AUDIO-VISIONS (1980, #26, gold) - The 7th and last album to feature the original line-up, sorry to say. A great album in its own right, just slightly more pop than "Monolith" and featuring, as usual, some brilliant writing from Kerry. The quality of the album was probably slightly reduced by Steve releasing his only solo album, Schemer Dreamer, earlier in the year. Most of the material on that album is quite strong. His best material seemed to go there. Taking the best 5 songs from that album and putting them with the best 5 from "Audio-Visions" would have made for a phenomenon. By this point, Kerry had become a Christian and his new found faith is detectable in all 4 of the songs from the album on which he wrote the lyrics. Meanwhile, Steve's lyrics go far in another direction - very commercial and largely boy/girl love themes, which had been sparse for Kansas up to that point. Steve would later say in interviews that it was an effort to counter Kerry's lyrics. The writing between the 2 was as far apart as it had been since "Masque," 5 years and 4 studio albums earlier. Still, much of the album works out quite well and knowing that these 6 immensely talented men would never create music together again makes it sentimental listening.
1. Relentless - The Christian Kansas era begins in good style with this hard rocking, celebratory ballad. In particular, the emotional instrumental build up into the last verse in quite powerful. Though barely remembered by the general public, this one is quite popular with the fans. It reached #28 on my survey, much better than I expected.
2. Anything for You - One of Steve's best compositions, this song should have been the album's first single release. A very bittersweet, mid-tempo ballad, heavy on acoustic piano. Great lyrics for a boy/girl theme, dealing with the conflict between an altruist and one to whom "love is just another game you play." This would have been very sellable to top 40 radio in 1980, much more than its immediate successor.
3. Hold On (#40) - Kansas reached the Billboard top 40 with 7 songs and this is my least favorite. It's not bad at all, in fact I can say quite a few good things about it. The melodic guitar lead is quite good and Steve's theatric vocal interpretation was one of his best up to that point. But the composition always seemed more good than great to me, not reaching out and grabbing me the way that many other Kansas songs did. My guess is that the record company released it because it was an acoustic song with a prominent violin part, as "Dust in the Wind" was. But "Hold On" lacks the gorgeous, black and white simplicity and universal message of "Dust" and, not surprisingly, became nowhere near as successful. Some might argue that the "Hold On" features a universal message, too - the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. While that's true, it's not explicitly stated in the lyrics, it's more subtle like most of Kerry's Christian messages. "Hold On" could easily be mistaken for a boy/girl song, while "Dust" was quite explicit.
4. Loner - It's hard to believe that this made it on to the box set and 15-20 other songs didn't. One of Steve's most free spirited songs, this hard rocker isn't very remarkable except for a very cool but brief guitar pattern that follow the words "I'm a loner" after the second chrous. Dave does have a very good, challenging bass line.
5. Curtain of Iron - The songs on Kerry's solo debut, Seeds of Change, released earlier that year, are very distinct from those on this album. With the notable exception of the jazzy keyboard intro to this song (repeated prior to the last verse). That section definitely sounds like it was leftover from the "Seeds" sessions. It's pretty cool, but doesn't really flow well with the rest of the song. The somber, balladic verses and hard hitting choruses work well with the song's unusual theme - religious oppresstion in a tyrannical society. The hard rocking section is a virtual remake of that of "Sparks of the Tempest." The chorus was used well as the band left the stage following the 1982 MTV concert.
6. Got to Rock On (#76) - The introduction to this song is great rock and roll. An bright, energetic combination of organ and semi-distorted guitar. But the rest of the song fails to deliver as strongly for me. It slips into mediocrity from there. Nothing special about the verse, bridge, chorus or anything else, sorry to say. You're still awesome, though, Steve!
7. Don't Open Your Eyes - It's hard for me to understand how this song has been so overlooked. It's so much of the classic Kansas sound, yet it got not a single point in my survey, one of only 9 of Kansas's 110 commercially released songs to meet that fate. All of the well known Kansas elements are in place - weird time signatures, heavy violin, sheer musical intensity, menacing lyrics, you name it. Nice stereo effects with Steve repeatedly singing the title near the end.
