Kansas - The Absence Of Precense (CD/LP)

I’ve been a fan of Kansas since the early seventies and I’ve followed the bands through their ups and downs, from the progressive and orchestral early Steve Walsh period, via the more easy accessible melodic John Elefante era, the Stere Morse-era, back to the slightly uneven second Steve Walsh period. After Steve Walsh decided to leave the band a second time, he eas replaced by singer Ronnie Platt who made his debut on the 2016 album “The Prelude Implicit”. Ronnie sounds quite a lot like bass player Billy Greer, who sounds a lot like Steve Walsh. Another new guy on the previous album was guitarist Zak Rizvi, while original members, drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams are still in the band. Here’s also Billy Greer and David Ragsdale, who have been with the band for many years now, while Tom Brislin, on keyboards and vocals is a new face on this album. ”The Abscence Of Presence” opens up with the title track, which sounds as much classic Kansas as it possibly can. A more that eight minute long journey, going from melodic rock through orchestral passages. An excellent number. ”Throwing Mountains” kicks off with a surprisingly heavy guitar riff, to proceed into a slightly softer verse, but still sounding like Kansas in splendid shape. “Jets Overhead” continues in the same vein and I now have to say that, this far, this is the best I’ve heard from Kansas since their heydays! ”Propulsion 1” is a short instrumental piece that brings to mind the Steve Morse era of the band. A proggy, and very nice intermission. ”Memories Down The Line” takes it down to a soft piano ballad level. Even if the song may be a bit cheesy in the verse, the nice pompy mid-section takes it up a few notches and makes up for it, where also the following verse has been enhanced with a nice orchestral backdrop. In its context a really nice song. ”Circus of Illusion” starts with the classic violin solo, continues into a proggy section and a nicemeodsic verse. I have to say that this, still, is a damn fine album! ”Animals On The Roof” continues in the same vein with a nice musical rollercoaster where melodic parts go into odd rhythms and proggy solos. “Never”, again takes it down to a soft piano ballad level, but here it gradually evolves, but without being all prog rock. The album finishes with “The Song The River Sang” which opens with some pretty intricate rhythms and riffs. The verse however shows a slightly different side of the band, and it’s positive, and thene the classic Kansas moves come back in! A really nice and at times pretty intense thing that keeps the listener’s interest up. A highly surprising and abrupt ending though! Can we hope for a sequel, maybe? This is a really outstanding album with all the ingredients I could’ve wished for from a top-notch Kansas album. Despite several of the original members missing, I can’t really say I miss them when listening to the album. Sure, I wouldn’t say no to a couple of licks from Kerry Livgren, and some Steve Walsh vocals (from back in the day when his voice was in top shape), or maybe a violin solo from Robbie Steinhardt, but no, I can’t say I really miss it when listening to the album. The new members, and the old ones of course, do an outstanding work and the album sounds just like a kick ass Kansas album should sound. What more could I wish for?   

Janne Stark

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Label: InsideOut

Steve Walsh – Black Butterfly (CD)

When singer Steve Walsh left Kansas I didn’t expect to see him return in a few years. Well, wrong was I. His new solo album is already hot off the press! Opener “Born In Fire” sounds like a left over Streets track, which is great in my book. Steve sings great and it’s actually hard to hear the difference between Steve’s voice and guest singer Jerome Mazza! The have a very similar tone, where Mazza does still have his high register in place. They do sound great together and the song is a kick ass rocker! When I first heard “The Piper”, it had something familiar about it. I soon realized this song actually appeared on the album by Radioactive. Some of the guitars have been re-amped, but it’s still the same song. “Grace And Nature” is a more pomp oriented track with a chorus that sort of takes the song down in intensity, which is an interesting move. “Dear Kolinda” continues in the pomp oriented vein with a chorus that does touch on the old Streets/Kansas nerve. In “Winds Of War” Jerome Mazza takes over the lead vocals. His voice sounds quite close to Steve’s actually. Sounds like something that also could have been on the Radioactive album. “Tanglewood Tree” starts off a bit Yes sounding. The vocals are a bit thin and strange in the opening, but soon gets better. An ok track, but not really a favorite. “Now Until Forever” again features Mazza on lead vocals. A good semi-ballad type track with a big chorus. “Warsaw” would also fit on the aforementioned Radioactive album. Quite Toto:ish.

“Black Butterfly” sounds quite different from “Shadowman”, both in sound and style. I honestly think “Shadowman” had more of a unique identity, while “Black Butterfly” sounds very much like several other projects involving the song writers. “Nothing But Nothing” starts out pretty cool and promising with an interesting guitar riff and even though it never really lifts off the way I expected, it’s a really cool track with an oriental touch in the chorus. Good one! “Winds of War”, also featuring Mazza on lead vocals is a mid-tempo melodic AOR track, a bit anonymous, but decent enough. “Billy Carbone Is Dead” is another track with a slight Streets touch, where I so wonder what Mike Slamer would have done with the guitar parts. “Mercy On Me” is one of the best tracks after the opener, also featuring Mazza on lead vocals. All in all a pretty good album, in deed. My first impression was actually better than what I feel after 5-6 times of listening. I’m a bit torn regarding Mazza handling the lead vocals on several tracks. He’s a great singer who deserves his own album, and I’d rather hear Steve sing all the songs and Mazza do his own thing, in the same style though. The production is clear and good, but I do miss a bit of the fatness of “Shadowman” which on the other hand misses a bit of the clarity found here. Well worth checking out.

Janne Stark

Label: Escape Music

Year: 2017

Country: USA