''Kansas'' is the debut studio album by American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

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 th ...

, released in 1974 by Kirshner in the United States and Epic Records in other countries. Kansas's debut album followed the merging of two

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

musical camps:

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 ...

, from a previous Kansas line-up, and White Clover, which played mainstream rock and blues. The newly formed group signed with Kirshner Records in 1973 and traveled to New York to record their first release. The material on ''Kansas'', written mostly by guitarist/keyboardist Livgren and vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh, had been culled from the repertoire of both groups. Livgren's songs were generally longer and more elaborate than Walsh's and featured mystical lyrics which reflected his intense interest in Eastern religions. "Journey from Mariabronn" was inspired by

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual's ...

's ''

Narcissus and Goldmund ''Narcissus and Goldmund'' (; also published as ''Death and the Lover'') is a novel written by the German–Swiss author Hermann Hesse which was first published in 1930. At its publication, ''Narcissus and Goldmund'' was considered Hesse's liter ...

'', while "Belexes" and "Aperçu" were influenced by the pseudo-Asian sound of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is " Nessun dorma", ...

''. ''Kansas'' was promoted by print advertisements which included the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

"Kansas is Koming." A promotional 7-inch single titled "Man the Stormcellars: Kansas is Koming!" was sent to radio stations and featured

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'' magazine, he was best known fo ...

hyping the album. Two 7-inch singles were released: "Can I Tell You" and "Lonely Wind". Both failed to chart, though a live version of "Lonely Wind" (from the double-live album '' Two for the Show'') did reach the Top 100 in early 1979. ''Playlist: Bringing It Back'' featured five songs from this album and five from ''Masque''. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 2004. A remastered version of the album appeared on vinyl in 2014.

Artwork

The album cover depicts abolitionist John Brown in a scene from '' Tragic Prelude'', a mural by Kansas native

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

. The original mural is painted on a wall at the

Kansas State Capitol The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in the city of Topeka, which has served as the capital of Kansas sin ...

. The album cover image is severely discolored and cropped to show only a small part of the original painting.

Reception

In a contemporary review for '' New Musical Express'', Max Bell wrote that, despite Kansas having all the elements for subtlety, "bristling with hard rock commonplace, speed and beat, they rapidly cancel any hints of originality", showing a lack of personality which transforms the listening of the album in a boring enterprise.

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 databa ...

's retrospective review gave the nod to the band's mix of progressive rock and

boogie rock Boogie rock is a style of blues rock music that developed in the late 1960s. Its key feature is a repetitive driving rhythm, which emphasizes the groove. Although inspired by earlier musical styles, boogie rock has been described as "heavier" or ...

as being unique, but contended that it also makes them less interesting than other progressive rock bands. They also criticized their ambitiousness as being overdone: "there're a lot of scales and arpeggios, galloping triplets, dramatic organ, and stately ballads that signify nothing and go nowhere." Tom Karr at ProgressiveWorld.net described the album as "an outstanding debut, a brilliant display of song writing and musicianship, and a great statement of Kansas's musical ethos." He felt that the song "Aperçu" has "Kansas at their best, with frequent use of time and tempo changes, and well developed musical themes, showing a group of outstanding players and arrangers. The level of instrumental virtuosity displayed here is jaw dropping, and on either side of the Atlantic, there were few that could even hope to approach Kansas's mastery of their craft." He defined "Journey From Mariabronn" as "Kansas's first full-on symphonic rock masterpiece, and the song has so many strong elements and themes, it goes beyond any simple analysis. This song provides the paradigm for the great works of the future, and introduces the writing style that would produce the wonderful songs of Kansas's early discography." Ranking on the ''Billboard'' album chart as high as #174, the ''Kansas'' album in the months subsequent to its release in the spring of 1974 sold over 135,000 units. The platinum success of Kansas' fourth and fifth album releases: '' Leftoverture'' (1976) and ''

Point of Know Return ''Point of Know Return'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Kansas, released in 1977. The album was reissued in remastered format on CD in 2002. Composition and recording The recording sessions for ''Point of Know Return'' comme ...

'' (1977), revived commercial interest in the band's early output, it being reported in January 1978 that both the albums ''Kansas'' and ''Song for America'' had at that point each sold between 300,000 and 400,000 units, with the third Kansas album: ''

Masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

'' (1976), having been

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for sales of 500,000 units the previous month:''Cashbox'' 14 January 1978 "Success of Kansas Traced to Constant Touring, FM Airplay" by Mark Mehler p.12 both ''Kansas'' and ''Song for America'' would eventually be certified Gold for selling 500,000 units, ''Song for America'' as early as 1980 but ''Kansas'' not until 1995.

Track listing

Personnel

;Kansas * Steve Walsh –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, organ, Fender Rhodes, congas,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, piano, organ, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals *

Robby Steinhardt Robert Eugene Steinhardt (May 25, 1950 – July 17, 2021) was an American rock violinist and singer best known for his work with the group Kansas, for which he was co-lead singer/"frontman" and MC along with keyboardist Steve Walsh, from 197 ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, lead and backing vocals *

Rich Williams Richard John Williams (born February 1, 1950) is an American guitarist, primarily known for being one of the only consistent original members of the rock band Kansas alongside drummer Phil Ehart. Both have appeared on every Kansas album to dat ...

–

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and acoustic 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, backing vocals *

Phil Ehart Phillip W. Ehart (born February 4, 1950) is the drummer in the progressive rock band Kansas. He and Rich Williams are the only two members who have appeared on every Kansas album. Though his songwriting contributions to the group were few, he c ...

– drums ;Additional musicians * Jay Siegel (from

The Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit si ...

) –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

on "Lonely Wind" ;Production *

Wally Gold Wally Gold (May 15, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and music business executive from Teaneck, New Jersey. Personal life Gold was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Gold moved to T ...

– producer * Dan Turbeville –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Kevin "Whip" Herron & Jimmy "Shoes" Iovine – assistant engineers * Tom Rabstenek,

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...

– mastering * Ed Lee – cover design *

– cover painting * Don Hunstein – back cover photo *

Jeff Glixman Jeff Glixman is an American record producer. He has produced, mixed or remastered artists such as Kansas, Magnum, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, The Georgia Satellites and Black Sabbath. Combined sales of his projects exceed 30 million units. Ca ...

, Jeff Magid – remastered edition producers

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Kansas (band) albums 1974 debut albums Epic Records albums Cultural depictions of John Brown (abolitionist)