Words cannot express how excited I was at the prospect of this album when it was still just rumor; the original members of Kansas, all coming back together to record a new studio album? It seemed too good to be true...and in some ways, it was. But I am getting ahead of myself -- let's, as they say, begin at the beginning, hmmm?

Kansas began as an eclectic rock band from (you guessed it) Kansas, and managed to garner critical acclaim from both the regular radio-rock crowd and progressive rock fans by writing music that was accessible enough for the former and complex enough in its baroque-inspired arrangements to satisfy the latter. The lineup remained virtually unchanged for the first seven albums (the last of these, Audio Visions, was released in 1980), and this is the period that produced the majority of the music with which the public at large is familiar (e.g., Carry On Wayward Son, Dust In The Wind, Point Of Know Return)...then vocalist/keyboardist/co-founder Steve Walsh left the band. This was due to the born-again-Christian conversion of guitarist/co-founder Kerry Livgren and bassist Dave Hope, which was beginning to show itself in the zealous nature of Livgren's lyrics, and Walsh opted not to sing this type of material. Kansas went on to produce two of their most forgettable albums without Walsh...Vinyl Confessions and Drastic Measures. Livgren and Hope left to start a Christian rock band called AD, and Kansas disbanded, only to return with Walsh at the forefront and virtuoso axeman Steve Morse on lead guitar. That lineup produced two solid but overlooked albums, Power and In The Spirit Of Things. Once again, the equation changed, and Kansas continued touring with a new band (David Ragsdale on guitar/violin and Greg Robert on keys)...while this lineup produced a good live album (Live At The Whiskey), it also produced only a single studio album in several years, Freaks Of Nature, which was not received well by critics or fans. Lastly, the original band lineup sans Livgren returned with a symphonic album, Always Never The Same, and was met with encouraging reviews and very likely played a large part in the rejoining of the band with Livgren.

Being that I carry this band history around in my head, I assume at this point that you, friendly reader, find it obvious that I am a fan of this band. To say as much would be an understatement; I have every recording that this band has ever made. And understandably enough, you can also imagine my unadulterated glee at the prospect of the original band members back together after a seventeen year hiatus. If had known how to dance a jig, I assure you that I would have. The moment Somewhere To Elsewhere (referred to as STE from here on out for simplicity) hit the shelves, I had a copy, which I proceeded to take directly home and load into the stereo.

The album starts on a decidedly strong note with Icarus II, a thematic continuation of one of my favorite Kansas tunes, Icarus: Borne On Wings Of Steel from 1975's Masque. It follows the story of a WWII B-17 bomber pilot flying into combat and eventually sacrificing himself for the greater cause. Featuring gentle passages while describing the initial flight and a pounding guitar/drum combo during the passages describing combat, the song is well conceived and written. Walsh also delivers the vocals with the flair for which he is famous; his voice, though grown more coarse with the passage of years (and previous chemical abuse) still conveys the lyrics with passion and believability. Phil Ehart's drumming is, as always, rock solid, and Rich William's guitar work shows both guts and finesse. With such a strong start to the album, I had little doubt that STE would become a new Kansas classic.

The second track, Back When The World Was Young, starts out well enough: we are presented with an initial guitar riff that sounds so classic that it would feel right at home in the 70's. The lyrics, however, are typical post-70's Livgren fare, painting a picture of the ignorant humans rushing toward the apocalypse due to their warring nature. This is not to say that Kerry doesn't have a valid point, or that the theme is not applicable, but rather just that this seems to be a predictable and common topic for him. Overall, the song is performed well and the band manages to pull it off, but somehow it still seems perhaps a bit uninspired. At this point in the album's listen, I wasn't worried -- not every track can be a classic, right? I still had high hopes for what was to come...and then the real problems began.

Grand Fun Alley is, according to Livgren, "kind of poking fun at the apocalypse. It's a song about a fictitious character who realizes he's at the very end of the ages and he still has a good attitude about it." This sounds like a cool concept. Unfortunately, the song itself does not live up to the potential. Despite a funky guitar part that starts the song well, violinist Robbie Steinhardt, who handles vocals on this track, is unable to carry the song with any power. His voice just sounds old and tired, rather than wise or even road-worn. The lyrics start to become silly, like a choir boy trying to sound tough: "If you wait too long, you / can't afford the wrong / it's a doozy / When the times are good, they'll still cut you down / Just like an Uzi." In short: Eeeeewwwwwww.

Hope returns on the fourth track, The Coming Dawn. Although the opening strains are frighteningly reminiscent of some Windham-Hill Christmas album, this ballad turns around quickly into a simple arrangement that is really quite (dare I use the word?) lovely. Fortunately, Walsh handles vocal duties on this one and is able to sell this tune about human endurance without letting the song become too sugary.

