KANSAS To Release THE ULTIMATE KANSAS On July 2nd, 2002; 2-CD Retrospective, 25th Anniversary of POINT OF KNOW RETURN & Upcoming DVD DEVICE VOICE DRUM Being Celebrated with Extensive Tour

19-Jun-02

America's single greatest contribution to the progressive rock scene has been Kansas. The band came out of Topeka, Kansas, in the mid-1970s, and single-handedly ushered in a grittier, more vividly emotional style than its often-abstract British counterparts. And thanks to crunchy guitar parts, they rocked harder too.The fact that Kansas emerged from America's heartland is perfectly appropriate, since their songs were filled with heart and soul. Especially soul - literally. Kansas' music resonated with people. They earned five gold albums, four platinum albums and two gold singles.Kansas' most unforgettable and passionate music from 1974 to 1983 is collected on Epic/Legacy Recordings' new two-CD collection The Ultimate Kansas. This historically important best-of set will be released on July 2, 2002.""It's exciting for us to have these songs together in one collection. The Ultimate Kansas has our hits, but hidden gems too,"" says drummer Phil Ehart. ""It's great that our music will be rediscovered, and the remastering brings it up sonically. We're very proud of what we've done.""The decade covered by The Ultimate Kansas is a fascinating overview of the group's artistic and commercial prime, and it's more satisfying than any other Kansas collection. The 26 songs are taken from 10 albums, originally on the Kirshner and CBS Associated labels: Kansas (1974), Song For America (1975), Masque (1975), Leftoverture (1976), Point Of Know Return (1977), the double live Two For The Show (1978), Monolith (1979), Audio-Visions (1980), Vinyl Confessions (1982) and Drastic Measures (1983).The songs have been newly remastered for the best possible sound quality. The Ultimate Kansas includes legendary classics like ""Carry On Wayward Son"" and ""Dust In The Wind,"" but it's more than just a greatest-hits collection. Other charted singles like ""People Of The South Wind"" and ""Fight Fire With Fire"" are found here, as are longer album cuts such as ""The Pinnacle"" and ""Death Of Mother Nature Suite"" showing a grander scope of vision.By the time vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh, vocalist/violinist Robby Steinhardt, guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren, guitarist Richard Williams, bass guitarist Dave Hope and Ehart joined forces as Kansas in 1972 - although the earliest version of the band goes back to 1970 - they'd all had extensive musical experience. But nothing could have prepared them for the grueling and occasionally humiliating experiences to come. The problem was simple: Kansas was an experimental band playing original music on the rough-and-tumble bar band circuit in the Midwest and South. The patrons at these beer joints and various other dives had zero interest in a band that couldn't play cover songs very well, let alone one with lofty lyrical ideas and challenging musical arrangements.Through monumental hard work, an extreme sense of purpose and a blind eye toward initial public indifference and outright hostility, Kansas steadily built a dedicated following. They even opened for The Doors once. Kansas was literally a band of starving artists, but as their fan base grew, so did record company interest. Don Kirshner, the well-known music industry impresario who created The Monkees, signed Kansas to his new label Kirshner Records (a subsidiary of CBS Records, which ultimately became Sony Music). Relentless touring, songwriting, rehearsing and recording would become Kansas' trademark. The self-titled debut was released in 1974. Kansas includes J.J. Cale's ""Bringing It Back"" (a rare cover), and the intense epics ""Journey From Mariabronn"" and ""Death Of Mother Nature Suite."" 'Bringing It Back' shows that we could be a jam band, whereas 'Journey From Mariabronn' is more intense and structured,"" explains Ehart.1975 marked an amazingly busy and productive year. Kansas maintained a punishing concert schedule yet released two distinctive albums, Song For America and Masque, showing a marked focus and maturing songwriting and musicianship. Kansas firmly established its style with these albums. Song For America features ""Song For America,"" ""Down The Road"" and ""Lonely Street."" Masque is an intense, brooding work, proven by songs like ""Child Of Innocence,"" ""Mysteries And Mayhem"" and ""The Pinnacle.""""A song like 'Child Of Innocence' has great playing, and it shows a harder side of the band,"" Ehart says.Everything changed with the release of Leftoverture in 1976. Kansas' creativity and popularity were steadily expanding, but Leftoverture blew the roof off. It became a smash hit, and deservedly so. The reassuring, powerful ""Carry On Wayward Son"" is an all-time rock classic that remains a staple on radio airwaves. ""The Wall,"" ""What's On My Mind"" and ""Cheyenne Anthem"" are other highlights of this multiplatinum-selling powerhouse.""Leftoverture was the first album we'd done where it was written entirely before we entered the studio,"" recalls Ehart. ""We took a lot of pride in our first few albums, but we had less and less time to work on them. We were on the road the whole time, then we'd come off the road for a month to make a new album and go back out again. We didn't know any better!""Kansas then achieved the near impossible by following up one masterpiece with another. 