Ruminating on Kansas's "Leftoverture": Prog Review #32
Familiar, satisfying, and brilliant…
"Carry On Wayward Son" is among the most well-known and beloved of all songs from classic prog bands. Few other tracks from albums on Rolling Stone's top 50 receive the same level of radio play or would garner as positive a reaction at a karaoke bar.
Familiar, satisfying, and brilliant: the lead track from Kansas's Leftoverture (1976) sets up high expectations, but does the album deliver? It depends a lot on my mood. I've been listening to this one on and off since just before Covid hit in Canada, and my opinion of it vacillates as wildly as the hope and despair we're all feeling these days.
The most straightforward rock song on the album, "What's On My Mind," is also the worst, but fine if you're into that sound. When I'm feeling ungenerous, I find the rest of the album just as dull, and only barely more listenable than the laziest classic rock—your Nazareth or Bad Company.
Yet that opinion doesn't hold up to the second half of Leftoverture that attempts some more ambitious things. The multi-movement, presumptuously named "Magnum Opus" doesn't live up to its title, but it at least goes for something. There's even a breakdown that plays with atonal staccato sounds in the vein of Gentle Giant, followed by a metal-inspired riff and some atmospherics complete with vibraphone.
Generally, though, the songs are built on the hard rock sounds of the 70s, with progressive elements hidden deeper on the album and in the middle of tracks. "Miracles Out of Nowhere," for example, has a very nice bridge section full of Bachian organ and strings that straddle the line between violin and fiddle.
And though it's always been with me / I must tear down the wall. Let it be.
- “The Wall”
Kansas has the distinction of being THE major American classic prog band, and it's in those touches of Americana—raucous fiddles, gratuitous guitar solos—that gives them a sense of uniqueness. Americanisms come through also in the lyrics of "Cheyenne Anthem," a romantic lament for the displacement of Native Americans written at a distance by some white dudes. Musically, though, the propulsive synths, backup choral singing, and marching band drumwork hearken to all kinds of British prog.
No Barrier to Entry
The only song that rivals "Carry on Wayward Son" is "The Wall," whose lyrics again speak to something unique about Kansas. A lot of British prog uses subtle lyricism to evoke emotion, or else constructs elaborate stories full of nonsensical imagery that require a lot of research and head-scratching to follow. "The Wall" turns that all around with heavy-handed lyrics and emotionally overwrought vocals about an obvious metaphor. The eponymous wall is presented as a physical obstacle a traveller encounters in a fantasy land, but it's actually a psychological metaphor: "a dark and silent barrier between all I am and all that I would ever want to be." Not only is the simple and meaningful imagery refreshing, but the emotion truly hits hard. I could listen to this song endlessly.
Variety in the album is limited, however, and in the end, all you really need to know about Leftoverture is contained in what you already know. "Carry on Wayward Son" condenses the best of what Kansas has to offer, presenting it with an immediacy unrivaled anywhere else on the album. Those echoing, pleading vocals; the evocative, yet simple lyrics; the hard-driving, melodic riffs; the clever synth accents; the staggered, shifting beats; the twinkly piano interludes; the slight acoustic guitar bits; and the supremely uplifting chunky bass lines. "Carry on Wayward Son" puts it together in the best way possible. Save for "The Wall," the rest of the album is sure to disappoint after all that.
Still, if you're hungry for variations and elaborations on that tight, wonderfully produced sound of the lead off track, then keep on going to the rest.
Rolling Stone Rankings
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Rush - Moving Pictures
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Yes – Close to the Edge
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Can - Future Days
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Pink Floyd - Animals
Genesis - Foxtrot
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Camel - Mirage
Rush - 2112
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
U.K. - U.K.
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning
Kansas - Leftoverture
ASK Rankings
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Genesis - Foxtrot
Camel - Mirage
Yes – Close to the Edge
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Rush - 2112
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
U.K. - U.K
Rush - Moving Pictures
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Kansas - Leftoverture
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Pink Floyd - Animals
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Can - Future Days
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here