‘VINYL CONFESSIONS’ CANDY095



ORIGINALLY RELEASED in 1982, showcasing new vocalist John Elephante (Steve Walsh’s replacement) whilst managing to remain true to the roots of the band, while at the same time noticeably moving away from the band’s traditional ’70s sound into the more AOR-friendly ’80s. The impact of spiritualism on this version of Kansas can certainly be heard in the lyrics, too, but it would be wrong to define this album as a Christian record as it certainly doesn’t attempt to bludgeon you to death with its message and, above all, it doesn’t neglect the most important thing of all, which is, of course, the music.

Amazon USA:
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Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004Y4YJO6/?tag=imwan-21

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‘DRASTIC MEASURES’ CANDY096



‘DRASTIC MEASURES’, originally released in 1983, was the band’s second album to feature new vocalist John Elephante – an appointment made necessary after the departure of Steve Walsh. Not surprisingly, the band’s sound was evolving, moving with the times and displaying a more accessible timbre. Sure, the progressive rock element was still entirely audible but the songs and delivery fitted into the jet stream of men on a mission. AOR for sure but with an edge and urgency that leaves little room for debate.

Produced by Neil Kernon (Queensryche, Dokken) the sound is both contemporary and sophisticated, allowing the band to fully embrace their past yet utilise the latest technology. Contains the top five rock hit single ‘Fight Fire With Fire’.

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y7D1YW/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004Y7D1YW/?tag=imwan-21

Very nice! Now I can either get these or watch the insane prices for the Sony/Legacy remasters from 1996 start to drop so I can finally get a hold of these solid albums. Both have some really great songs as well as a few turkeys.

Will there be any bonus material? I have both of the remasters from a while ago. Vinyl Confessions was a great album...much better than Drastic Measures. Robby had left by then and John and his brother Dino pretty much took over the band and their direction.

Why release these before Monolith????

"John Elephante"? His name is John Elefante!

Mark:
No bonus cuts-same as before. I agree that Vinyl Confessions was much better than Drastic Measures which was too AOR and had way too much Christian-oriented lyrics for my tastes, but I liked some of it.
Monolith? Why has this been ignored all these years??? The 30th anniversary came and went and...nothing.

DM did have it's moments, but VC was the better of the 2. As for Monolith...I wish I knew...

Vinyl Confessions is one of my all-time favorites. I had it on cassette and would listen to it in the car wherever I went. And when the closing song, "Crossfire," came on, I'd crank the volume up...what a killer track.

Yep, Drastic Measures was a letdown, but I think "Fight Fire with Fire" and "Incident On a Bridge" are great songs.

I wonder if there is any worthwhile unreleased materials from the VC period.

As a potential-but-apparently-not-thought-of bonus track, there is the Elefante-era "Perfect Lover" which was featured as the sole new track on the Best of Kansas release. I don't know if it was an outtake from one of the two albums or was specifically recorded for the Best of release, but it would be the, well, perfect extra on either of them. Probably Drastic Measures since Best of came out afterwards and DM could use a little strengthening...

Monolith is extremely frustrating; it received a great and long-overdue remastering in Japan a few years back as part of their cardboard mini-sleeve series and immediately went out of print, now selling for big bucks on eBay etc. Why this hasn't gotten a reissue elsewhere is baffling.

"Perfect Lover" was recorded just for the Best Of Kansas in 1984, but it would've made a nice bonus cut since it's no longer on the Best Of Kansas.
There were some King Biscuit Shows from this era they could've found live tracks for too.

Monolith is the only "original line-up" album not to get any treatment at all. I wonder why that is.

That's not what I usually call him. He's one of the biggest crooks I've ever worked for. Bastard still owes me $20,000 from way back in 1994.

??????

Just suggesting everyone buy Vinyl Confessions and Drastic Measures on the used market so John Elefante doesn't make any more money on them.

Good to see a re-issue pending as otherwise you only had the inflated prices for the legacy cds or downloads in Mp3.

Everybody's My Friend

Bump: these have been pushed back to June 20th.

Looks like these have a US release of Aug. 30. DanO-did you get yours in from Rock Candy yet and how are they?

I did get them - and I've only listened to them in the car so far, but they sounded very good to me in that setting. Pretty good liner notes as well.

Does anyone have a copy of the Audio Visions show radio broadcast from The Palladium in 1980 called "A Night on The Road"? Believe it or not, I found a triple album of the actual broadcast back in the mid-80's and I've been trying to get a copy on CD. If anyone has a copy, or can make me a copy, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Mark

Ordered up my copies as they went out of stock about a month back at Amazon.uk

Spotted your posts before and I know you're a big fan, so you may well have it already, but the boot dvd of the Houston Summit show from the AV tour is really good. Especially for Walsh's coke-assisted performance!

Hi Harry...I have the Houston show on DVD...excellent stuff. I'm trying to find that radio broadcast from The Palladium.