8. No One Together - Brilliant! A masterpiece! Stunning! Fabulous! Awesome! I could think of many more appropriate adjectives, but you get the idea! I rank this as my 3rd favorite Kansas song, behind "Song for America" and "The Wall." How Kerry managed to come up with this one, I don't know! It certainly was a massive undertaking, fusing so many sections into a 7 minute rock symphony without even a slight hint of a dull moment! Gorgeous and inspiring throughout with touching lyrics of optimism at the end. I couldn't quite pick it out myself, but according to Kerry's book, the last verse is about the peace that Jesus will bring to earth upon his return. I'd love to hear this one on the symphonic album and tour. Rich told me that the problem with that would be that the orchestras probably wouldn't have enough time to rehearse to get this one together. Too bad. The MTV concert proves that the band can do it live quite well.
9. No Room for a Stranger - Decent blues rock with Steve's familiar down-on-your-luck type lyrics. In particular, some well done instrumental breaks. But it's hard to go crazy about considering its immediate predecessor.
10. Back Door - I actually know of at least 2 people who cite this as their favorite Kansas song. I respect their opinions, but I've never been too crazy about it. I've always found it to be a pleasant but unremarkable, ungripping ballad, despite Steve's very passionate lyrics "I want the world to be a place where no one comes to suffer..." The bagpipes sounds at the end are a first and only for the band. Kind of appropriate, as they could have led a funeral march for the original line-up, which ended with that song. But the Kansas saga continued with...
VINYL CONFESSIONS (1982, #16) - Following years of tenstion concerning the musical direction of the band, Steve Walsh was finally gone, the Christian lyrics having been the last straw, according to Kerry's book (to my knowledge, Steve has never refuted this). Finding a replacement for a man who was both an outstanding lead vocalist and typically the composer of about half of the material of Kansas's albums would be a monumental task, but the band rose to the occasion and found a sensational young talent named John Elefante. Only in his early 20s at the time, John had a voice about as strong as Steve's, was a prolific pop writer and a fine keyboardist. He clearly lacked Steve's stage presence, but could compete with him in every other way. And having never participated in an album before, he could contribute the absolute best songs that he and brother/writing partner Dino Elefante had compiled over the years. That's probably a big part of the reason that this album, by a slight margin, is my favorite from Kansas (A very close call over "Point"). Kerry had some fine material too, of course, and then the outstanding cover Play the Game Tonight. The album is progressive edged pop. Clearly, Kansas was becoming more commercial but they were also creating outstanding music. That's the main thing. This is also their most overtly Christian work. It did reasonably well, but, like its 2 immediate predecessors, didn't have much staying power. Too bad, as it contained hit single potential galore. Those darn record company execs. Sadly, this would be Robby's last album with the band (so far).
1. Play the Game Tonight (#17) - When it comes to pop singles, it doesn't get much better than this. After Steve left, the band was looking for quality material and picked out a great one called Stay with Me Tonight. Kerry found the lyrics to me immoral and he, Rich and Phil re-wrote them. While it seems like the lyrics suffer from being a somewhat incohesive of original and re-written ones (starting from scratch probably would have been a better idea. Maybe they did, but it doesn't seem like it), the music is so powerful and intense that it doesn't take much away from the song. In particular, the violin is awesome, especially its dramatic solo the leads into the last chorus. Only "Carry On" and "Dust" charted higher among Kansas singles and I think that this is their best single. A real emotional trip! Parts of this song were made even better on the 1989 King Biscuit telecast. The piano was harder hitting and Steve delivered a great theatric interpretation of the 2nd verse, similar to his work on the studio version of The Rainmaker.
2. Right Away (#72) - The chart peak indicates that the record company wrecked what should have been a top 5 and platinum smash. Remember, top 40 radio was great in this year. Also, MTV was just starting at the time and few realized the commercial potential of the video format. So a video could have pushed this song over the top. Written by John and Dino, this is pretty lightweight, but irresistable, optimistic and energetic. Very under appreciated, even by most Kansas die-hards. The hook is the kind that just about completely disappeared from pop radio about 10-11 years ago. Remember, it's possible to be commercial and outstanding at the same time!
3. Fair Exchange - I never cared much for blues, which is largely what this is. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it's the only Kansas song to feature a harmonica in its studio version. The choruses are somewhat interesting, though. A style very difficult to describe. Dark and mid-tempo are accurate descriptions of it, but I can't think of much more to say about it. Lyrically it seems to have elements of both George Orwell's 1984 and Revelation chapter 13.
