I think his solo work is a mixed bag. Shows just how much the guys in Kansas brought to his compositions. The last Kansas album is a good example of how they elevate his tunes.
I think his solo work is a mixed bag. Shows just how much the guys in Kansas brought to his compositions. The last Kansas album is a good example of how they elevate his tunes.
Ah you guys used my review from Progarchives for this. Sean there is something to that but mostly if you listen to Kansas, AD and Protokaw over his solo albums there is quite a distinction where he tries to play all of the instruments including drums and that is where it is lacking. His groups were much better.
I've always felt that AD's "Art of the State" is a strong Livgren solo project, second only to "Seeds." "Up from the Wasteland" is the sublime closer to that one, and one of my all-time favorite Kerry tracks. Next I would pick "Time Line" - after that, it's a truly mixed bag across the board IMO. It's like at some point he decided to just record everything that ran through his head and put it out there ...
I really need to start collecting Kerry's other solo albums and A.D. stuff. I've heard a lot about Collector's Sedition, so that will probably be the first one I get.
I'm a super huge ProtoKaw fan, too. Kerry is just simply a brilliant songwriter, and in spite of his stroke (from which he has made remarkable progress), I hope he can continue writing great music for some band(s) out there.
"The mountains are calling and I must go" - John Muir
"To breathe the same air as the angels, you must go to Tahoe" - Mark Twain
Kerry Livgren is a great composer, but often too commercial/straightforward to move me one way or the other. Other times, he's great. I usually love his instrumental passages, such as in Ground Zero, Mask of the Great Deciever and Children of the Shadows.
Bump. Does anyone have the Rock Candy reissue?
Btw, check this out.
Three cheers for the "over-the-top" phase shifter solo in the middle of Mask of the Great Deceiver ! Somehow he got the phase to cycle to it's lowest point at the end of the solo (must have been done by hand with a device that allowed for a "manual" phase sweep). That's something i miss about the old days.....artists trying things because "hey man, I don't think we've ever done this idea with this effect before !" . These posts have me very curious now as to whether he kept that in the 2009 version (in my mind it's a must have ! - haha)
It WAS sitting on my hard drive. My 'pewter took a shit and now "Children Of The Shadows" is gone.It's sitting on my hard drive.
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