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Rating: The proud silhouette of a Native American chief, adorned with the emblems of power and covered in animal fur, stands next to a squared monolith, apparently a totem but which, upon examining the back cover, is revealed to be one of the dilapidated pillars supporting the surviving vestiges of an ancient highway interchange, a site chosen by that man and his tribe to plant their teepees... This symbolic revenge of the Native American, surviving in an apocalyptic future over his conquerors and massacres, is the exciting welcoming graphic of the 1979 album by the glorious band from Topeka, Kansas.
If Zeppelin (or Purple, or whoever you prefer) opened the hard rock gates, if Black Sabbath (or others) coined metal, if King Crimson (perhaps the Moody Blues) generated progressive, it must be stated that Kansas (along with Rush, if you like) planted substantial seeds for progressive metal. Because they were the first to combine the typical progressive taste for suites, time changes, and various pomposity with the parallel metal taste for constantly noisy guitars and high-pitched vocals.
Those who don't love this band at all consider it derivative: they're (almost) right, as it took the insights of Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant, and company, but also added its own touch, burdening and dramatizing the music as much as possible; sometimes at the risk of falling into bad taste, but at other times signing great pages of pompous, exaggerated, lush American rock.
Three primary resources were used to achieve the peculiar Kansas sound and write their own page in rock history: first, the stentorian and pathos-laden voice of keyboardist Steve Walsh; then the constant addition of the amplified violin, an instrument with inherent dramatic and decadent characteristics, entrusted to long-haired Robby Steinhardt; finally, the work of the two guitars, among which the very bright one of leader Kerry Livgren, platinum (then... today a distinguished and balding man) composer, arranger, and additional keyboardist, a great musician capable of a personal guitar timbre, very compressed and round, a real whip crack.
For a reason not plausible to me, this record is rarely among the first mentioned about Kansas. Yet I am personally very attached to some of its episodes, especially the opener "On The Other Side" greatly sung by Walsh after Livgren equally great solos with the lead guitar, in a stunning intro. In the instrumental interlude, the band goes obbligato on a 13/8 time, in the 'Dream Theater' way (understood, at the time of the record, the New Yorkers were still in school age and maybe busy buying Kansas records!), then returning to the beautiful vocal melody, supported by the twelve-string electric arpeggio, and concluding with Livgren's guitar return for the outro.
Another favorite of mine is the closing track "Reasons To Be", the folk ballad seen from the Kansas perspective, i.e., semi-acoustic yes, but with the most possible emphasis and tones. In between, six other abundant compositions among which it's easy to distinguish those essentially due to Livgren's pen, more linear, ingenious and catchy, or to Walsh's, with more intricate and variable results, sometimes cumbersome, other times surprising.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 On the Other Side (06:26)
The empty page before me now, the pen is in my hand
The words don't come so easy but I'm trying
I'm searching for a melody or some forgotten line
They can slip away from us so quickly
Don't be unkind I'm not complaining
I only feel it needs explaining
(Chorus)
Though I've said it all before I'll say it once again (one more time)
Everyone needs something to believe in
So turn around, turn around it's on the other side
Feel the sound, feel the sound, it's coming from deep inside
It will fill you with emotion, if you let it be your guide so
Turn around; turn around, it's on the other side
I'm waiting for the day to end another to begin
Somehow I've forgotten what it stood for
I look into your face and see the searching in your eyes
I will he your servant till the end
The music plays, and for a moment I feel
That all there days an so fulfilling
(Chorus)
Desperation shows its ugly face in many ways
No one can escape the times we live in
The answers are so simple and we all know where to look
But it's easier to just avoid the question
And if I seem too inconclusive
It's just because it's so elusive
(Chorus)
03 Angels Have Fallen (06:39)
Angels have fallen, fallen from heaven, where did they go
No one could save them no one forgave them their chance to know
When I hear them below I think how it is to be weary
Children are restless they know what can happen when men are vain
Talking in riddles won't keep them from knowing you've gone insane
They know a few will try to gain by trying to live like their teachers
(Chorus)
Save me for now, save me forever
Hold me so close, I can't bear to go
There's darkness around me or is it within me
You're living forever, I'm dying so slow
Inside a window that leads to your conscience you'll see, you'll hear
People are talking maybe you know them, they know you're near
Masking themselves from fear and asking themselves who their friends are
(Chorus)
Well you say that you've been here in this life and time
You say it's no good here, but you say that so fine
You reach for your winnings, an angelic excuse
Round them you act humble, still you never refuse
You better tell all your people to watch for a sign
Make them glad they are living in this life and time
The angels have fallen, they've all gone away
It's you that must find them by living each day
04 How My Sould Cries Out for You (05:46)
The night was cold, was deja-vu
I went on thinking we were too
How my soul cries out for you
To many places we once knew
To many faces, still no clue
How my soul cries out for you
I didn't think I needed you when I got out on my own
Dead set on having my way I was convinced that
I was right and you were wrong
Then I started thinkin' to myself
Well maybe what they say is true
How could we get so turned around when you needed me
As much as I needed you...
