Cygnus X-1 wrote: I recently found my old kansas cds and have been listening to them. Gotta say these guys are fast becoming a prog fav. They just have some of the best elements of music, great guitar/bass/drums, fantastic synth and some of the best vocals. Anyone care to share their fav albums or songs? I love: The Preacher House on Fire Child Of Innocence Song For America and of course Dust in the wind.

The extrended version of Song for America is my favorite by these guys.  They have a fantastic live CD called Two for the Show.

I heard some of their songs on a prog online-radio station. I really liked it but I dont own a single CD by them. Does anyone have a recomendation for what should I buy as my 'First Kansas CD'? (or first second and third Kansas CDs? Which are the ones that are a must have?)

Sorry for changing the subject a bit...

one of my favourites is "miracles out of nowhere"

the entire "Point.." and "Leftoverture" are magnificent

Borne On Wings Of Steel is a tremendous mini-epic...

Like 99.99% of the entire world population I only knew them by Dust In The Wind. Maybe not bad, but a song that gets too much  airplay in public places. When a progmate suggested me to check out early Kansas I thought he had gone a bit funny in the head. Big was my surprise when I found out these guys did some fine symphonic prog back in the seventies. Good musicians as well, and violin too. Yes sir, I like it. 

Best albums for me: Point Of Know Return, Leftoverture and Kansas (side 2 rules). Best songs? Hopelessly Human, Apercu/Death Of Mother Nature Suite (just have to hear them together) Miracles Out Of Nowhere, Magnum Opus, to name a few.

I like The Spider also, but that song almost got me under a running train. Not that it is very depressing, but the cup of the ride cymbal used on this recording sounds a lot like the bell-alert used on unsecured dutch railroad crossings. When you are approaching such a crossing on a bike, do not play this track loudly on your walkman (())

Kansas are the BALLS!

I really like this band... they are so underrated around these parts that's it's ridiculous.  Leftoverture and Point of Know Return are the perfectly place to start for the uninitiated.  My favorite Kansas song is "Lightning's Hand," which is not really proggy by any stretch of the imagination but it just flat out rocks.

"Journey From Mariabronn" from their first album is an absolute CLASSIC and to this day one of my all time favorites by any artist.  Some of the other highlights from this great prog band are....

"Song For America" from the LP of the same name.  "Lamplight Symphony" from the this same album.

"Icarus - Borne on Wings of Steel" from the bands Masque album.

"Miracles Out of Nowhere" and "Opus Insert" are just great tunes from the Leftoverture record.

Point Of Know Return has many great tunes such as the title cut, "Portrait" (another CLASSIC) "Paradox", "Sparks of the Tempest" and "Closet Chronicles".

Monolith is somewhat unpopular with casual listeners (and some fans) but I think there are some real gems here like "Reason to Be" and "Away From You".

The band slipped a little on their next album Audio Visions.  Although a few cuts, "No One Together" and "Relentless" are pretty good.

Unfortunately the next few albums without Steve Walsh aren't that good.  Then Walsh rejoined a few years later on the band's Power LP.  Although it was a step up, the band never released another record that could live up to their standards of the 70's.

Point of know return are great

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Kansas- Journey from Mariabronn, Apercu and Death of Mother Nature Suite

Song For America- Title song, Lamplight Symphony, Incomudro, Devils Game

Masque- Icarus-Born on Wings of Steel, Child OF Innocence, Mysteries and Mayhem, The Pinnacle

Leftoverature- The Wall, Miracles out of Nowhere, Opus Insert, Magnus Opus

Point of Know Return- Hopelessly Human (Possibly their best ever)

Monolith-On the Other Side, Glimpse of Home,

Audio Visions- No One Together, Curtain of Iron

Somewhere to Elsewhere- Icarus II, Distant Visions, Myriad, Byzantium

And don't forget Kerry Livgrens AD and Proto-Kaw.

Their best works, IMHO: "Leftoverture", "Point of Know Return" and "Monolith".

Fav Kansas albums:

Song For America

Masque

Leftoverture

Point of Know Return

Fav Kansas Albums (in order)

1. Leftoverture (1976)
2. Song for America (1975)
3. Kansas (1974)
4. Masques (1975)
5. Point of No Return (1977)
   
   underrated band!  IMO the best prog band out of the USA ever.
   
   

Harbinger1 wrote: A little trivia guys. The Steve Hackett solo album (from Genesis fame)  Please Don't Touch features a song called Narnia-yes that Narnia, which features the vocals of Steve Walsh of Kansas. The CD is terrific, and the price is worth that song alone, although the rest of the CD great. Also has a great song with Richie Havens on vocals. Just thought I would add this little tidbit.

