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Thread: Grade A Kansas

  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    I'd wish they expand Foghat's live album to at least a double disc affair
    Agree, if there is more material recorded (which I assume there is) I wish they would put out an expanded re-mastered version. Probably won't ever happen this late in the game though.

    Their re-union era live album “Road Cases” is also a good one.

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Bails View Post

    I love Power, but then I really like a lot of AOR, too. But Steve Morse's work just blew me away on that one. I also have grown to really like In the Spirit of Things, too. And I think Freaks of Nature is the most underrated album in their catalog. Love how dark and melancholy it is.
    Also a big fan of "Power".

  3. #53
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    I don't hear Kansas at all in Spocks Beard. Kansas has a heartland sound. To me that's what made them unique. Some of those "rock" tracks are great. Devil Game, Down The Road, Bringing It Back, Stay Out Of Trouble, I love all that shit. If anything I've always thought of Spocks as having more in common with Styx being that both bands have more of a polished, urban sound.

    Mmmhhh!!!!... I suggest you relisten to SB's first three with Kansas in my mind... You're right about not finding some "heartland" in SB, but they've got that typical huge US sound that Kansas managed to instill almost systematically in every US prog band (save the avant-garde stuff, ala Cuneiform)... Sure, there is much more to Kansas inside SB's music >> it's not like it's their main ingredient, but it's definitely an important one, IMHO... I'd say a good deal of GG is also in there, but Styx??
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  4. #54
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    I suggest you relisten to SB's first three with Kansas in my mind..
    I guess we all hear music differently because I don't hear Kansas at all in those first 3 Beard albums. What is the "Kansas sound" anyway? To me it's the lead violin, the two guitars, and two keyboards. And it's a mix of hard/rock/southern/rock and symphonic/prog. Spock's vibe is very different (imo). The first album I ever heard by SB was Beware Of Darkness. Immediately, when I heard the bass I thought Yes/Chris Squire. Spocks reminded me more of Yes than Kansas. I do not hear Kansas in Spocks Beard and that's final, so let's move on ..... BTW, as much as I loved SB when I first got into them, Kansas is still my main squeeze. I've loved that band for 35 years.

  5. #55
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    I guess we all hear music differently because I don't hear Kansas at all in those first 3 Beard albums. What is the "Kansas sound" anyway? To me it's the lead violin, the two guitars, and two keyboards. And it's a mix of hard/rock/southern/rock and symphonic/prog. Spock's vibe is very different (imo). The first album I ever heard by SB was Beware Of Darkness. Immediately, when I heard the bass I thought Yes/Chris Squire. Spocks reminded me more of Yes than Kansas. I do not hear Kansas in Spocks Beard and that's final, so let's move on ..... BTW, as much as I loved SB when I first got into them, Kansas is still my main squeeze. I've loved that band for 35 years.
    TBH, I haven't owned a SB album in 15 years or so... I giot rid of their first two around 98...

    As for Kansas, I only own the debut and my compliation (never finalized) of their four/five next albums.

    If you don't hear Carry On type of sonics in SB's early stuff, I can't help you much... because I'm not about to borrow the Spock albums (do I know someone that still owns them?? ) to analyse them all over again.

    So yeah, let's move on
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Also a big fan of "Power".
    Oh no... something strange happens when I see Kansas' "Power" mentioned three times in a row. I can't explain it; it just...


    Pow-er! It takes pow-er!, pow-er! it takes pow-er!

  7. #57
    Hang on a minute, I never said I thought that Spock's Beard sounds like Kansas. I said I imagine Kansas must have been a bit formative influence on Neal Morse. And that isn't the same thing!

    For what it's worth, it isn't about the "sound", but more about the song-writing. "Go the way you go", "The doorway", "Crack the big sky", "At the end of the day" and others all sound like they've got a dramatic flair and penchant for catchy choruses that could easily have been co-written with Kerry Livgren.

    Of course, some folks who haven't got any Spock's Beard albums anymore, and don't like much by Kansas, are perfectly entitled to disagree with me because I clearly can't hear the music properly. LOL.