I tried to get you on the phone
No one answered, no one answered at home
I heard that you thought we were through
Somethin' I had, somethin' I had to do and
How my soul cries for you
How my soul cries out for you
It cries for love that we once knew
How my soul cries out for you
05 A Glimpse of Home (06:37)
(Kerry Livgren)
When I was very young so many songs were sung
So much wasted time on an uphill climb
But you where always there, a feeling in the air
There was nothing to fear you were so near
Now you are here once again
As I stand in your presence
I can feel the quiet patience of your gaze
Like an old superstition
You are haunting all my dreams and waking days
(Chorus)
All my life I knew you were waiting, revelation anticipating
All is well, the searching is over, let the truth be known
Let it be shown (give me a glimpse of home)
There's no resisting you among the chosen few
It's hard to be sure, it's hard to endure
And when I hear your voice
I know I have the choice
To pursue an ideal, something so real
Now I've got nothing to lose
As I see your reflection
All the answers I desire become so clear
Like a page that is turning
I can look into the future without fear
You're in my rock and roll, you're in my very soul
Though it's heavy to bear, it's a feeling so rare
And it's a mystery, the way it's meant to be
Can we ever know, we're moving so slow
There ain't enough time in the world
As I reach up the ladder
There is something ever higher to perceive
Like a fire that is burning
In my heart I know I surely must believe
06 Away from You (04:26)
Used to think about what I would grow up to be
Good or bad, right or wrong, it was no harm to me
Was a time in my life when I wish I'd have known
You can't gamble with fate, you might end up alone
(Chorus)
Meet me where the feeling is high, let the sound surround you
Meet me at the top of the sky, where the colors fly around you
Well, I'm lost in a world of dismay
But nothin' can take me away from you
Left you back while I worked very hard to succeed
All the distance I've gone makes it hard to believe
You and I were so close, now we're so far apart
And I remember the feeling we shared in our heart
(Chorus)
Again and again you return to haunt me in my dreams
See your eyes, how they glisten, your hair how it gleams
And I know I will miss you when you have to go
I return to my place until nights lets me know
(Chorus)
07 Stay Out of Trouble (04:15)
Step outside and feel the tingle
Trouble finds you every night
You wonder where nobody knows you
Your civil tone is not polite
You got no friends, you don't like people
You tried it once and they let you down
And after seven years you're still hurt and angry
And inside your head is an awful sound
(Chorus)
Some say that trouble is my middle name
I find it very easy and I sin out just the same
So stay out of trouble, don't cry
Stay out of trouble, you'll die
You're on the street the clock strikes 11
And it takes that seven years away
Now you're walking with that lovely lady
And just like that you can hear her say
"Well I know for sure you ain't got the money
for an ounce of coke or a Cadillac!"
I said, "It ain't no use in trying to fool me
A big woman like you has got to fight back"
(Chorus)
Inside your head it sounds like thunder
And your room becomes an ugly shell
You get in your car and you start the engine
And you drive with your right foot in hell
Well, someone said, "ain't that funny
Well, I saw that boy just the other night"
Went into this bar and really got rowdy
With his friends and him is an awful fight
(Chorus)
08 Reason to Be (03:51)
So long, someone is waiting
I got places to go, I got things to see
No more procrastinating
For this is the moment that was meant for me
And I'm moving like a wave on the ocean
Drifting to the opposite ride
Traveling with no destination
Just riding the tide
People they say that I'm foolish
They say that I'm living in a fantasy
I say, everything's easy
It's better than living in futility
So, I'm standing here in back of the curtain
Waiting for the start of the show
Acting like an actor is easy
If you can let go
Someday something will find you
A magical feeling you could not foresee
A feeling so devastating
From that moment on your life's a comedy
And suddenly you're light as a feather
You're falling like a leaf from a tree
The things you thought you needed are fading
Your reason to be
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