LEFTOVERTURE

If I could use just one word to describe my first reaction to LEFTOVERTURE, it would be, WOW!

I really don't think I imagined myself liking Kansas as much as I do now, but somehow it happened and it took LEFTOVERTURE to do so. I can say that I had grown to love 'Carry On Wayward Son' through radio listens; upon receiving the album six months ago as of this post (I like to wait six months until I review an album), my first thought was, 'Yay! I have 'Carry On Wayward Son' in my home now!' I never actually thought that virtually the ENTIRE album would appeal to me, but thankfully, it has.

I think the big reason why I like LEFTOVERTURE so much is that it has the music I like; progressive rock with lots of hard rock overtones. It could be argued that LEFTOVERTURE is more of a hard rock album, but I think of it as a hard rock/prog rock mixture that works well. The presence of the hard rock textures help give LEFTOVERTURE a bite that helped attract me right away while the prog essence kept the music complex and enjoyable to the point where it hasn't grown stale over time.

However, I am aware of detractors of the album or the band, so I've tried to think of reasons as to why. Firstly, the aforementioned hard rock overtones can turn off some prog truists. I think that people who are fans of mellower prog might think Kansas is either too loud or caters too much to the mainstream rock crowd. Another point would be Steve Walsh's voice. I'm sure that there are people out there that will cringe upon hearing Steve soar into the stratosphere of the tenor range (correct me if I'm wrong). I think it mostly comes down to personal tastes as certain songs can appeal to certain people while the same songs can make others scream in disgust.

I happen to one of those people to where LEFTOVERTURE made sense and the majority of the album makes me just smile. It not only made sense immediately, but it makes just as much sense (possibly more) now after several listens. I am not afraid to say that this would be an ideal Kansas album to start with since it has that radio-familiar-song in 'Carry On Wayward Son'.

I could go into detail about each band member, but that would get pretty tedious so I'll stick with the highlights. First, while Kerry Livgren may not be the most accomplished guitarist or keyboardist, I am convinced that he can play lead on both instruments quite proficiently which is an amazing feat in itself. Add that to the fact that his name is stamped on every song off this album just makes him that more amazing. Another standout facet from Kansas is Dave Hope in general. It's pretty spectacular that I can hear Hope's bass quite prominently even though Kansas is a sextet at this point. The bass is very present not to mention complex. Also, I tend to think that Steve Walsh and Robby Steinhardt complement each other very well vocally to the point where its hard to tell the two apart.

One thing I would like to point out before I talk about the songs is that I feel that Kansas are very strong musically and compositionally. While none of the musicians in Kansas are what I would consider a virtuoso, the compositions themselves are rather tightly knit and of rather high quality.

For starters, LEFTOVERTURE has a few songs that scream 'hard rock' rather than 'prog rock', but I think Kansas needed songs like this to keep their record company happy. I feel 'Carry On Wayward Son', 'What's On My Mind' and 'Questions of My Childhood' are just those songs. Despite that, I actually enjoy listening to Carry On and What's On; conversely, Questions seems to be the weakest off of the album. For the longest time, I could never remember Questions until I told myself, 'Think 'Song for America'' because that's what Questions sounds like to me.

'The Wall' and 'Opus Insert' really defy description. You could say that both songs are clear hybrids of prog and rock. The two sound very deep and complex with the middle of 'Opus Insert' sounding like softer John Phillips Sousa march. Although I thought both were just 'okay' when I first listened to them, both songs have grown on me over time. With 'Miracles Out Of Nowhere' and 'Cheyenne Anthem', we delve deeper into prog territory with a couple of odd metres tossed into 'Miracles Out Of Nowhere' and the various textures used in 'Cheyenne Anthem'. To expand on the last idea, the beginning of 'Cheyenne Anthem' is pretty acoustic, yet it gradually builds (with some sudden drops) for about three minutes until it goes crazy instrumentally. Then, it reverts back to acoustics before its powerful instrumental climax that sounds like classical music.

Apparently, the best and most progressive was saved for last. 'Magnum Opus' is by far my favourite songs off of LEFTOVERTURE even though I add nothing new by saying so. You can check it out for yourself through the mp3 stream and decide for yourself whether 'Magnum Opus' is either a magnificent piece of music or just mindless self indulgence. The striking thing about 'Magnum Opus' is that 7/8 of the piece is instrumental, yet I remain in tune through almost every note. The main instrumental themes are very powerful and memorable ('The Gnat' being the most memorable for me), but the transitions work just as well and fit in the piece very comfortably.

Phew! I need to stop. I know my review is very epic, but I hope it helps someone somewhere. I feel no shame in giving LEFTOVERTURE five stars as it is, and the live versions of 'Carry On Wayward Son' and 'Cheyenne Anthem' are pure bonus. I call it a masterpiece, but I think everyone should at least listen to this album at least once to get an idea of what Kansas sounds like.

Last words: I find this fascinating; both Rush and Kansas released their first album in 1974 and would release three more albums in two years. Both play progressive music with hard rock overtones (or the other way around) and you could say both bands hit a breakthrough in 1976. Yeah, I know this information is useless, but I feel happy right now. I promise I'll calm down in the next review; hopefully, I'll keep the images and words at a reasonable level.