Please Don't Touch was a great album, recorded when Kansas were still in their prime and Steve Walsh's voice could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.  Narnia is one of finest tracks on one of Hackett's most atypical albums.  Definitely worth the price.

This is great!  A Kansas thread with no one bashing them (yet) as some trite "American" prog-posers (see many previous Kansas threads on these same archives).

For those new to the group, try these on for size and judge for yourself:

Kansas (1974) - Journey from Mariabronn, Death of Mother Nature Suite (and check out Bringing it Back for a very smoking in-your-face version of Kansas blues)
Song for America (1975) - Incomudro, Hymn to the Atman, Song for America (and more smoking riffs on Down the Road)
Masque (1975) - Icarus, Borne on Wings of Steel (AWESOME!), The Pinnacle
Leftoverture (1976) - Just play the whole thing. The remastered has great live tracks of Point of Know Return and Cheyenne Anthemn
Point of Know Return (1977) - This one does not have one bad song on it
Two For the Show (1978 live) - The first album they produced themselves, one of the best live albums I've heard from any prog band
Monolith (1979) - A Glimpse of Home, People of the South Wind, Away From You, Reason to Be. This album reflects the band's tired longing to get back to familiar surroundings after about six years of non-stop touring.
Audio-Visions (1980) - This is a really interesting album.  There are three types of songs here - pounding Steve Walsh rockers (Relentless, Got to Rock On, and Loner), Livgren's last glimmers of prog excellence (No One Together, Curtain of Iron), and some rather uncomfortable attempts to compromise between the two (Don't Open Your Eyes, Back Door).  This is almost a sampler of the solo albums that came out the same year for Livgren and Walsh.
Vinyl Confessions (1982) - Windows and Crossfire are pretty decent songs, but I never got used to Elephante trying to emulate Walsh's sound after he left.  I think Kerry hit a creative dry-spell here without Walsh privding the yin to his yang.
Drastic Measures (1983) - Read Hugues Chantraine's review.  Pretty much says it all.  Mainstream and Incident on a Bridge are actually decent songs, but Going Through the Motions pretty much describes what the band was doing at this point.
Power (1986) - Walsh is back, Livgren is gone, and the only thing remotely progressive here is that they moved on to a new record label.  Tomb 19 is the only thing that rises above 80's rock on this album, although it was good to here Walsh with the band again.
In the Spirit of Things (1988) - This was actually a theme album, and the first where the band invited a lot of outside musicians to play.  Not much to crow about here, but I must admit this album has grown on me in recent years.
Freaks of Nature (1995) - I actually liked the sound of this album, as it was the closest thing to the early Kansas they ever achieved after Monolith, despite Steinhardt and Livgren missing from the lineup.  Hope Once Again, Black Fathom 4, Under the Knife, and Cold Grey Morning are all worth a listen.
Always Never the Same (1998) - Mostly remakes of old standards, but Steinhardt was back behind the bow and the sound was quite listenable.
Somewhere to Elsewhere (2000) - Livgren is back for one last encore!  Byzantium and Myriad are quite good, andthe rest of the album has a nice feel to it.  Not a blockbuster release, but a welcome reminisce for lots of old fans.
Device Voice Drum (2002) - I'm not exactly sure why the band put together this collection, but there are some good alternate takes on some old standards.

Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection (2004) - This is by far the best collection of the band's hits (mostly the original recordings).  It also has a must-have DVD of early Kirshner's Rock Concert live video, several promo videos from Monolith that are actually kind of funny, and some really atrociously awful 80's MTV videos.  There are also some (all too brief) interviews with all the members (including Livgren).  This was the best money I spent on a CD collection last year.

Also, if you haven't already, check out Proto-Kaw (reincarnation of the original Kansas lineup with Kerry Livgren).  These guys are really emerging as a mature, exciting prog band of middle-agers catching their second wind.

Steve Walsh also has several solo albums (Schemer-Dreamer from 1981, and more recently Shadowman and Glossiolia), which all have some decent music, although not even remotely prog.  I've also heard a song called Life Goes On that Walsh did a long while back with Jeff Watson where Walsh's vocals are quite clean and strong (although I have no idea where it came from).

Livgren's AD, and especially the Seeds of Change album from the early 80's, was a pretty decent musical group as well.  How Can You Live (with Walsh on vocals), Mask of the Great Deceiver, and To Live For the King especially.  To Live For the King features Ronnie James Dio on vocals, which if you know Livgren's religous background, is really funny.  Also check out One Dark World from Livgren's solo album When Things Get Electric, and Out of Opus from Prime Mover.

So if you're new to the band - welcome, you have lots of catching up to do.

I love Kansas, but my all time favorite song is:

MIRACLES OUT OF NOWHERE

Loud enough?

