FEATURED CD: Kansas- Somewhere To Elsewhere

[SteveSly]

^^ Steve was recording his solo album Glosolalia at the same time, and recorded his vocals for STE separately from the band. it would have been nice for him to contribute a few songs. but Glosolalia was a great album too.

Agreed "Glosolaila" has some fantastic tunes on it. Some of them would have worked very well for Kansas. Loved "Smacking The Clowns" and "Kansas".

Steve Sly

[JIF]

^^ Steve was recording his solo album Glosolalia at the same time, and recorded his vocals for STE separately from the band. it would have been nice for him to contribute a few songs. but Glosolalia was a great album too.

I remember reading somewhere that Steve recorded his vocals onto a disc, then sent that disc to the rest of the band.

[Garion81]

^emailed files. Then came out to Kerry's farm and did overdubs and redos after Glossolalia was finished.

[Vic2012]

Glossolalia is a great album. I've always wondered what Trent Gardner could do with Kansas as producer, co-songwriter, etc. At this point it doesn't matter anyway, too many years have passed.

[Mikhael]

I actually thought "Freaks of Nature" was a bit better than this; it was more adventurous, I thought. The compositions on StE just weren't quite as much of a musical journey as I'd hoped. It sounded good, the songs were okay, but not up to the potential this band has for symphonic rock excursions. I do agree that more interplay/writing from Steve could have improved the effort.

Still, if this is their swan song (and it certainly appears to be so), it's not a bad one to go out on.

[Rangershockey7]

One day I realized that of all the Kansas I had put onto my ipod, this CD had more songs than any other Kansas album.

A very strong album from start to finish, and then you think about the inclusion of songs off Glossilalia or the Kerry Livgren CD and this would have been FANTASTIC!

[BravadoNJ]

I couldn't find a copy of Gloss anywhere locally so some guy named Ben sent me a copy.

i remember that, i can't remember what you traded for it, was it the Gentle Giant sampler?

[jlneudorf]

Have not played it in a long time but I agree, STE is an excellent album. I rank it on par with Freaks Of Nature and a couple notches below their classic '70s albums: Point of Know Return and Leftoverture. Will have to give it a spin.

Regards,
Jon

[Monet]

The reviews and comments about "Somewhere to Elsewhere" after its release were relatively ambiguous. For some, the album and the late return of Kerry Livgren is a great return to the genre-framework, for others it's just a sloppy copy of the past. Personally, I'm undoubtedly feeling more drawn to the first statement.
"Somewhere to Elsewhere" takes up a lot of the style characteristics of the Progressive rock genre and more than once offers the certain "wow factor". Be it the soulful, sometimes expressive violin playing by Robby Steinhardt (RIP), the rocking mixture of bombast and moderate complexity ("Icarus II", "Myriad", "Look at the Time") or the still existing potential of beautiful haunting ballads ("The Coming Dawn {Thanatopsis}") to write. Without question, singer Steve Walsh has definitely seen better days, but on the whole Kansas always manage to turn the corner and are convincing. They even show irony and attachment to the past by naming the opener "Icarus II" and quoting "Magnum Opus" for a few bars on "When the World Was Young".
With "Somewhere to Elsewhere", the old men prove that great Progressive rock can still going. An excellent record that is really fun to listen to.

[the ferret]

Probably my second favourite Kansas album after Leftoverture. Consistently brilliant from first to last.

[Trane]

RIP Robby Steinhardt

[arturs]

Probably my second favourite Kansas album after Leftoverture. Consistently brilliant from first to last.

I won't go quite that high but it is in my top 5 for sure. Kansas just needs Livgren's inventiveness and quirkiness on the lyrical front to be Kansas. I truly wish they had asked him to do lyrics on the new records.

[Rarebird]

This album seems to be hard to get. Found a new one offered for more than 400 euros and second-hands for 80.

[SteveSly]

This album seems to be hard to get. Found a new one offered for more than 400 euros and second-hands for 80.

Wow, looked it up on Amazon and it is $66! I have a copy that I bought when it came out, but hard to believe that it is that rare.

[aith01]

Had no idea it was that expensive nowadays. I got my copy at a local Fye back in 2005 I think.

Definitely has some really nice stuff on it, I listened to it quite a bit back then.

[the ferret]

£30 on UK Amazon. Not as bad but still pricey. Almost half the price on Discogs - Cheapest being £16.76

[Top Cat]

Glossolalia is a great album. I've always wondered what Trent Gardner could do with Kansas as producer, co-songwriter, etc. At this point it doesn't matter anyway, too many years have passed.

Unfortunately, Trent Gardner passed away.

I agree with other comments, Somewhere to Elsewhere is one of their best.
Freaks has some great moments, but I find myself skipping through some of the songs.

[Digital_Man]

I played this yesterday in honor of Robby. I think it's a pretty underrated album actually. Not as good as the classic era but probabably as good(if not better) than anything they released in the 80's or 90's. I haven't heard the last two yet so I can't compare but many seem to think the last two are the best they have done since the 70's and are better than StE.