SOMEWHERE TO ELSEWHERE

Um..... not so much. Having been a die hard Kansas fan since their beginnings, it would be near to impossible to create anything as epic as the deep prog of their first album or the polished greatness of Leftoverture or Point Of No Return. The bar would have to be set high. When Monolith was released in 79 that for me was the start of the decline. I tend to like Kerry's songs more than Steve's but on that album Steve's songs won out for me. Audio Visions had some good tracks but the band sounded like they were going in circles by then and Steve quit over the "musical differences" bit. The few albums since then have been lame at best.

When this album came out I was at the front of the line to get it only to be disappointed. First of all, you can tell that there is not the chemistry there once was. Come to find out Steve wasn't even in the studio the entire time. He did his vocals from his own home studio as he was working on his solo album. You would think that something as monumental as a complete reunion would be done when all the players could be available or maybe Steve just didn't want to be there. The poor guy's voice had started its decline from the once epic voice he had. Drug and alcohol abuse took its toll. So his vocals on here have very little punch and are not at the front of the mix. Steve contributes no songs here at all and it isn't a Kansas album without contributions from both of the main songwriters.

So the rest of the players recorded at Kerry's studio. Most of the songs sound okay but there is no real surprises. Flash forwards to the new Kansas album, The Absence of Presence. The songs on that album sound fresher than this one! I would rate it higher as well. I did like a few songs as many have mentioned. The best is Myriad & Distant Vision.

Again, I think if the band had sat down and truly worked together on this album and Steve was present and added input the album would have been a great last one for the classic lineup.