Kerry will cover this one with new words, as he did with Portrait (He Knew)!

8. Death of Mother Nature Suite - Ask ask longtime progger to name the 3 bands who played the biggest part in the molding and shaping of progressive rock and you're likely to hear, with little variation, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and King Crimson. Kerry cites all as influences in his autobiography, Seeds of Change and this song is Kansas's closet in sound to KC - very dark, long, menacing progressive rock with very few commerical elements. Fortunately, however, it lacks the general weirdness that usually makes KC very difficult to listen to, particularly at length. The use of dynamics is very powerful, easing the listener with the soft, quiet verses and suddenly exploding with Robby's "AND NOW SHE'S GONNA DIE!" into the chorus! And the dramatic, much speeded up finale was a harbinger of the climactic endings of many Kansas albums!

SONG FOR AMERICA (1975, #57, gold) - The 2nd album was a very good step up for the band, both artistically and commercially. Releasing an album with just 6 songs (3 of which run over 8 minutes) was certainly not what the record company wanted to see. But while Kansas was still lacking a hit single, the title track received solid airplay on album oriented rock (AOR) stations and the songs in general are more gripping than those on the previous year's debut. Extremely gripping, in some cases. It was also the first of 4 consecutive albums on which they developed their sound working with producer Jeff Glixman, the debut having been produced by Wally Gold, the Don Kirshner representative who viewed the band's showcase in Topeka.

1. Down the Road - This song actually helped Kansas get a bit of an audience with the Lynyrd Skynyrd/Marshall Tucker Band crowd! I'm surprised that they're not currently playing it on their dates with ZZ Top! It also gave us our first glimpse into Steve's continuing interest in writing about life on the streets (after which he would name his own band a decade later). It's the type of fast paced, energetic song that works very well in a live setting, particularly with the very memorable bass and violin lines (the latter of which adds a bit of a country edge; a leaning that Kansas rarely displayed). But is pales in comparison to what's about to follow, which is the best 1-2 punch of Kansas's career!

2. Song for America - The masterpiece! If I ever write a song this good, I think I'll probably retire on the spot! I still remember that fateful day 9 years ago when I played this for the first time! At the time, I was 17 and a senior in high school, still living in my hometown, Madison, Indiana (50 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky). I had picked up on Styx, Boston, Queen, Pink Floyd and ELP, among others, in the previous couple of years as I looked for alternatives to the ever deteriorating pop scene. Knowing this, my guitar teacher, Mike Yheulon (whatever happened to you, man?!), who was 5 years older, strongly urged me to check out Kansas. After Mike asked me every Wednesday at my lesson for about a month if I had bought a Kansas album yet, I finally got around to it. On October 29, 1988, I was shopping at the Musicland store at the Oxmoor mall in Louisville and searched the Kansas section. I picked up this one because it had the coolest cover of the bunch (my guitar teacher never recommended a specific one and I had no idea which ones were the most popular). The next day, I popped the CD in. "Down the Road" didn't appeal to me that much at first listen (though it would grow on me in time). "This doesn't sound very progressive to me," I thought, wondering what Mike was thinking. But about 5 seconds into the opening violin section of the title track, I knew that I had just found my favorite band of all time and my life would never be the same! It was as if the music jumped out of the speakers and hooked me through the mouth like a catfish! The sheer beauty and passion of the melody, chord progression and arrangement simply left me awe struck! I had experienced that from music less than 10, probably less than 5 times previously in my life! That first 3 minutes or so of the song has got to be one of the most brilliant pieces of music ever! Many songs have a really cool section here and there, but this one keeps the fire of excellence burning through several different sections! After all these years, it's still my favorite Kansas song. It's one of the few songs that I can hear over and over without getting tired of! And I'm happy to report that this song rolled to the number one position of the top 10 Kansas songs survey that I conducted through my Audio Confessions magazine! Even beating out you know what and you know what else!

3. Lamplgiht Symphony - Talk about a great encore! After getting my first taste of the album's title track, I didn't care if they rest of the album sounded like New Kids on the Block! But then came this masterpiece, nearly as compelling as its immediate predecessor! "Lamplight" pours out sheer intensity from start to finish. First the pounding cinematic intro (they just MUST do the complete song on the sympho album and tour, not just the little excerpt from the Two for the Show medley). Then into the gentle yet ferociously gripping verses and choruses. From there, the frenzic instrumental break which leads to the glorious piano arpegios, flavored by violin. You get the point! Oh yeah, and did I mention that the lyrics hammer you right between the eyes? A beautiful love song of a much different kind!

