Kansas (Kansas album)

Kansas is the debut studio album by American progressive rock band Kansas, released in 1974. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 2004.^[1] A remastered version of the album appeared on vinyl in 2014.

Kansas's debut album followed the merging of two Topeka musical camps: Kerry Livgren, from a previous Kansas line-up, and White Clover, which played mainstream rock and blues. The newly formed group signed with Kirshner Records in 1973 and traveled to New York to record their first release. The material on Kansas, written mostly by guitarist/keyboardist Livgren and vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh, had been culled from the repertoire of both groups. Livgren's songs were generally longer and more elaborate than Walsh's and featured mystical lyrics which reflected his intense interest in Eastern religions. "Journey from Mariabronn" was inspired by Hermann Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund, while "Belexes" and "Aperçu" were influenced by the pseudo-Asian sound of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot.

Kansas was promoted by print advertisements which included the tagline "Kansas is Koming." A promotional 7-inch single titled "Man the Stormcellars: Kansas is Koming!" was sent to radio stations and featured an announcer hyping the album. Two 7-inch singles were released: "Can I Tell You" and "Lonely Wind". Both failed to chart, though a live version of "Lonely Wind" (from the double-live album Two for the Show) did reach the Top 100 in early 1979.

Playlist: Bringing It Back featured five songs from this album and five from Masque.

	"Aperçu," by Kansas, from Kansas Kansas used counterpoint, sudden metrical and stylistic shifts, multi-part compositions, and mystical lyrics much like the British prog bands, but they had more hard rock elements and used violin in an American fiddling style.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Artwork

The album cover depicts abolitionist John Brown in a scene from Tragic Prelude, a mural by Kansas native John Steuart Curry. The original mural is painted on a wall at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka. The album cover image is severely discolored and cropped to show only a small part of the original painting.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]

AllMusic's retrospective review gave the nod to the band's mix of progressive rock and boogie rock as being unique, but contended that it also makes them less interesting than other progressive rock bands. They also criticized their ambitiousness as being overdone: "there're a lot of scales and arpeggios, galloping triplets, dramatic organ, and stately ballads that signify nothing and go nowhere."^[2]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Can I Tell You"	Rich Williams, Phil Ehart, Dave Hope, Steve Walsh	Steinhardt and Walsh	3:32
2.	"Bringing It Back"	J.J. Cale	Steinhardt	3:33
3.	"Lonely Wind"	Walsh	Walsh	4:16
4.	"Belexes"	Kerry Livgren	Walsh	4:23
5.	"Journey from Mariabronn"	Livgren, Walsh	Walsh	7:55

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"The Pilgrimage"	Livgren, Walsh	Walsh	3:42
2.	"Aperçu"	Livgren, Walsh	Steinhardt and Walsh	9:54
3.	"Death of Mother Nature Suite"	Livgren	Steinhardt	7:43

Bonus track on 2004 CD reissue
No.	Title	Length
9.	"Bringing It Back" (Live)	9:41

Personnel

Steve Walsh – piano, organ, Fender Rhodes, congas, lead and backing vocals
Kerry Livgren – guitars, piano, organ, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals
Robby Steinhardt – violin, lead and backing vocals
Rich Williams – electric & acoustic guitars
Dave Hope – bass, backing vocals
Phil Ehart – drums
Jay Siegel (from The Tokens) – vocals on "Lonely Wind"

Production

Producer: Wally Gold
Engineer: Dan Turbeville
Assistant Engineers: Kevin "Whip" Herron & Jimmy "Shoes" Iovine
Mastering: Tom Rabstenek & Greg Caldi
Cover Design: Ed Lee
Painting: John Steuart Curry
Back cover photo: Don Hunstein

Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1974	Pop Albums	174

References

↑ Discogs - 21 released versions of the Kansas album
1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Allmusic review". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2011-06-15.

Kansas

Phil Ehart Rich Williams Billy Greer David Ragsdale David Manion Ronnie Platt Zak Rizvi Kerry Livgren Dave Hope Robby Steinhardt Steve Walsh John Elefante Steve Morse Greg Robert

Studio albums	Kansas Song for America Masque Leftoverture Point of Know Return Monolith Audio-Visions Vinyl Confessions Drastic Measures Power In the Spirit of Things Freaks of Nature Always Never the Same Somewhere to Elsewhere The Prelude Implicit

Live albums	Two for the Show Live at the Whisky King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Kansas Dust In The Wind Device – Voice – Drum There's Know Place Like Home

Compilations	The Best of Kansas Carry On The Kansas Boxed Set The Ultimate Kansas Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection On the Other Side Works in Progress Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas

Singles	"Song for America" "Carry On Wayward Son" "Point of Know Return" "Dust in the Wind" "Portrait (He Knew)" "People of the South Wind" "Hold On" "Play the Game Tonight" "Fight Fire With Fire" "All I Wanted"

Tours	2011 Collegiate Symphony Tour Fall 2012 Tour

Related topics	Discography Native Window

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.