Iván

I'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO BE INSPIRED BY KANSAS AT ANY TIME OF THEIR CAREER

The last Steve Walsh's release was not much better...

Cheap, pop-like, pompous. Sorry.

F**k the cynics! I love kansasa and have all their albums from "Kansas" to "Audio Visions" plus "Always never the same" and "Somewhere to elsewhere". Steve Walsh was one of the best singers in the rock scene, but nowadays his voice are simply horrendous!

"Masque" is my fav album, and 'The Pinnacle" its better song. For the begginers, "two for the show" is a wonderful start.

Kansas-Lonely wind, Can I tel you & Journey from Mariabronn

Song for America - Lamplight symphony and the title song

Masque - all except the first one. Well, The Pinnacle, Icarus and All the world are the cream.

Leftoverture-Carry on, Cheyenne anthem and the wall

Point of Know return - Title song, Paradox

Monolith - on the other side, Glimpse of home, Away from you

Audio visions - Hold on, No one together

Always never the same - Eleanor Rigby, The wall, Hold on

Somewhere to elsewhere - Icarus II, Distant vision

I like about 90% of all their stuff - even some of the later albums had worthwhile songs.

Favorites CDs:

Leftoverture - grand is scope, a very enjoyable listen.

Point of Know Return - not a bad song on it - very good stuff.

Song For America - also excellent.

Live at The Whiskey - an excellent live CD with a lot of the Classic stuff, performed well.

Favorite Songs:

Song For America - Song For America & Lamplight Symphony

Leftoverture - Carry On Wayward Son, Miracles Out Of Nowhere, Questions Of My Childhood, Cheyenne Anthem

Point Of Know Return - Portrait (He Knew), Nobody's Home

Audio Visions - Don't Open Your Eyes, No One Together

Vinyl Confessions - Play The Game Tonight, Fair Exchange, Borderline

Power - All I Wanted

In The Spirit Of Things - One Big Sky, Rainmaker

Freaks of Nature - I've got this CD, but I can't remember a single song from it.

Somewhere To Elsewhere - Byzantium

Starting Point - See the Favorite CDs listed above.

My favourite Kansas Albums are

Leftoverture

Point of Know Return

Song For America

Kansas

Masque

If you want a great Live recording try Two for the show its great in every way  Kerry Livgren (main song writter , guitars, keyboards)  describes it as Kansas actually sound, its a faithful reproduction of their live sound back in the 70`s.

Harbinger1 wrote: A little trivia guys. The Steve Hackett solo album (from Genesis fame)  Please Don't Touch features a song called Narnia-yes that Narnia, which features the vocals of Steve Walsh of Kansas. The CD is terrific, and the price is worth that song alone, although the rest of the CD great. Also has a great song with Richie Havens on vocals. Just thought I would add this little tidbit.

This is a great song off a great album.  I have this song on one of my Prog mixes. 

All their records up to Audiovisions are extremely good, one could start with just anyone of them (perhaps not Monolith or Audiovisions), although the ultimate album to start with, would be Point Of Know Return. It was my first prog record.

I agree on Kansas being Americas greatest prog band. Or even greatest band all categories.

Key songs (if that is important):
Magnum Opus, Cheyenne Anthem, Icarus, Song For America, Journey From Mariabronn, The Pinnacle, and so on...

Weell I am glad I am no longer part of a small group here that likes this band.  Just wanted to add something I have seen them live 4 times in the last year and half and they do not disappoint.  These guys can still sing play and play well. If you have the chance go see them. The same goes for Proto-Kaw if they get to your area.

Rainman wrote: oh- ell, everyone seems to adore them... I would listen to The J.Geils Band instead...

Wow, I think that's a new stretch for a non-fan - J Geils, that's a pretty strong statement!

Anyway, you'll find here that everyone most decidedly does not like Kansas.  It's just that on those occasions when the subject comes up, those few of us who do all jump on the bandwagon.  Kansas may have a lot of detractors, but most of their fans are almost rabidly loyal and enthusiastic.  Thanks for reading the thread anyway.

NetsNJFan wrote: Fav Kansas Albums (in order) Leftoverture (1976) Song for America (1975) Kansas (1974) Masques (1975) Point of No Return (1977) underrated band!  IMO the best prog band out of the USA ever.

Exactly the same TOP 5 KANSAS albums as me.

ClemofNazareth wrote: Rainman wrote: oh- ell, everyone seems to adore them... I would listen to The J.Geils Band instead... Wow, I think that's a new stretch for a non-fan - J Geils, that's a pretty strong statement! Anyway, you'll find here that everyone most decidedly does not like Kansas.  It's just that on those occasions when the subject comes up, those few of us who do all jump on the bandwagon.  Kansas may have a lot of detractors, but most of their fans are almost rabidly loyal and enthusiastic.  Thanks for reading the thread anyway.