1977's Point Of Know Return even matched its predecessor's sales, which is no easy feat. ""Point Of Know Return,"" ""Closet Chronicles,"" ""Sparks Of The Tempest"" and ""Portrait (He Knew)"" are winners, but the best-known song on Point Of Know Return is ""Dust In The Wind."" This hauntingly beautiful composition, featuring soaring vocals, gentle acoustic guitar and uplifting violin lines, was Kansas' biggest hit single ever, reaching #6.The double-live album Two For The Show was released in 1978, and it captured moments from the triumphant tours supporting Leftoverture and Point Of Know Return. Two For The Show is represented on The Ultimate Kansas by ""Magnum Opus"" (the epic finale of Leftoverture).Unfortunately, not all was well inside Kansas. Cracks in the armor were beginning to show, tensions were mounting and personal problems, including drug abuse, began tearing the band apart.""We started burning out. We burned really bright from 1973 to 1978, but we were living in hotel rooms and studios. It started to take its toll,"" Ehart says.Despite the internal friction, shifting musical trends and the bottom falling out of the music industry for a few years, Kansas still created worthwhile music. Monolith appeared in 1979. This album's finest tracks are ""People Of The South Wind,"" ""On The Other Side"" and ""A Glimpse Of Home.""""This was a dark time for the band. Monolith was affected by drugs and personal problems, and it's reflected in the music and the artwork. Nevertheless, 'A Glimpse Of Home' was always a band favorite,"" Ehart explains.The mastery of hard rock and progressive rock that Kansas possessed is perhaps most evident on 1980's Audio-Visions, despite the band's imminent splintering. ""Hold On"" and ""No One Together"" are the best-known songs from this album.""Those were the last days of the original lineup,"" sighs Ehart. ""With Audio-Visions, we squeaked through. That album was so difficult to make. You can find skeletons in the closet on all our records, but they're like chapters in a book. Audio-Visions is like a vinyl camera for me because very specific images in my head pop up. I can remember exactly what happened.""Something - or someone - had to give, and that someone was Walsh. Kansas experienced its first personnel change ever when Walsh left for a solo career. He was replaced by John Elefante. 1982's Vinyl Confessions featured the dramatic ""Play The Game Tonight,"" a major hit single. Steinhardt then exited the band. In 1983, Drastic Measures was issued, and it includes the surging ""Fight Fire With Fire.""""It was a very tough time for John. He was young and had big shoes to fill. He knew he was coming in at the end of the band, but he did as good as he could do, and he did a great job,"" Ehart says.The inevitable finally occurred when Kansas broke up after Drastic Measures. Livgren, who was the band's main songwriter, had finally found fulfillment when he achieved a lifelong quest and became a born-again Christian. His spiritual yearning was clearly evident in much of Kansas' lyrics, so it's not surprising that he began recording contemporary Christian music. Elefante also went on to become a major force in contemporary Christian music as a producer. Hope also became a born-again Christian and went into the ministry.In 1986, Kansas re-formed with Walsh, Williams and Ehart at the helm along with acclaimed guitarist Steve Morse and bass guitarist Billy Greer. Since then, the band has released several albums and toured extensively. The current lineup of Walsh, Williams, Steinhardt, Greer and Ehart has been together since 1998. To commemorate the band's 25th anniversary, Livgren and Hope took part in the recording of 2000's Somewhere To Elsewhere. Livgren, who'd periodically contributed songs to the re-formed lineups, wrote every song for Somewhere To Elsewhere. Kansas will stage a concert this summer to be filmed specifically for a new DVD titled Device Voice Drum scheduled for release this fall.Sony Music has preserved Kansas' legacy over the years. The Best Of Kansas, originally released in 1984, was remastered and reissued in a slightly different configuration in 1999. The 1994 box set Kansas featured hits, rare live recordings a newly recorded song. Audio-Visions, Vinyl Confessions and Drastic Measures made their compact disc debut in the late 1990s. The 25th anniversaries of Leftoverture and Point Of Know Return were honored with remastered expanded editions in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Masque was also remastered and reissued in 2002.The Ultimate Kansas is the ultimate collection for both casual fans who want the hits and die-hards who crave a satisfying, in-depth summary of this extraordinary band's career.""Our fans loved us but the critics never understood us. We were a hard band to pigeonhole. Here were six guys from Topeka with only a high school education, dressed in overalls, playing this aggressive, highly orchestrated, complex music with odd time signatures, but we could still sound heavy. The critics didn't know what to make of us, but the fans got it and we got it. We've sold 30 millions records worldwide, but this fact is totally under the radar,"" says Ehart.Kansas is promoting the release of The Ultimate Kansas, the 25th anniversary of Point Of Know Return and Device Voice Drum with an extensive touring schedule. For updates, visit www.kansasband.com.