October 1976
Kirshner, Legacy/Epic
People often joke about Kansas being a band with really only two good songs, "Carry On My Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind." I must say, if you listen to this record in it's entirety, I do not see you changing that opinion. With the band trying to join the ranks of the great progressive rock acts of the time such as Pink Floyd, Rush, and King Crimson; Kansas falls a little short.
The album opens up with the group's classic track "Carry On My Wayward Son." With this tracks multiple sections, impressive guitar work, and big choruses, it gives the appearance of a great intro track to a potentially great album. The problem is, this record is never really able to take off after this point. It is worth pointing out some very obvious religious overtones present in this track and throughout the album, which seem to be a big theme in the lyrical content of this record and many of Kansas's later works.
With the rest of the record, we get everything from really uninspired pop ballads (Questions of My Childhood) , averagely written rock tracks (What's On My Mind) , boring acoustic driven songs (The Wall), and attempts and experimental progressive songs that really do nothing for the listener. Plenty of filler to go around on this LP!
One thing that really stands out in a negative vein is the very average and boring vocal work, especially on "The Wall." The record is plagued with very uninteresting and awkward instrumental sections that you really wish could just kind end faster. On a technical stand point, for progressive rock, a genre defined by it's complexity, this music is awfully simple in rhythm, harmony, and structure.
One positive part of this record that kind of stood out to me was on the track "Cheyenne Anthem" in which the vocalist does really try to produce an emotional moment, backed up by two female vocalists, which just worked very well. This is probably one of the most inspired moments on Leftoverture.
With the couple tracks I spoke positively on, it's still not enough for me to speak very highly of Leftoverture. The negatives by far out way the positives when speaking on this LP by Kansas. This may be the band's most critically successful recordings, but that really isn's saying a whole lot. Leftoverture is a very average album, by a very average band.
My rating: 54/100
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