4. Lonely Street - Maybe I've never given this song a fair enough chance (but than again, how fair is it to make ANY song follow "SFA" and "Lamplight")?! A decent piece of slow blues-rock with hard hitting lyrics about life in prison. The 11/8 section showed one of the band's trademarks - unusual time signatures - but it just seems to anticlimatic, sorry to say. I once saw it performed in concert as a medley with Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused. Billy did a great Robert Plant scream!

5. The Devil Game - Like "Lonely Street," this up-tempo rocker also seems anticlimatic to me, though the bright instrumental intro is pretty good. I've wondered for years whether the film The Exorcist, which was just a couple of years old at the time, influenced the lyrics. Steve, after all, has often been inspired by movies.

6. Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman - Verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/chorus/fadeout it ain't! In the early days, few Kansas songs fell into that common rock and roll pattern, but this one particularly not! Quite a few Kansas songs were comprised of diverse sections that were pieced together. This one is the most extreme example. It almost slips away a few times, but is strong much of the way through. It's also one of Kansas's most depressing songs. Always underrated by the general public as a drummer, Phil delivers an excellent solo and the synthesizers are great for 1975. And the fiery, intense song and album ending build up almost brings back the magic of #s 2 and 3! It's also Kansas's longest studio track - just over 12 minutes.

MASQUE (1975, #70, gold) - This is a great album by any standards, but is a particularly a triumph considering that it was released just 8 months after "SFA!" The most commercial Kansas album up to that point, it still retains a very rich musical foundation and helped the group continue to establish itself as a legitimate force on the market, though mass popularity was still elusive.

1. It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man) - This very commercial pop song seems to take a bad rap from many Kansas die-hards, but I actually really like it! Nothing revolutionary, just good time rock and roll with a very catchy hook! In particular, I think it would be a great audience energizer in concert, especially with the double time jam and Steve's howling at the end!

2. Two Cents Worth - I'm quite serious when I saw that I don't think that Kansas has a single bad song. But this is one of the few that I would classify only as mediocre. An ordinary mid-tempo shuffle. Nothing that really grabs me, musically. However, Kerry's lyrics are interesting and reflect the pessimistic world view that, according to his book, he had at the time.

3. Icarus - Borne of Wings of Steel - A good attempt, though I think it falls short in impact of many of Kansas's other prog jams. Still, the arrangement is powerful, particularly the combination of the explosion and guitar patterns that lead into the first verse. I don't remember where, but I read that Kerry said that the lyrics were more about his father than the Icarus the mythological character. It might have been in the late Closet Chronicle.

4. All the World - Too bad that Steve didn't write more sweet ballads like this! It might have given the band many more hit singles (please understand, my desire for Kansas to have hit singles is not for selling out purposes, only because the more commercial succes they have, the longer that they're likely to stick around)! This is a really touching song, musically and lyrically. However, I really don't understand why the eerie instrumental break was used. It's not bad at all, it just doesn't flow well with the rest of the song.

5. Child of Innocence - Just sizzling, particularly live! And one of Robby's most hard hitting vocal performances. He does a great grim reaper (the subject of the song)! The verses are sheer blood sweat and tears and the choruses are more melodic. The instrumental section is very powerful, too, but it's been even better on tour this year, starting off very quietly and building into a monster!

6. It's You - Lyrically, it's pretty silly (the chrous is "Oh, it's You/Oh, I'm blue"), but musically, is just great fun, much like the album opening "Woman's Love!" And like that song, I think it would be a great live jam. It's also one of the best uses of violin in a pop song that I've ever heard. And Steve's howl after the last "Oh, it's you" is the kind of exciting climax that Kansas has achieved on many diverse types of songs. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that at about 2:20 it's the shortest Kansas studio song with vocals. Correct me if I'm wrong!

7. Mysteries and Mayhem - This song is about a nightmare! ("I think my legs are made of lead, 'cause I'm running and I get nowhere.") Cool concept and the music fits! Dark, hard rock but with lots of violin and unusual time signatures. It's odd that Kerry mentions "the mark of Cain" in the lyrics and went on to say in his book that he didn't know the significance of it! I think that he could say that about many of his lyrics over the next 3 studio albums!

8. The Pinnacle - Another of Kerry's prog masterpieces! And another that must go on the symphonic album! In fact, John Williams ought to put the finale of this one at the close of the next Steven Spielberg movie! One of those bleak, sorrowful songs that builds up to a glorious, optimistic ending! The ending just gives me chills down my spine, especially the way it quiets as if it's going to fade out before coming back and giving us one last shot! What a way to close an album!

To continue the Kansas saga
Return to main page