''Art of the State'' is the first studio album by the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band AD, and the third solo album for its leader

Kerry Livgren Kerry Allen Livgren (born September 18, 1949) is an American musician, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the American rock band Kansas. Biography Livgren was raised in Topeka, Kansas, by his father Allen L ...

. The album was re-issued in the late 1990s under Livgren's new record label, Numavox Records.

Background

In the previous year, Kerry Livgren and his newly formed group, AD, released their first album, ''

Time Line A timeline is a display of a list of events in Chronology, chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with calendar date, dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any ...

''. In the year following its release, Livgren was caught in a legal problem with his contract connection with

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, causing the band to make a decision. Unable to sell or perform their material in the Non-Christian Marketplace, AD had to release their newest records in the Christian Marketplace; a move that Livgren and the others never had expected would happen at first when the band was originally formed. Realizing the limited options, the group accepted the offer and began work on their next record, which contained songs relating in strictly Christian themes. Livgren also decided with the others that AD should receive full credit for the production of the album, rather than the album being split half and half for its creation. The tour for the band, unfortunately, was not as successful as intended, resulting in

Warren Ham Warren Ham (born 1957) is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for playing with Kansas (1982), Toto (1986-1988, and since 2017) and Ringo Starr (since 2015). During the early '70s, Warren and his brother Bill formed The Ham Broth ...

's departure from the band after the tour for Art of the State had ended.

Reception

Compared to review that ''Time Line'' received,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave Art of the State a much more favorable review of four stars out of five; a drastic improvement from the 1984 release that both Livgren and AD took ownership of. Marked as a religious album, it was said to be unique in its own way and has created an enjoyable experience for the listener. It has been said to be strongly focused on songs of worship and praise while providing other songs of controversial subjects at the same time.

Track listing

All songs written by Kerry Livgren, otherwise indicated #"All Creation Sings" - 4:22 #"We Are the Men" - 4:41 #"Lead Me to Reason" (Michael Gleason) - 3:56 #"The Only Way to Have a Friend" - 4:16 #"Games of Chance and Circumstance" (Gleason) - 4:18 #"The Fury" - 5:34 #"Progress" - 4:39 #"Heartland" (Gleason) - 3:42 #"Zion" (Warren Ham, Livgren) - 3:26 #"Up from the Wasteland" (Gleason, Livgren) - 4:25

Personnel

A.D. * Michael Gleason – lead vocals (1, 5, 6, 10), backing vocals, keyboards, guitars *

– lead vocals (1-4, 7-9), backing vocals, keyboards,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

s *

– keyboards, guitars *

Dave Hope Dave Hope (born October 7, 1949) is an American bass guitarist who played with the American progressive rock band Kansas from 1970 (original version) until the band's first split in 1983. When he was in high school, he played defensive center fo ...

– bass guitar * Dennis Holt – drums, percussion, backing vocals Additional vocals * Debi Chapman (1, 10) * Susan Shewbridge (1, 10) Production * Mark Ferjulian – executive producer * Ken Marcellino – executive producer, art direction, front cover art concept * Kerry Livgren – producer, engineer * Michael Gleason – assistant engineer, front cover art concept * Gary Westman – additional engineer * Glenn Meadows – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee) * Bill Murphy – art direction * Tim Wild – front cover illustrations * FM Management – management

References

External links

Review
{{Authority control 1985 albums AD (band) albums Sparrow Records albums