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In the Spirit of Things

Kansas - In the Spirit of Things Audio CD

A fair review of the Kansas "In the Spirit of Things" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Kansas reviews here, or go back to the Kansas tabs.

Band: Kansas
Title: In the Spirit of Things
Rating:

Release Date: 1995-01-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Ghosts 2: One Big Sky 3: Inside of Me 4: One Man, One Heart 5: House on Fire 6: Once in a Lifetime 7: Stand Beside Me 8: I Counted on Love 9: Preacher 10: Rainmaker 11: T.O. Witcher [Instrumental] 12: Bells of Saint James

Only Kansas album I listen to regularly, one of their best

Many groups have done themed albums but rarely achieve the intended result
of getting across the feeling they wanted to tell fromt that story. I would probably have to get more of their more recent albums to say this, but this album held the most consistency from song to song and made it the most complete album they ever put out.

Styx probably did it best but minus Dennis Deyoung they no longer have that spirit.

Here Kansas not only achieves it and keeps that feeling going from one song to the next. Listening to it right now forgot how good the "House on Fire" Track was. Have to agree with another commenter "Rainmaker" is a great song.

The final song "Bell of St. James" finishes of the album and completes it just right.

.

Kansas - Four Great Songs, But The Band's Weakest Overall Album
The album follows a loose concept about a flood that wiped out the small Kansas town of Neosho Falls in 1951. This is probably Kansas weakest album and it is really too band as I think it had potential for greatness. When I found out Kansas was working on a concept album I really had high hopes as I thought they were one band that really could pull off something special. Unfortunately due to record company pressure for a hit they pulled in outside songwriters for about a third of the material on the album and the results are a mish-mash that only vaguely stuck to the concept and provided a whole cadre of mediocre songs. The single "Stand Beside Me" was obviously written specifically for radio airplay and Kansas fans rejected it in droves as it sank down the charts soon after release. All of the outside written songs are throwaways. If you cut them out what you have is a decent Kansas album that loosely sticks to the theme of the small town flood and history scenario. All that being said there are 4 tracks on this album that are excellent and make it worth owning. The opening track "Ghosts" sets the stage for the concept and is a great moody piece with Steve Walsh sounding better than ever with great lyrics and vocals. The song really sets up the concept well, but alas it get abandoned fairly quickly. "The Preacher" is another great Walsh tune telling the tale of a gospel preacher in all his fire and brimstone glory. I always wondered if this was some kind of a reaction to Kerry Livgren's Christian oriented writing on earlier albums. Either way this is a great song. "Rainmaker" is another story teller song and the most progressive rock oriented piece on the disc. The middle instrumental section is prime Kansas with Walsh's keys and Morse's guitar tearing it up. "Bells Of St James" is the album closer and another great tune about a soldier who gets a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend back home while he is off to war. It is another great tune. There are two other songs that are worth noting, neither are great, but both "One Big Sky" and "House On Fire" are pretty good tunes as well. "Spirit" would prove to be the album that broke the band once again. It did not sell very well and the tour was conducted in clubs instead of theaters. The band's sold out arena days were long behind them and in the end Steve Morse moved completely out of music for a while before eventually replacing Richie Blackmore in Deep Purple. The band would not release another new studio album for close to a decade. "Spirit Of Things" is not essential Kansas, but there are 4 great songs that make it worth owning.

Somewhat Underrated, Forgotten Treasure that Almost Was
"In the Spirit of Things" is more than just ok it is actually pretty good. The five star rating system used on Amazon is not adequate sometimes to express the value and quality of a given album and this is definitely one of those recordings. It is somewhat underrated in that it is not your typical "bargain bin" item although it seems to be treated as such. I prefer a 1 to 10 rating system with decimal points which gives a person more subtlety and flexibility. I would give this cd a 6. 8 based on the following loose criteria:
production 5 out of 10, Song Writing overall 6. 5, overall performance 9.

