March 8, 1974 - Kansas and Kansas

We have another two album day as March 8, 1974 brought not only "Queen II" but also the debut album of a new progressive rock band, this time from the U.S., when Kansas released their first album "Kansas". But who are Kansas? They are a 6-piece progressive rock band formed in Topeka, Kansas when two bands decided to combine together. It's members are Steve Walsh (vocals, keyboards), Robby Steinhardt (vocals, violin), Kerry Livgren (guitars, keyboards), Rich Williams (guitars), Dave Hope (bass) and Phil Ehart (drums). Walsh does most of the lead vocals, but Steinhardt either shares or sings lead vocals on half the songs. Let's see if an American band can pull off the prog rock!

The album begins with "Can I Tell You" and it's led by an interesting rock riff with violin as a main instrument. Walsh and Steinhardt share vocal duties on this song, but together they don't sound that amazing, hopefully they're better on their own. Steinhardt plays a pretty cool electric violin solo and that's followed by a short back-and-forth solo between guitar and keyboards. The instrumental parts are vastly better than the average verses in this one. The next song is "Bringing It Back", a J.J. Cale cover with Steinhardt on lead vocals. A cool piano riff carries the opening with some cool drums backing and Steinhardt's singing sounds pretty good in this one; and his violin playing is even better! He plays some really blistering stuff that sounds freakin' amazing! Backed by some cool piano, this solo is some fantastic stuff! I like Steinhardt's vocal style, he has a couple nice yells and it fits this old-time rock very well. Track 3 is titled "Lonely Wind" and some slow, cool piano carries the song as Walsh is on lead vocals for the rest of side one. His voice is decent, definitely sounds better than the two singers together, and his style seems much better for this slow rock ballad. Steinhardt plays some epic, much slower violin that adds to this cool, slow jam. Up next is "Belexes" which kicks right into a cool, fast riff with great contributions from everyone. Some cool organ and bass stands out as Walsh's singing sounds much more rock 'n' roll in this one. We hear a great organ solo and also some cool guitars in this instrumental middle section and after another verse there's a sweet guitar solo! There's also a great little drum solo as well to finish it off! The side's closer is the 8-minute "Journey From Mariabronn" which opens with some synchronized keyboards from Walsh and Livgren, and the synths sound pretty cool. Steinhardt's violin joins as well and things sound pretty epic. Walsh's singing sounds pretty great as we hear plenty of good piano that even takes off to start a new riff. This new part has do-do singing backing some epic vocals by Walsh and this leads into a decent little guitar solo. We hear a cool bass segue that brings us to an epic violin solo! Livgren's synths sync up with the violin, and then take off for a trippy solo that sounds pretty great! They play another great verse and it ends with an epic synth ending combined with some cool whoa-ing by Walsh. 

Side two begins with "The Pilgrimage which has a soft opening with some cool piano as Walsh sings lead once again and he sounds pretty good. Steinhardt delivers a short violin solo that's followed by a quick guitar solo by Livgren. They go back and forth for a bit in a solo battle that sounds pretty sweet and this is another solid rock song. Track 7 is the longest song "Aperçu" at just under 10 minutes. It begins with some epic synths and cool violin and then slows right down for a quiet verse with some cool bass by Hope. Steinhardt sings the verses and despite a much slower mood, his voice still sounds good. Walsh syncs up with him for the chorus, but once again the two singers don't sound great together. It's not like a wonderful Lennon and McCartney duet; Steinhardt and Walsh sound great on their own, but they don't mesh well together and they should really stop trying it. They move to a new, epic slow piano part that sounds good, and the vocal duet sounds better when they aren't synchronized for sure. Steinhardt plays a cool violin solo and it leads into a new fast riff with some cool keyboards backing. He really is an excellent violin player! They do one more verse, and the whole band jam out the final minute with some great violin, drums and even a little guitar solo! A great ending to a cool song and it leads right into the final song of the record, "Death Of Mother Nature Suite", which starts with a cool guitar intro and switches to a brief sad violin part. Steinhardt sings lead in this epic rock song, and Kansas do have two pretty good singers on their hands when used right. The chorus is led by a pretty heavy guitar riff, but the verses are much lighter. Steinhardt delivers a slow violin solo that sounds pretty good and then some great drumming by Ehart takes us to a new part backed by guitar, and led by an organ solo. The organ solo is pretty cool as is the guitar solo that follows. They play one more verse and we hear another sweet guitar solo! It then builds up to an epic rock and roll finish and it seems that an American band can indeed make some cool prog rock.

That is the end of "Kansas" and I thought it was a pretty solid album. Steinhardt and Walsh are both good singers (on their own) and the violin is really rockin'! These guys definitely put their own spin on progressive rock and have made a pretty good debut album. I look forward to hearing Kansas try to top this effort soon!