Kansas: Kansas CD Track Listing

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Kansas Kansas (1974)
Kansas (Remastered & Expanded)\n2004 Epic/Legacy\n\nOriginally Released March 1974\nCD Edition Released October 1990\nRemastered & Expanded CD Edition Released June 29, 2004\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: \nKansas stood apart from their peers, since they were an American band that dared play on the epic scale of such English art rockers as Genesis. Consequently, Kansas is a truly weird hybrid of British pomp, doggedly artistic concept, and arena boogie, all served up with more violin than there is flute on a Jethro Tull album. It's hard not to admire their blatant ambition in one sense, since few bands try as hard as Kansas do here. Still, there're a lot of scales and arpeggios, galloping triplets, dramatic organ, and stately ballads that signify nothing and go nowhere. Since it's as grounded in boogie as it is in art, the group never gets as weird as their more interesting counterparts, but that reliance on arena rock does make them unique. But uniqueness isn't the same as good, or even interesting listening, even if Kansas remains a period piece like no other. [The 2004 reissue boasts improvedsound, new liner notes, and one bonus track: a live "Bringing ItBack" recorded in 1975 at the legendary Agora Ballroom in Cleveland.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nBig improvement, August 25, 2004 \nReviewer: Dr. Emil Shuffhausen (Alabama) - See all my reviews \nThe debut album benefits greatly from the new Epic/Legacy re-mastering...tracks take on added punch and vitality thanks to a cleaner, stronger sound. The graphics and artwork are improved, and there is an amazing, trippy, jamming live version of "Bringing It Back" included as a bonus track. This 30th Anniversary Edition is a worthwhile look back at theearly stages of what became a prog rock phenomena...Kansas is a band! This is where that "Allman Brothers-meets-Genesis-by-way-of-Black Sabbath" sound really took flight. It confused the heck out of critics, but fans quickly took to it and within 2 years, Kansas was one of the biggest bands on the planet. "Can I Tell You" is a plucky, fiesty little jam...not too distant from something Charlie Daniels or Lynyrd Skynyrd might have recorded in 1974. Next up is the electro-country-blues of "Bringing It Back," which isnot overly impressive as a studio track, but gains tremendous potency live. For all the good ol' boys who were settling in for some more southern fried rock after the first two tracks, "Lonely Wind" must have come as a shock. It's a classic Steve Walsh ballad, with lovely, intricate piano and violin work. For more whiplash, stay tuned to "Belexes" which is a crunchy driving rocker with mysterious, pondering lyrics. If the rednecks hadn't bailed out by now, they definitely fled on "Journey From Mariabronn," which is the premier track on this CD and sets the template for many of Kansas finest classic prog rock songs to come. This track has it all...the soaring symphonic passages, the tricky time signatures,the passionate vocals, the deep, profound and gripping lyrical narrative, and the muscular driving guitars. Next up is "The Pilgrimage" which reminds me a bit of that little Blind Melon tune, "No Rain," in its whimsical and quasi-spiritual tone. "Apercu" is another powerhouse prog-rock epic which features strong vocal contributions from both Steve Walsh and Robby Steinhardt. (For more on the prowess of individual Kansas musicians, see my SONG FOR AMERICA review.) Here again are the lovely musical passages juxtaposed with heavy, albeit melodic rock. The words "lovely" and "melodic" don't really apply to the next tune, "The Death of Mother Nature Suite," though it does have some nice moments. It's an angry,somewhat heavy-handed environmental plea, featuring the appropriately scary, stentorian vocals of Robby Steinhardt and a growly guitar assault, with a cool jam in the middle that builds explosively. All in all, the track packs a big wallop, and the ending coda is fantastic. Until the release of this re-mastered, expanded version of KANSAS, I had only lightly regarded this album. Therefore, this new edition was somewhat of a revelation to me and it has certainly gotten more than its share of time in my CD changer. For the Kansas fan, it's absolutely essential. For the more casual prog rock fan, it would still offer many moments of excitement and admiration. Check it out.... \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nKansas Beginnings, September 26, 2003 \nReviewer: Samhot (StarLand) - See all my reviews \nOn Kansas' self-titled debut KANSAS (1974), we are already treated to their unique blend of heartland rock, boogie, country, and symphonic rock. Of course, they would refine their compositions on subsequent albums, but what they created on this debut here is highly impressive and enjoyable on it's own merits.\n\nThe band had already been playing together a few years before the release of this album (the band even stated that they had 50 combined years of musical experience in the sleeve), so this may contribute to the impressive gelling of ideas, and overall, accomplished musicianship exhibited here.