VINYL CONFESSIONS

Well, this album is a plain straight bone of contention for Kansas fans as well as lovers of prog rock and art rock, in general. Actually, almost every Kansas album after the electrifying live release "Two for the Show" is, but the case of "Vinyl Confessions" states a particularly relevant issue in terms of elaborating a full perspective on the band's 80s era. Besides the obvious reasons of having John Elefante as a replacement of the (otherwise irreplaceable) former keyboardist/singer Steve Walsh and having the violin's role degraded in the band's sonic architecture, we also have an enhancement of the preaching trend championed by Livgren from a couple of years earlier, plus a depersonalization of a gradually lesser signature Kansas touch (as if trying to get in touch with Foreigner, Journey and Toto into a common mold) and a diminished interest in exploring what was once was the required artsy element in both song writing and instrumental arrangement. The latter two aforesaid factors create a sense of vacuum for the band's progressive potential at this point of their career, and that is a shame, since the appreciation of demo bootlegs (with Walsh still enjoying his last days in the original sextet) and the recognition of this album's most ambitious passages are proof that the progressive element was still around and didn't need to disappear. But by now, this band is in full transition toward its affirmation as an AOR item with full-flight melodic drive and a constrained sense of adventure. The prior two studio efforts, while not matching the greatness of the golden era, managed to build up an increased robustness in the band's framework, but that sort of advance has also been undermined as well. So? is this a disastrous album? Not at all, since there is still a series of musical gems to be found and enjoyed. The opener 'Play the Game Tonight' is a pleasant melodic rock delivery that arguably could have benefited from a longer arrangement (beyond interests of making it the first single). There are also 'Fair Exchange' and 'Crossfire', Livgren-penned pieces that exemplify (again) his abundant stylization. The album's pinnacle is, IMHO, 'Windows', an excellent exhibition of hard-inflicted prog rock that displays Yes and Gentle Giant evolvements in a typical Kansas scheme: complex, catchy and powerful as 'Paradox' or 'Mysteries and Mayhem', in its own terms. The Elefante input is varied: I find 'Right Away' soem sort of dispensable Foreigner-wannabe song (and I am so not alone on this?), but the vulnerable beauty of 'Chasing Shadows' sends shivers of sublime tenderness to my spine. 'Face It' is an elegant AOR number that benefits from elegant prog-oriented arrangements (including a beautiful intro), while 'Play On' is just good, well-arranged but not that special really. Going back to the Livgren material, 'Borderline' is catchy and somewhat moving, but had it rocked harder it would have been more impressive that it finally came to be. On the other hand, 'Diamonds and Pearls' bears its proper dose of colorfulness and a coherent dynamics, but I don't find it compositionally brilliant: an exception is the lovely interlude, which maybe deserved to be part of a much better Kansas piece. Moments like this, when Steinhardt is still allowed some room to show off his sensibility (as in the interlude of 'Chasing Shadows' or the sets of textures delivered in 'Crossfire'), create most of the best moments in this album. Well, that's all I have to say about this album: "Vinyl Confessions" is a very good AOR album, not so good as an art-rock item, worth having indeed, but not as a collector's pride.