Oh, thank you for the tip, ClemofNazareth. I'll be wiser to jump on the bandwagon next time. About J.Geils, I wanted it to sound strong! 

paulindigo wrote: Anyone has news on the remastered edition of Two for the show? The official site doesn't say anything about the actual release date, you can just see it's been moved from 2005 to 2006...

Yeah, Sony postponed the project becasue of the Payola scam and the 10 million dollars it cost them to settle that.  They have not given a release date as of yet just 2006.  Hopefully it will be in the first quarter of 2006.  They also stopped the remaster of Kerry Liivgrens Seeds of Change.  That disk was supposed to include Kansas doing Mask of the Great Deceiver live.

Garion81 wrote: paulindigo wrote: Anyone has news on the remastered edition of Two for the show? The official site doesn't say anything about the actual release date, you can just see it's been moved from 2005 to 2006...   Yeah, Sony postponed the project becasue of the Payola scam and the 10 million dollars it cost them to settle that.  They have not given a release date as of yet just 2006.  Hopefully it will be in the first quarter of 2006.  They also stopped the remaster of Kerry Liivgrens Seeds of Change.  That disk was supposed to include Kansas doing Mask of the Great Deceiver live.

I hate that f*&#^_g song!!!!!  Nothing really wrong with Mask of the Great Deceiver, but ever since I bought that damn album in my first year of college (that's 1980 for our younger friends), every time I hear anything from AD, Livgren solo, Monolith, or even Rainbow (I think it has something to do with the Ronnie James Dio connection), I get that damn song in my head and it won't go away for days.  Madness!! And after 25 years it's still there!!

Anyway, I can't believe there's enough demand to remaster Seeds of Change.  That's awesome.  Capitalizing on the Proto-Kaw thing I guess.  BTW, I think How Can You Live is probably the best song on that album - it could have easily made it onto Audio-Visions except that Barriemore Barlow's drums don't sound as crisp to me as Ehart's do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He's gonna make you a believer. He'll tell you lies, he'll......"  DAMN!  Now you got it started again....

Their first 5 albums are awesome (i dont know about Monolith, i dont have it). My favorite songs are Journey From Mariabronn, Death of Mother Nature Suite, Song For America, Child of Innocence, Mysteries & Mayhem/The Pinnacle, Icarus, Magnum Opus (and all of Leftoverture), Paradox

Sorry for the long list, theres so many others, i love every song from those first 5 albums!

ClemofNazareth wrote: Garion81 wrote: paulindigo wrote: Anyone has news on the remastered edition of Two for the show? The official site doesn't say anything about the actual release date, you can just see it's been moved from 2005 to 2006...   Yeah, Sony postponed the project becasue of the Payola scam and the 10 million dollars it cost them to settle that.  They have not given a release date as of yet just 2006.  Hopefully it will be in the first quarter of 2006.  They also stopped the remaster of Kerry Liivgrens Seeds of Change.  That disk was supposed to include Kansas doing Mask of the Great Deceiver live. I hate that f*&#^_g song!!!!!  Nothing really wrong with Mask of the Great Deceiver, but ever since I bought that damn album in my first year of college (that's 1980 for our younger friends), every time I hear anything from AD, Livgren solo, Monolith, or even Rainbow (I think it has something to do with the Ronnie James Dio connection), I get that damn song in my head and it won't go away for days.  Madness!! And after 25 years it's still there!! Anyway, I can't believe there's enough demand to remaster Seeds of Change.  That's awesome.  Capitalizing on the Proto-Kaw thing I guess.  BTW, I think How Can You Live is probably the best song on that album - it could have easily made it onto Audio-Visions except that Barriemore Barlow's drums don't sound as crisp to me as Ehart's do.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "He's gonna make you a believer. He'll tell you lies, he'll......"  DAMN!  Now you got it started again....

 Sorry did not mean to torment you.  Seeds has a pretty good following and it sold way more than any AD album.  My favorite song on it is Ground Zero with David Pack from Ambrosia doing the lead vocals.  To me that is one of the best songs Livgren ever wrote. 

Drew wrote: I kind of feel like a dork- I have no Kansas- What album should I have?

Drew, it depends on what you like.  Kansas doesn't stay in one vein very long and have two songwriters as different as you can be as far as what they write.  If you like Symphonic prog with a hard rock/blues feel try any of the first 5 CD's.  The last two are more produced than the first three and had more commerical attention.  The Ultimate Kansas is not a bad place to start though.  Here ts the link

http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=3222 - http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD. asp?cd_id=3222