4. Chasing Shadows - Should have gone top 5 as well. A deeply passionate and moving ballad from John and Dino and a very dramatic lead vocal performance by John, which reflects the lyrical theme of desperation. The dual violin solo might be as good as that on "Dust." This song was virtually remade by the pop metal group Prophet in 1988 as Tomorrow Never Comes (from Cycle of the Moon). And it was literally remade this year by the Elefante produced contemporary Christian group Nouveau. The Prophet version is excellent, almost as good as the original; the Nouveau version mediocre by comparison. This should go on the sympho album, but it almost certainly won't. The band seems to be unfairly prejudiced against the Elefante era. The In the Spirit of Things tour program didn't even mention this album or Drastic Measures in its Kansas discography. That was "empty and cold."
5. Diamonds and Pearls - If Kerry felt the urge to engage just once in broadway style composition, he did a pretty good job with this one. Definitely much unlike any other Kansas song. Lots of horns, even a prominent bassoon part. Very fun and upbeat, could have easily been sung by Liza Minelli. The lyrics deal with the emptiness of materialism, a classic Styx theme.
6. Face It - The instrumental introduction is just about the most awesome thing ever recorded. I've even thought about doing just that section of the song on the upcoming Audio Confessions Kansas tribute album. Just total intense emotion, reflected through acoustic piano and violin. That alone makes this album worth purchasing. The rest of the song is also quite good. Very serious minded mid-tempo rock.
7. Windows - One of the few '80s songs that had the classic Kansas sound all the way through. Not surprising, as Kerry mentioned in his book that it was already several years old at the time. It's most reminiscent of the "Point" era. Frenzic, aggressive rock with the familiar time signature changes and call for spiritual understanding. Dave bass line is one of his most memorable. Watch him on the MTV concert to see what a workout it is!
8. Borderline - Probably my least favorite song on the album. Pleasant but not very impressionable pop rock.
9. Play On - Another Elefante masterpiece (with Kerry writing the lyrics). In my fantasy ultimate Kansas concert, the last encore would begin with a Phil drum solo that would lead into this song followed by Incident on a Bridge (more on that when we get up to "Bridge"). With its emotionally charged melody, heart wrenching lyrics and relentless energy, this is my favorite song on the album (which is saying a lot) and I rate it #6 overall in Kansas history.
10. Crossfire - By far Kerry's best composition for the album, this is the one that allegedly led Steve to quit because of its clear Christian message ("there's a hunger life can never fill 'til you face the One who rose"). So sad, especially since it's such a Kansas classic. In my survey, this one charted higher than any other Elefante era song (#27). The bittersweet piano intro is stunningly beautiful and the extensive instrumental break is a symphonic rock classic. Fortunately, those of of who have the MTV concert can see how great it was in a live setting. It ought to also be on the sympho album, but you know how things are.
DRASTIC MEASURES (1983, #41) - Got about 12 hours? That's about how long it would take me to assess this album. By far the most unusual, most maligned, most misunderstood and most under appreciated album of Kansas's career. There's no denying that the sound of this album is far different than that of any of its predecessors - techno pop-hard rock with few progressive moments). John Elefante, who wrote or co-wrote 6 of the album's 9 songs, usually takes the blame for this (Kerry shockingly wrote just 3, making it the lowest input on any Kansas album on which he was a member of the band). But probably the biggest reason for the dramatic change in sound was the unlikely use of Neil Kernon as producer. Kansas developed its sound with Jeff Glixman on 4 consecutive albums ("Song for America" through "Point"), continued it by themselves on "Monolith" and "Audio-Visions" and used like-minded Ken Scott (Supertramp, Dixie Dregs) on "Vinyl." But in Kernon, they encountered a man who would go on to produce pop metal groups such as Autograph and Britny Fox. Thus the same glossy studio tricks that musically limited acts would thrive on in the late '80s were now used on Kansas. But while I very strongly believe that a replacement violinist should have been added following Robby's departure, I believe that this is a pure Kansas album all the way simply because of the songs are great. To me, Kansas isn't merely Steve's voice, Kerry's writing, Robby's violin, 8 minute songs, 11/4 time signatures or anything else other than a symbol of excellence. And, at least to me, this album is definitely musical excellence. While Kansas fans are generally open minded people, I believe that upon hearing this album for the first time, many die-hards rejected it and rarely or never played it again. However, I made myself listen to it about once a day for the first few days after buying it and around the 3rd or 4th listen, it clicked and became, to me, one of Kansas's best. So if you've barely listened to this one, take my challenge - listen to this one from start to finish every day for a week. If at the end of that time, you still don't like it, so be it. But I think that many of you will. There are people who have expressed to me that they have grown to like it in time.