By track 5, Myriad, I began to wonder if the goofy nature of track 3 was just a fluke. Arguably the best song on the album, Myriad was actually written 30 years before the release of STE, but was never put on any of the previous albums. Livgren reworked the tune (he does credit Walsh with help in the arrangement, though not the writing) and the band brought it to life for STE. This song contains the classic progressive sound for which Kansas is famous, diverting into weird jazz-like sections, only to have a crunchy guitar riff follow immediately after. Some impressive violin work by Robbie Steinhardt is also featured on this song.

Look At The Time is certainly a departure in sound for Kansas. Featuring vocals by bassist Billy Greer, this song reminds me very strongly of late 60's Beatles, with simple yet attractive harmonies and an almost irritatingly catchy melody. Kansas somehow makes this work, and the song is really an interesting gem of which I feel they can be quite proud...

...but now things start to get a bit dicey. On Disappearing Skin-Tight Blues, Livgren throws a Christian rock song right at us. He doesn't ever use the word "God" in the song, but nobody will be fooled here. Hey, I'll give plenty of credit to anybody, absolutely anyone, who has the stones to put their beliefs right out in the open. More power to you. But it's the presentation I'm talking about here...and any rock afficionado knows exactly the sound quality I'm talking about when I say that this tune has that awful Campus Crusade texture to it. It starts out with a nice classic Kansas string arrangement, then turns into a blues number. So far, so good. Then Robbie Steinhardt's tired vocals come in (sigh), and soon after that we come to a horrid youth ministry chorus, all sugar and blind faith: "Oh how you move me, you turn me 'round / Nothing to hold me down / Just like a magnet you pull me in / Got my instant reservation / When I'm feelin' empty you make me full / More love than I'll ever hold / You touch me right where my heart is dull / I'm gonna shed this skin and disappear."

Reeling from sugar shock, I managed to find promise in the opening chords of Distant Vision, featuring more tasty violin from Steinhardt and a nicely-done baroque feel. And then...wham! This epic-length tune once again turns into the Old-Tyme Gospel Hour, where Livgren calls us to the fold, probably all the while wearing aluminum foil angel wings. What potential this song had...and oh, the inhumanity of what Livgren's lyrics did to it.

Fortunately, the listener is given a break from Kerry's personal need to sell his faith on the decidedly Zeppelinesque Byzantium. While the lyrics are still certainly spiritual in nature, what's done properly here is the presentation of the subject. Everything is communicated through subtlety and overtones and, to use a literary metaphor, where the previous two tracks were John Grisham, Byzantium is John Steinbeck. The Arabic quality to this track is also interesting, and again is a sonic departure from the standard Kansas sound. Hope returns!

Not Man Big: please, please make the pain stop. Who in the hell let Stryper into the room? From the one-note root bass line to the absolutely hokey shouted gang vocals on the chorus, this song captures all of the worst qualities that give Christian rock a bad name, including Livgren's need to preach to the audience again. What a horrible way to end a Kansas album.

After I finished listening to the album, I took a closer look at the liner notes. Livgren wrote every shred of music on the disc. This is interesting in that in the past, Livgren and Walsh wrote many of the songs together, and their individuals styles both temper and compliment one another. On STE, we essentially received a Kerry Livgren album being performed by the band Kansas, and that explains the self-indulgent nature of some of the music. Why didn't Walsh write any of the material for this disc? Probably because he was busy working on his second solo release, the very interesting Glossolalia (Latin for "tongue"), not to mention appearing in other side projects on the Magna Carta label.

In the end, STE has lots of peaks and valleys for me. Perhaps my expectations of this album were just too high. On the other hand, I consider Kansas to be a band of the highest caliber, so it's very likely that I am unwilling to accept anything other than their best possible work. I know that a lot of Kansas fans are thrilled over this album and rate it very highly among the selections of the Kansas catalog. I, for one, think that many of them are just so overjoyed at having the original band back together that whatever the group presents seems to be of landmark quality. Although STE contains some very stand-out tracks, and while it seems to me that this album is evidence of the band moving in the right direction, the end result is, in my opinion, merely good when it could have been great. The problem songs just detract too much from the overall sound of the disc. If the rest of the band can somehow balance Livgren's overly-earnest lyrics (and tell Robbie Steinhardt to stick to the violin), the next outing could be impressive indeed.

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Track listing:
01. Icarus II
02. When The World Was Young
03. Grand Fun Alley
04. Coming Dawn (Thanotopsis), The
05. Myriad
06. Look At The Time
07. Disappearing Skin Tight Blues
08. Distant Vision
09. Byzantium
10. Not Man Big
11. Untitled - (Hidden Track)


My 10-point scale (it pains me to do this): 5/10

The Kerry Livgren quote was taken from the Magna Carta web site.

Recommended: No