Somewhere To Elsewhere Kansas

Somewhere To Elsewhere

Kansas

Magna Carta Records, 2000

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/11/2000

When Kansas fans heard earlier this year that the "classic"lineup -- including guitarist Kerry Livgren -- was reuniting fortheir first album together in 17 years, they must have pinchedthemselves to see if they were dreaming. This was, after all, theKansas that most people know, pumping out songs like "Dust In TheWind" and "Point Of Know Return."

But if you expect their "reunion" album, Somewhere To Elsewhere, to be the return to top-40 form thatsome people might be looking for, you're going to be disappointed.That's kind of what I expected the first time I listened to thedisc -- and walked away shaking my head. ("Reunion" -- I know, thewrong word to use, as Kansas has never gone away all theseyears.)

The truth is that you need to approach this disc in two ways:first, you need to look at it as a progressive rock album, one thatdoesn't give a rip whether radio touches it or not. Second, you maychoose to approach it as if it were a solo album by Livgrenfeaturing some very special guest performers, as Livgren isresponsible for all 10 songs (though I don't know who to blame forthe 90-second throwaway "bonus" track).

The showpiece of the album, "Icarus II," is a narrative based onthe true story of a pilot who ordered his crew to abandon theirwar-damaged plane while he guided the wreckage away from Americantroops. This isn't the type of song that will hook you on the firstlisten -- and I kind of expected it to have those hooks. But whenyou hear vocalist Steve Walsh ring out with "I'm going home" nearthe end of the song, that's when the magic is clearly visible inthis track. With each successive listen, I've found new things tolike in this track.