1. Fight Fire With Fire (#58) - Infectious is almost too weak a word to describe this, the album's only significant hit! Definitely one of Kansas's most effective feel good songs! The opening guitar pattern, as simple as it is, combined with heavy drum backing, instantly send a message that the listener is in for a real treat. The guitar sound is difficult to describe. Definitely very chunky, though. I like it very much and never heard it duplicated again, not even on any of Kernon's other albums. The bright keyboards are also very pleasing. And the intense organ section (instead of a solo) works well as a climax into the final chorus. I was disappointed to hear that John was merely reading a newspaper during his soliloquy, which was mixed down to typical Pink Floyd level! I had envisioned him saying something really heavy or at least quotable (such as "...if you give him a ahort, sharp shot and he won't get up again. Dig it?")! Probably my favorite Kansas video, as well. This song would have worked quite well in a movie such as Rocky, The Karate Kid or Vision Quest.
2. Everybody's My Friend - Probably 1 of the 2 most maligned Kansas songs, the upcoming Andi being the other, let's just try to look at it realistically. Yes, I think the catch phrase "Hello, Hello" is done in a pretty corny way and something just ain't right about the line "Have you met Mick Jagger" being in a Kansas song. But that's about where my criticisms of this song end. Obviously, it's far from the most ambitious piece ever written, but this very upbeat, mid-tempo rocker is a very catchy tune. The main guitar riff is actually a slight variation of that of Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train, one of the great pop metal anthems. Plus, the techno synthesizer magic in the final verse is a great enhancement. And it even manages to find a way to pay tribute to the "old" Kansas by inserting a 5/4 measure into the chorus! I heard John say in an interview on Rockline that the its sarcastic lyrics come from people who were barely aquainted with him suddenly trying to be buddy buddy with him after he joined Kansas. It 45's picture sleeve is probably the weirdest ever used by Kansas - it features a mug shot of a masked professional wrestler! And on one final trivial note - I heard than around the mid-'80s, my beloved University of Louisville Cardinals football team used this song is a TV advertisement for the "tailgate" parties that have become commonplace before their home games! I keep meaning to write the athletic department at U of L and ask them about that one!
3. Mainstream - The first of Kerry's 3 songwriting contributions to the album, this one reflects the frustration that he was experiencing at the time, "caught in the crossfire" between wanting to excel artistically and the pressure to "crank 'em out on the assembly line and chart 'em higher, higher, higher. Just keep it simple boys..." One of only 2 songs by progressive artists that I can think of that deals with the record industry, Magellan's Preaching the Converted being the other. Ironically, the music is quite cheerful, starting with a hard rocking guitar riff identical to that of Sammy Hagar's There's Only One Way to Rock and complemented by a synthesizer effect that's a bit corny but works quite well given the nature of the song. "Mainstream" all features the most progressive thing on the album, a very long, cinematic, synth dominated, instrumental break that is much different than the rest of the song, much like the same section of "All the World" is. Both in composition and production, the instrumental section of "Mainstream" is one of the album's highlights. Very intense and compelling. I heard that one of the special effects in the background is a sampling of a quarter spinning on a table! Mysteriously, the first 6 drum clicks of the song were omitted from the CD release!
4. Andi - Okay, let me shock most of you by saying right off - I LOVE this song! Seriously! You got a problem with that?! Sure, I would have arranged it quite a bit differently. I would have rocked it up and made it more of a power ballad, in the Loverboy/TNT/Survivor/Giuffria vein. I would have used something a lot different than the xylophone sound and touched up the verses. But overall, it's a very beautiful, touching song! Just listen to it with an open mind! And the lyrics offer a nice message of hope.
5. Going Through the Motions - The chord progression in the introduction and verses is not only extremely basic, I don't think I've heard it used on any other song - just a regular C scale. But thanks to a cool synth riff, hard hitting rhythm tracks and Floydian background voices, it manages to work! And then the fantastic emotionally charged section that precedes the last chorus is the icing on the cake!