\n\nThe first half of the album features more of the stripped-down tracks that Kansas seemed to exhibit from time to time, while the second half seems to be dedicated to the elaborate prog-rock epics. The album starts of with the fairly simple, but utterly addicting, violin-laced "Can I Tell You." Contrary to the opinion expressed by another reviewer, I don't find this, or any of the other tracks onthis album, weak. Sure, it isn't a *prog* track in the Kansas tradition (if Kansas really ever had a tradition), but, different doesn't necessarily equal weak (opinions are subjective, not fact,folks.) However, while I enjoy this track immensely, I find the unissued demo version found on the KANSAS BOXED SET to be a more enjoyable version for me. "Bringing It Back" sounds like something you'd hear a bar-band performing. Reminds me of a slightly tame, underdeveloped prototype for the kind of thing you'd hear on SONG FOR AMERICA (1975) ("Down The Road" in particular comes to mind), but the underdevelopedness doesn't sink the track's tasteful edibility. I find it impressive how some bands (Queen, Rush, Kansas etc.) can make raw, underdeveloped music - that is, the music they make before reaching their peak in sound and/or composition - yet what they come up with on first shot seems to be much more impressive than what some artists produce in their entire catalogues.\n\n"Lonely Wind" is a beautiful ballad penned by Steve Walsh. The vocal harmonies on this track are particularly moving, added with the melancholic piano, and soothing violin lines. The perfect song to be played for the bride & groom on their wedding day,while having a slow dance. On "Belexes," we are treated to the most energetic, rocking song on this set at this point. A definiterock-your-socks-off track, featuring some crunchy guitar lines, passionate, inspired vocals, and drumming that isn't too shabby. \n\n"Journey From Mariabronn" starts off the second half as a classically-inspired number. This is probably the most compelling track on the album - compositionally speaking. The opening instrumental section, which lasts for 1 1/2 minute -- an energetic, mysterious section of band interplay leaving the listener in suspenseful anticipation, followed by an anthemic, soaring, worldly passagecomprised of complex polyphony fronted by stately violin, which is then followed by a section in about 5/4 -- is one of the defining moments in Kansas' career. The song is all-around brilliant in my book. "The Pilgrimage" is a tasteful, fluid, mix of R&B and mild country influences. The melody, the lines and the vocal harmonies brings slight resemblance to Yes, particularly their track "I've Seen All Good People." A definite favorite of mine on this album. "Apercu" is another elaborate prog-rock epic, which even features a romp section which resembles that of the romp-like section in "Cheyenne Anthem" from LEFTOVERTURE (1976). The instrumental virtuosity and quirky elements displayed here are definite attributes which foreshadow things to be found in later albums. "Death of Mother Nature Suite" is a fine effort, but the unissued live version found on the KANSAS BOXED SET is much more enjoyable and fluid for me.\n\nThis probably isn't the album to start out with if you're new to Kansas. Start with LEFTOVERTURE (1976) and POINT OF KNOW RETURN (1977), then move onto their first three albums: this one, SONG FOR AMERICA (1975), and MASQUE (1975). \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nA Fine First Effort, November 28, 2002\nReviewer: Michael Lopez (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews \nKansaswas an established band when they recorded their first album--established in the sense of having played together for quite some time already--so it is no surprise that their debut (like Queen's)is as solid as it is.\nThe album starts with a boppy rocker, "Can I tell You Something". Compositionally a bit flat, the playing at least rewards close listening, as it is typically excellent. The lyrics, scolding the listner to do his or her part to assure freedom in the United States, can come off as obnoxious, and certainly alerts the listner to a streak of moralizing in Kansas that will continue with them throughout their entire first period. Thesecond song, "Bringing it Back" is an even less inspired rocker than the first--for my money, energetic playing cannot make this song interesting, in spite of a spirited violin solo.\n\nIt is not, then, until "Lonely Wind" that I'm made to really pay attention, by the song's enormously haunting and beautiful melody (right up there with Van der Graaf Generator's "Afterwards"). "Belexes",with its mysterious name, suddenly gives me that prog-feel I want while also seeming like a hint of "The Devil Game" (from the next album) to come. With the 8 minute epic "Journey from Mariabronn"--one of two songs on the album that foreshadows "Song for America" to follow--we finally hear Kansas showing us what they can do with the long-song form. The extended, opening instrumental (a compositional staple for Livgren, most notably in "Song for America") displays the patterned, crisscrossing lines of music that are the hallmark of contrapuntal interest in all of Kansas' best songs, and many of their mid-range great songs. As one of Livgren'sstory-telling epics, this song resembles "Lamplight Symphony" from the next album. (The live version on "Two for the Show" is even more confident and energetic, but this song alone justifies buying the disk, and makes up for the weakness of the first two songs.) On the original album, the climax of this song marked the endof Side 1.\n\nSide 2 opens with "The Pilgrimage", which continues to fail to impress me as it always has; its pedestrian, mid-tempo shuffle never really goes anywhere and it sounds like the bandhas been hired to play it at a party, rather than it being a composition they want to play. The best thing I can say about it is that its dullness makes one all the more eager for the progressive grandeur of the next song. "Aper

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