  8. #58
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    obviously an A goes to Leftoverture & Point Of Know Return.
    but Masque is just as great too.

  9. #59
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Also a big fan of "Power".

    Same here... Silhouettes in Disguise is excellent... also like Tomb 19

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    none... their debut starts at a B+ and it's all downhill from that moment onwaeds
    Sorry for being negative but I don't get Kansas at all. None of their albums is worth more than a C in my opinion although their hit Carry On My Wayward Son will always be one i'm impressed by in a big way despite the "heard it too many times" thing.
    I do enjoy several other tracks but man there are way more songs that make me cringe. It's good we all have different tastes isn't it?
    "The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
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  11. #61
    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    Count me in as SB and Kansas having commonalities. Styx? No.

    For me, SB is that big U.S. Sound like Trane says with a mix of Kansas, GG, Echolyn, and Beatles among others.
    WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.

  12. #62
    I also hear a bit of Todd Rundgren in early SB.

  13. #63
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mellotron storm View Post
    Sorry for being negative but I don't get Kansas at all. None of their albums is worth more than a C in my opinion although their hit Carry On My Wayward Son will always be one i'm impressed by in a big way despite the "heard it too many times" thing.
    I do enjoy several other tracks but man there are way more songs that make me cringe. It's good we all have different tastes isn't it?
    Well, TBH? I can't stand Carry On anymore (over-exposed)... if I must keep one track from them, it'll be .... (shame ion me ) Dust In The Wind... But I totally understand your POV (since you quoted me), but the debut is definitely worth another attentive listen, IMHO... it's at least worth a B

    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    Count me in as SB and Kansas having commonalities. Styx? No.

    For me, SB is that big U.S. Sound like Trane says with a mix of Kansas, GG, Echolyn, and Beatles among others.
    Well thank you, Sir Cozy

    I was feeling alone in my corner of the ring... Feels like having Cassius Clay on my side all a sudden...


    And yes: Echolyn is another biggie mixing GG, Yes... and Kansas
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  14. #64
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    I decided to play a Spocks Beard CD last night because of this thread. I revisited the first SB album I ever heard or owned .......Beware Of Darkness. Great album, and really a great place to start with SB. But I just don't hear any Kansas. The vibe is totally different. If you didn't know they were American you might think they're British. I hear Yes, Gentle Giant, a little Genesis here and there, but not Kansas. Although I am a bit surprised that Neal Morse hasn't worked more with Kerry Livgren. I know Kerry appears on Testimony but one would think that both these "prog giants" (who share the same Christian faith) would collaborate more.

  15. #65
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    Quote Originally Posted by mellotron storm View Post
    Sorry for being negative but I don't get Kansas at all. None of their albums is worth more than a C in my opinion although their hit Carry On My Wayward Son will always be one i'm impressed by in a big way despite the "heard it too many times" thing.
    I do enjoy several other tracks but man there are way more songs that make me cringe. It's good we all have different tastes isn't it?
    Kansas were the band that got me into prog in the first place, so maybe that is why I have always held them in such high esteem.

  16. #66
    Grade "A" Kansas

    Apercu
    Cheyenne Anthem
    Closet Chronicles
    Icarus
    Incomudro: Hymn To The Atman
    Journey from Mariabronn
    Lamplight Symphony
    Miracles Out of Nowhere
    Magnum Opus
    The Wall

  17. #67
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jim1961 View Post
    Grade "A" Kansas

    Apercu
    I must say that when I first turned over this album sleeve in a second hand record shop, this track title had a real positive effect on me: not only did they knew what an Aperçu was, but they even had the "cédille" right (that's the little hook under the "c", which transform the "c" into an "s" i, front of an A an O or an U)...

    I just knew instantly before hearing a note from this band, that they were so much more than midwest hicks... I brought it home and heard it two hours later after setting my eye on this not-so-great artwork (which was one of my "blind choice"' (should I say "deaf-choice") criterias
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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