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"'Somewhere To Elsewhere' is a beautiful swan song that revives the great hours of Kansas"
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4/5
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Continuation of our great Kansas stories, or "The Adventures of Kerry (Livgren) and Steve (Walsh)"! After the episodes "Kerry and Steve work together in enthusiasm", "Kerry and Steve fall out", "Kerry goes on alone", "Steve takes over", here is "Kerry's return among all his friends", with the release in 2000 of the album "Somewhere To Elsewhere".
For the band's historical fans, the album brings great news: the reformation of the original line-up (even if Dave Hope is only present on two of the tracks presented here). On the other hand, Steve Walsh, although credited on all the songs (minus one, with 'Look At The Time', Billy Greer's only performance on the microphone), doesn't hold the keyboards and didn't participate in the writing of the album - official reason: too busy with the making of his solo album "Glossolalia", released the same year.
Kerry Livgren is therefore at the helm, with an obvious desire to revive the spirit of Kansas in the years 1974-80. And the result is there: for the first time in a long time ("Audio-Visions", that is to say 20 years!), Kansas does Kansas! The album is full of winks to the golden period of the American band, from the opening track, entitled 'Icarus II' in reference to a song from "Masque", but also throughout the album, with large reminiscences of 'Cheyenne Anthem' ("Leftoverture") in 'Distant Vision', or of 'Magnum Opus' ("Leftoverture") and 'Song For America' in 'When The World Was Young', or of 'People Of The South Wind' ("Monolith") in 'Myriad'.
"Somewhere To Elsewhere" still lacks the breath of the great Kansas albums: perhaps Steve Walsh's lack of involvement in the compositions is making itself felt... He doesn't have the same vocal quality as before: the magnificent clear vocals that made him so special have become more hoarse, the high notes are more difficult to reach and he often uses vibrato. However, he keeps a nice presence, all at the service of the compositions, which reveal some nice finds: 'Icarus II', 'The Coming Day', 'Myriad' and 'Distant Vision' are very honourable tracks in Kansas' discography, very progressive, with their typical touch of violin.
So let's not sulk: 'Somewhere To Elsewhere' is a beautiful swan song that revives the great hours of a band that left its mark on the late seventies. Few bands can boast of a successful comeback on their thirtieth anniversary! - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Icarus Ii - 07:17
02. When The World Was Young - 05:50
03. Grand Fun Alley - 04:38
04. The Coming Dawn (thanatopsis) - 05:44
05. Myriad - 08:55
06. Look At The Time - 05:37
07. Disappearing Skin Tight Blues - 07:02
08. Distant Vision - 08:48
09. Byzantium - 04:15
10. Not Man Big - 07:39
11. Geodesic Dome - 01:24
LINEUP:
Billy Greer: Basse
Kerry Livgren: Guitares / Claviers
Phil Ehart: Batterie
Rich Williams: Guitares
Steve Morse: Guitares
Steve Walsh: Chant / Claviers
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
3.7/5 (6 view(s))
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STAFF:
4/5 (3 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH KANSAS
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LAST INTERVIEW
KANSAS (JUNE 2020)
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Almost 50 years of career and Kansas is still there! Back with the excellent "The Presence Of Absence", the singer Ronnie Platt came back for us on the release of the 16th studio album of the band!
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT KANSAS
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