''Time Line'' is an album by American

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 ...

musician

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 ...

, released in 1984. It features his newly formed band, AD.

Background

After Kerry left his previous 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 the ...

, in 1983, he and his newly formed crew began production for Livgren's second solo album. Time Line was made for CBS Records and was recorded with material created by the crew. While recording, Kerry and his new crew all shared the same interest in Christianity and all the members had come together to form AD by the end of the session. Due to a complication in the label release, Time Line was unable to receive much attention compared to some of Livgren's past works with Kansas.

Reception

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 the album one and a half stars out of five. The album was said to be "blatantly stale" throughout its duration, lacking the creativity that '' Seeds of Change'' provided.

Track listing

All tracks written by Kerry Livgren except where noted # "Time Line" – 4:04 # "Tonight" – 4:53 # "Make or Break It" (Gleason) – 3:49 # "Take Us to the Water" – 4:28 # "Beyond the Pale" (Gleason, Livgren) – 3:33 # "New Age Blues" (Gleason, Livgren) – 3:54 # "Slow Motion Suicide" – 4:46 # "High on a Hill" – 3:52 # "Life Undercover" – 3:27 # "Welcome to the War" – 5:11 # "Interview with Kerry Livgren" – 24:08 (bonus track, only featured on 1996 reissue)

Personnel

A.D. * Michael Gleason – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, percussion *

– keyboards, guitars, bass, DMX programming *

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 (1-5, 7, 9, 10), percussion *

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 ...

– lead and backing vocals,

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 ...

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 ...

Additional musicians *

David Pack David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American singer and musician who co-founded the rock band Ambrosia (band), Ambrosia in the 1970s. Career As performer Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia (band), A ...

– guitar licks (6) * Scott Meeder – drums (6) * Craig Harber – drums (8) *

John Elefante John Elefante (born March 18, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer. From 1981-1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members fro ...

– percussion (1), backing vocals (1) * Terry Brock – backing vocals (2, 8) * Kyle Henderson – backing vocals (6) Production * Budd Carr – executive producer * Mark Ferjulian – executive producer, design concept, management * Ken Marcellino – executive producer, art direction, design concept, management * Kerry Livgren – producer, engineer, design concept * Michael Gleason – assistant producer (10), assistant engineer (10) * Davey Moire – assistant producer (10), assistant engineer (10) * Glenn Meadows – mastering at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee) * Frank Tozour – Sony release editing *

Rick Griffin Richard Alden "Rick" Griffin (June 18, 1944 – August 18, 1991) was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in ...

– front cover illustration, logo design, design concept * Mark Tucker – back cover photography

References

{{Authority control 1984 debut albums Kerry Livgren albums