The production is no better than average due largely to an excessive amount of reverb which tends to blurr the sound of especially the lead guitar. The quality of the songs varies. On the low end I rate "I Counted on Love"(track no. 8) a 5. 5 due to a chorus that is mildly monotonous in melody and a little grating due to that and somewhat harsh sounding vocals
(probably due in part to the relatively bad production. ]

On the high end is the opening track "Ghosts. " With its mellow and thoughtful opening it becomes more powerful about a third of the way through with the entry of drums and guitars including an almost blistering
lead run by Steve Morse. I rate this track an 8. 5. It is a sort of sophistcated power ballad.

There are two other songs of pretty high quality. "Rain maker" (track 10)
which I rate an 8 may be the most "KANSAS" in spirit, although it sounds quite different from classic 70's Kansas. It begins with Steve Walsh speaking dramatically telling the story behind the song continuing with a section which is truly unique in Kansas output in that it includes a gospel choir that also returns with each chorus. In the middle there is a musical depiction of a rain storm and flash flood including powerful arpeggiated keyboards and some truly blistering guitar work by Steve Morse. "Bells of Saint James" which I also rate an 8 is apparently about a soldier in Vietnam who receives a "dear John letter" from his wife and wondering why he asks "Are the bells Saint James still ringing" apparently the church at which they were married. It features cool sound effects and pleading, passionate, and powerful vocals by Steve Walsh in a powerful arrangement.

"House on Fire"(track 5) is a fun rocking number featuring some fun screamy vocal efects by Walsh. "The Preacher" (track 9) also rocks and features some really classic rock organ from Walsh.

"One Big Sky"(track 2) is rythmically driving and puts Walsh's unique vocal qualities to good use in an interesting arrangement. It speaks of the seeming absurdity of trying to find peace and love in a hateful world.

The rest of the tracks are semi-forgetable Survivor/Journey like power ballads.

This album was not only the victim of less than great production but of interference of record company execs who brought in outsiders to write "hits" for the group amongst other things. This interference was the beginning of what eventually lead to Steve Morse's departure from Kansas and almost from music altogether. If the group had been left more to their own devices it may have become the treasure that some think it is forgotten or not. As it is "In the Spirit of Things" is an enjoyable product that Kansas should not be ashamed of, it is not a black mark on their output. It takes a mixture of Survivor, Journey, and traditional Kansas-like elements along with newer unique ones to create a better than average album. If it were a little better I would round it up to 4 stars.

-Steven O. Hemenway.

Kansas tries and fails to do Journey
Two songs, "Stand Beside Me" and "I Counted On Love" are actually good. This album doesn't even merit a full, detailed review. "Bells Of Saint James" is decent as well. The rest is pretty much not good, with some songs being in fact difficult to listen to.

And this is the same Kansas that put out "Song for America", "Dust in the Wind", "Carry On Wayward Son", "Point of Know Return", and "Questions of My Childhood"? Seriously?

In fact, a lot of the songs mark a blatant surrender to power balladry. From a band like Kansas, nearly all of these attempts fall flat - this territory's already been covered, and much more effectively, by bands like Journey, REO Speedwagon, Boston, and Styx. The composition of the songs and the instrumentation used on them makes most of the album sound badly dated; the warmth of the violin used so effectively in the '70s and on 2000's Somewhere to Elsewhere is nonpresent. This is, simply put, a different Kansas.

Unless you're either a diehard Kansas fan who worships anything they do or quite the opposite - someone who doesn't care for the classic material of Kansas and prefers bands like Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Survivor, Toto, and Air Supply - don't even bother picking this one up.

DEFINITELY UNDERRATED
I remember taking a trip to England and this was the only cassette I played on my walkman. I was floored when this album came out in 1988. I frequently put the cd on when I'm driving and am still amazed by "Ghosts", "The Preacher" and "Rainmaker". The emotion put into this album was incredible. If you have avoided this Kansas album, I would definitely reconsider. This ranks second only to "Leftoverture" to me in terms of best albums. .

You can see a complete list of all Kansas discography, or go back to the Kansas tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.