"was Steve struggling with his voice at the time?"
Obviously....
"was Steve struggling with his voice at the time?"
Obviously....
I think Audio Visions was the last album where his voice was in full glory. The timbre of his voice changed for the Streets albums, and by the time Power rolled around he was a different singer. He could still do the job, but he didn't sound the same at all. Then by the time of Live at the Whisky and Freaks of Nature, his voice was utterly shot and made some decent songs rather painful to listen to. He got back up to speed for Somewhere to Elsewhere, though, so I'll give him that. But the rich resonance of his seventies voice is utterly gone.
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
I still remeber my first Kansas concert that I saw (Fall '90 with a very rare Lineup Walsh,Williams,Ehart, and Greer with Greg Robert and
Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope (!)).
His voice was much rougher but still ok (the soulfull part lost). He still could sing fluent and powerfull without fighting with his voice.
As few years later he always looked as singing would "hurt" him (and like he's going to spitt blood soon), and he sounded like that.
This album was a total disappointment for me. Haven’t revisited it in years.
Given that Walsh wrote or co-wrote more songs on the album than Livgren, I find it ironic that Walsh left soon afterwards. Walsh apparently didn't like the way Livgren was injecting his new found Christian faith into his lyrics.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
i would have liked Freaks Of Nature better if it were a Steve Walsh solo album.
it's down at the bottom with Drastic Measures as Kansas albums go.
even the Kerry song (probably a crumb he kick to Phill to get him off his back) didn't impress me.
Steve left in '81 because he couldn't deal with a 'born again' Kerry.
Another probable reason Audio Visions was so weak was Kerry used up his new ideas on Seeds of Change. As previously mentioned, both came out around the same time.
Last edited by progmatist; 09-16-2020 at 12:07 PM.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
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