{"id":41183,"date":"2008-10-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-ultimate-kansas\/"},"modified":"2008-10-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-24T00:00:00","slug":"the-ultimate-kansas","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-ultimate-kansas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Kansas"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s all Bruce Rusk<\/st1:personname><\/a>\u2019s fault.\u00a0 This album wasn\u2019t even scheduled to be part of our big October 2008 Kansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> retrospective, but after writing up the retrospective announcement<\/a> and reading Bruce\u2019s first few reviews, I succumbed.\u00a0 Sure, I had Leftoverture<\/i> and Point Of Know Return<\/i> on vinyl back in the day, but let\u2019s face it\u2026 the day was a loooong time ago for me, and I had neither listened to much Kansas since, nor ever dipped further into their catalog than those two well-known albums.<\/p>\n

The obvious solution was to pick up this two-disc collection, covering everything from the band\u2019s self-titled 1974 debut up to the three-year break they took after 1983\u2019s Drastic Measures<\/i>.\u00a0 Even then, I had no intention of writing a review; the schedule was complete and this collection wasn\u2019t on it.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

After a few listens, though, the decision was no longer in my hands.\u00a0 I had things to say, and why not add a non-Wheathead perspective to the mix?\u00a0 (And yes, the whole purpose of this paragraph was just so that I could say \u201cWheathead.\u201d\u00a0 Is there a more memorable nickname for a group\u2019s fans in rock and roll?)<\/p>\n

The good news is, this is a great collection, everything the casual fan really needs from the strongest period of the band\u2019s history.\u00a0 The bad news, such as it is, is that the sequencing of this two-disc collection is downright bizarre.\u00a0 For one thing, it\u2019s neither completely random nor strictly chronological.\u00a0 Each disc starts out with a familiar hit (\u201cCarry On Wayward Son\u201d and \u201cPoint Of Know Return\u201d), and each is mostly self-contained in terms of time period (with one exception, disc one covers Kansas<\/i> through Leftoverture<\/i>, while disc two covers Point Of Know Return<\/i> through Drastic Measures<\/i>), but the sequence within each disc jumps all over the place.<\/p>\n

Disc one, home to material from the group\u2019s first three American prog discs plus the tighter and more radio-friendly Leftoverture<\/i>, naturally leans to the progressive end of the band\u2019s sound.\u00a0 \u201cSong For America,\u201d \u201cThe Pinnacle,\u201d \u201cJourney From Mariabronn\u201d and the surprisingly heavy \u201cDeath of Mother Nature Suite\u201d all clock in at 7:50 or longer and illustrate both the sextet\u2019s tremendous musicianship and chief songwriter Kerry Livgren\u2019s fondness for extended British prog song structures.\u00a0 The shorter songs on disc one are less memorable, but \u201cMysteries And Mayhem\u201d from 1975\u2019s Masque<\/i> takes an exciting ride right into Deep Purple territory for a bit, and the thoughtful \u201cThe Wall\u201d and rocking \u201cWhat\u2019s On My Mind\u201d are among Leftoverture<\/i>\u2019s most memorable album tracks.\u00a0 As for \u201cCarry On My Wayward Son,\u201d 30 years later it remains a dynamite showcase for the band\u2019s melodic chops.<\/p>\n

On disc two the sequencing goes from unusual to downright weird.\u00a0 The very catchy arena prog of 1977\u2019s \u201cPoint Of Know Return\u201d (love that repeating organ\/violin riff on the chorus) kicks things off on a buoyant note before switching to the ultra-serious \u201cCheyenne Anthem\u201d (a leftover from Leftoverture<\/i>… man, they really did mess with the sequence), which segues into the bland arena schlock of 1982\u2019s \u201cFight Fire With Fire,\u201d which drops right into 1977\u2019s sublime #1 ballad \u201cDust In The Wind.\u201d\u00a0 The inspirational \u201cHold On\u201d and the multipart, rather hyperactive \u201cNo One Together\u201d from 1980\u2019s Audio-Visions<\/i> follow before you reach the nadir of Kansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019 career, the weak Foreigner wannabe \u201cPlay The Game Tonight\u201d from 1983\u2019s Drastic Measures<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The very pretty \u201cCheyenne Anthem\u201d is also an example of how Kansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> crafted truly American prog by taking a typical prog approach \u2013 a complex multi-part suite with distinct shifts in style, with a searching lyric mixing historical fact and legend \u2013 and applying it to a uniquely American theme, the destruction of the Plains Indians\u2019 way of life.\u00a0 It\u2019s really emblematic of the heart of the Kansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> sound.<\/p>\n

Another conclusion I\u2019ve come to after listening to this entire set a few times is that primary lead vocalist Steve Walsh might also be the most underappreciated keyboard player in rock.\u00a0 He\u2019s creative but \u2013 at least in the early going \u2013 restrained on synth, beautifully expressive on piano and simply one of the very best Hammond<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> players ever to hit a rock and roll stage.\u00a0 He and violinist Robby Steinhardt were the anchors of the band\u2019s sound in its 70s heyday, and it\u2019s no surprise to see that the latter-day edition of the band filled the departed Steinhardt\u2019s slot with another dynamic violinist\/vocalist, David Ragsdale.<\/p>\n

Quibbles about sequencing aside, this is a consistently entertaining collection drawing from the strongest period of one of the most unique and powerful bands ever to emerge from the Great Plains<\/st1:place>.\u00a0 My only remaining question is whether the Wheatheads have special hats like the Green Bay Cheeseheads.\u00a0 Now THAT would be cool\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5839],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41183","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kansas","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41183"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}