6. Get Rich - My least favorite song on the album, the production makes it more interesting than it otherwise would have been. Competent mid-tempo rock, otherwise. The lyrics hit on the theme of materialism, sort of like "Diamonds and Pearls" from the previous album.
7. Don't Take Your Love Away - I always wished that Kansas would have done more power ballads, but so far, there's just been this and Can't Cry Anymore. Hey, 2 out of 110 ain't bad! One of the many examples of Kansas songs that should have been hugely successful but weren't because of the ineptitude of the record industry boys. The message is one that you've heard hundreds of times before (though not often from Kansas), but it's still a great song. The verses, in particular, are gorgeous and the pre-solo section is very hard hitting as well. But despite the familiarity of the boy/girl love song theme, there is a line that really hits close to home - "The years are passing by me like a fast train that's here and gone, it's gone, where it goes I just don't know." I definitely can relate to that one. For example, as I write this (November 7, 1997), it was 10 years ago today that I saw Pink Floyd for the first, and so far only, time. "And then one day you find 10 years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun." No, "It sure don't seem like (10) years." What can I say? It has gone by like a fast train. "We're here for such a short, short time," after all. And "Don't Take Your Love Away" is very powerful at expressing the desire to cling to something with the limited time that we all have in this life. When the 1990 budget compilation Carry On was released in 1990 (6 years before "DM" came out on CD), I bought it simply so I could have this song on CD!
8. End of the Age - Indeed, the end was near for Kerry, Dave and John's tenures in the band by this point. But that's not the "end" that this song addresses. It's the end of the world, one of Kerry's favorite themes to write about after his conversion. One of only 2 songs on the album with an overtly Christian message, its immediate successor being the other. I've never heard any reason given from band members why Christinaity was downplayed on this album, particularly as active Christians now comprised 3/5 of the band and 100% of the writing force. Record company pressure, perhaps? Musically, this song is the closest on the album to the classic Kansas sound. Very dark, mid-tempo rock, reasonably compelling, but nowhere near as good as...
9. Incident on a Bridge - I widely consider this to be Kansas's most underrated song. And I strongly believe that if it had been from any other studio album that it would be widely recognized as the powerhouse of a song that it is. The fact that this song reached #52 on my survey is a sheer triumph (other than "Fight Fire With Fire," #45, no other song from this album charted higher than #78) and a great testament to the fact that at least a few others agree with me on this point! From the opening electric piano chords to the fade out, this is 5 1/2 minutes of Kerry's writing at it's most jubilant, uplifting, inspiring and optimistic! Every time that I hear this song and it's message of hope, it just leaves me on an emotional high, which to me is what music is all about! If I was in charge, this song would end every single Kansas show, as it would be just perfect for sending everybody home fired up and with a grin from ear to ear! What a tragedy that, I'm almost 100% certain, Kansas has never performed this one live. So I've decided that this is my top pick to cover for the Audio Confessions tribute album! Lyrically, I interpret it as hard hitting moment when all of a sudden a series of seemingly meaningless events all begin to make perfect sense ("The outcome was never known and our purpose was never shown 'til everything fell into place") as part of a divine plan that brings a man and a woman together ("When I look back, I see the plan, when I retrace the race we ran, the course was so clear and true, each bridge that we crossed led me straight to you"). Such a shame that this song ended Kerry's most brilliant career with Kansas, but at least he went out in a blaze of glory!
New song from THE BEST OF KANSAS (1984) -
Perfect Lover - Record companies love to have a new song on compilation albums, as it helps sell them to even the die-hards who otherwise might not buy them, thinking "I already have all of these song on studio albums." So, not surprisingly, a new song emerged on this collection. And, considering that the group was virtually disbanded already, it's not surprising that it's not among Kansas's better songs. It's real strength is in it's outstanding "DM" type production, particularly the awesome synthesizer sounds. Compositionally, it's an ordinary mid-tempo rocker from the Elefante brothers. The opening guitar riff is a variation of that of Sweet's Love is Like Oxygen. It's decent, but way below the Kansas average. I can't confirm it, but I heard that Kerry and Dave didn't even play on it or even know about the song until the album came out. Regardless, at the time, it looked like it might be the last Kansas song ever and it's not the way many people wanted it to end. Fortunately, it didn't!