|
Welcome to my web page dedicated to unearthing and unveiling the recurring musical ideas and concepts that have resounded through the careers of the progressive rock band Kansas and its members, both past and present. On this page you will find links to samples of musical "echoes," melodies and themes that have found expression more than once in the music of Kansas through the years, so much so that one might swear that certain of them were "separated at birth," so to speak, although some are more obvious than others. Confused? Click on the following links to download the MP3 samples that demonstrate that musical ideas need not appear only once, never to be heard again... Newcomers please note: many of the comments accompanying these samples are my own (sometimes pitiable) attempts at humor regarding past discussions on the Kansas and Kerry Livgren Internet discussion groups and regarding myself. Any and all seeming puns, put-downs or deprecations are aimed squarely between my eyes (wait a minute, wasn't that a Steve Walsh tune on Always Never the Same?) and nowhere else. Please take all these comments with a ;-) and/or a ;-P.
"Distant Suicide"
It wasn't "Myriad" that was inspired by A.D.; it was "Distant Vision"!
"Cross-Distance-Overture-Fire"
What's that? You say that Vinyl Confessions wasn't progressive? That Kerry Livgren's band A.D. wasn't progressive? Funny... Neal Morse (formerly of Spock's Beard) seems to think otherwise...
"A Glimpse of
Heartland"
Wherein we discover that Michael Gleason was a Kansas fan long before he joined A.D...
"Journey
at the End of the Day"
As if we needed proof that Spock's Beard was greatly influenced by classic Kansas...
"Life out of
Trouble"
Kerry Livgren's playing of a certain piano part on one album while in one band doesn't mean that he couldn't play a similar part on another album while in another band...
"Don't Mother Me By"
Kerry Livgren once said that he intended for A.D. not to sound like a clone of Kansas. Maybe he was aiming for Chicago instead...
"Ride Like the
Myriad-Age Blues"
It wasn't A.D. that inspired the "bah-bah-doo-yoo-dah" parts in the song "Myriad"; it was Christopher Cross who inspired both!
"Rediscovery
for America"
After listening to this sample you might think that the band Symphony X had simply taken a Kansas song and put their own lyrics to it (now who'd want to go and do a thing like that?!).
"She's
So Heavy When Things Get Whiskey-fied"
Sorry. Titles like this happen when you combine three different
songs by two different artists spanning three decades. Let's just
say that Kerry Livgren was getting a little bit "Beatle-esque" long before
Kansas recorded "Eleanor Rigby."
This is my collection so far. I'm always open to suggestions for new entries for "Separated @ Birth!" so please send them to me at dataman@adelphia.net.
|
