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Somewhere to Elsewhere

Kansas - Somewhere to Elsewhere Audio CD

A fair review of the Kansas "Somewhere to Elsewhere" 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: Somewhere to Elsewhere
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-07-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Icarus II 2: When the World Was Young 3: Grand Fun Alley 4: Coming Dawn (Thanatopsis) 5: Myriad 6: Look at the Time 7: Disappearing Skin Tight Blues 8: Distant Vision 9: Byzantium 10: Not Man Bag

Kansas fans...
I agree that Steve Walshs voice is not of the old days but the music does not demand it. You need to hear this album if you want old Kansas back like Yes fans thrive for old Yes. Feel lucky that you get an album like this because Boston fans will never get Boston and Pink Floyd will never get Pink Floyd. We got one more from Kansas and the radio did'nt kill it.

My favorite Kansas album
I am an 80's convert to Kansas. . . I always liked the older classics such as "Dust In The Wind" and "Carry On My Wayward Son" but my musical tastes were more into the 80's hard rock scene and radio pop. I personally loved the album POWER, released in 1986. As I've gotten older (will be 39 in late 2009) I've found that while I like a lot of the newer music (Nickelback, Foo Fighters, Five For Fighting, etc. ) I seem to be looking backwards to find new music that I really enjoy. As a result of this, I've discovered truly great music from Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot, The Moody Blues, and more.

I began looking around on Amazon to find music from older bands that I liked to see what releases I had missed over the years. I found some gems along the way, and the best one by far (in my opinion) is the 2000 release of "Somewhere To Elsewhere" by Kansas. If you liked "Power", you will love STE. I'm not an uber-fan of any band. . . . I can't tell you the names of the founding members of any band with the possible exception of maybe Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. . . . . but I know what I like.

This album is to me what I call a "concept album", or in my own terms, one that tells a story. This is one of those rare start-to-finish albums that you can put the headphones on and lay back in the recliner and when you're done, you feel like you've just experienced something, not just listened to a performance. From the music, the band seems to not only recognize that they have aged, but they embrace it. This is artfully demonstrated on the beautifully arranged "The Coming Dawn". "Byzantium" is another of my favorites, along with "Look At The Time" which I (and others who have reviewed it) find to be a very Beatles-inspired sound. "Icarus II", the opening track, starts out subtlely and expands into a hard-rock frenzy.

I give this album five stars. . . . maybe I'm being generous, but after listening to it, I remembered why music used to mean so much to me and I had lost that over time. This album touched me, and I hope everyone else who loves music will give it a chance to touch them.

GLIMPSE OF A GRAND RETURN

and impressive tie up of all livgren / walsh kansas periods with musical references all over the place even seeds of change hints and A. this is perhaps the best reuniting of this band . D. . Livgren has a wealth of material going all the way back to the pre-kansas experimental prog period up to present solo work

while Walsh's voice has worn with age he still delivers emotional heart wrenching expression .

great layered vocal harmonies and amazing musicianship.

With the exception of the living room jam at the end this is a masterpiece and a grand if not short return of most of the classic lineup I highly recommend it ! .

Best album since Point Of Know Return!
Still some good songs, but falling short of the Masterpiece of the earlier albums (or peak form on Leftoverture). What a great Kansas CD! Kansas was one of my favorite groups in the 70's behind Pink Floyd and Zeppelin! I loved Song For America, Masque, Leftoverture, and Point Of Know Return! Things started a slight downward turn on Monolith and than even more so on Audio Visions. But they found it again here! These songs easily could have been released right arond the time as those other classic albums and they would have held up nicely! The criticisms about this being a Livgren project dont mean nothing here. The songs and the music are spectacular!! And even with Steve Walsh's voice having some rough edges with time, it's STILL a fantastic CD! This release really makes me appreciate the songwriting of Livgren! Yet even his solo albums and A. D. they never came up with a project this good. Warren Ham was a good singer, but never this good. A. D. always had a bit of that 80's generic feel to their music. While that wasnt a really bad thing (it had it's qualities), it was less than spectacular! This has the classical excellence and the wonderful compositions that you would expect from Kansas in their heyday! Ironically I only discovered it recently. Thank good ness for music going online in the 2000's. Several years ago after I had become disallusioned with classic rock, an old friend introduced me to this CD. I listened to part of it and said blah! My mind was closed and my ears werent really hearing it. Well I am hearing it now, VERY clearly!! 5 stars! .

KANSAS - the Reunion
An album that included all six original members (plus recent stand-in bass player Billy Greer). KANSAS - Somewhere to Elsewhere (2000) (*** �) 11 tracks (68:13)

In the summer of 2000, KANSAS released its 14th Studio album. This was quite a surprise, especially by the fact that it had been almost 20 years since all these guys had been together to play music, much less record a whole new album. The songs, all written by Kerry Livgren, are quite good although kind of "mellow" over-all. The good news is you finally have a chance to get some honest to goodness, authentic KANSAS music. Written by the bands main songwriter, sung by original singers Steve Walsh (lead) and Robby Steinhardt, and played by all the original founding members. In addition, there are more epic-length tracks than ever before. Five passing the single limit (7 min +) with two of those pushing almost 9 minutes.

There was obviously a lot of interest in this album when it came out. Many older fans were shocked to see a "new" KANSAS album at their local record store. With twice the Amazon Reviews of any other KANSAS album, it shows just how many people decided to give this a chance and then tell us about it. My over-all impression is that this is No Leftoverture, and doesn't come close to resembling the bands early albums, but it does sound like KANSAS, an older more mature KANSAS. There are a few heavier tracks such as Distant Vision and Not Man Big. And a throwback to one of their early songs entitled Icarus II.

This is not an album that I will be reaching for often, but it's a nice addition to ones KANSAS collection. The way its currently looking, we may never get any more music out of the boys from Topeka again, so enjoy it while you can.
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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.