Label: IndiseOut Music
Release date: September 23, 2016
Production: Phil Ehart, Richard Williams & Zak Rizvi
Album length: 53.23 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
“The Prelude Implicit” is Kansas’ first studio album in sixteen years and also their first with three new members: singer/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, keyboardist David Manion and rhythm guitarist Zak Rizvi. Platt came in to replace original Kansas singer Steve Walsh, who decided to retire in 2014, which automatically heralded a new era for these long-lived American prog rock champions. Ever since their previous studio album, “Somewhere to Elsewhere” (2000), the last one featuring key songwriter and original guitarist Kerry Livgren, Kansas had big trouble writing new material, because after Livgren’s (second) departure the whole burden of writing new compositions fell on Walsh. He somehow just never found the right inspiration for new stuff in that period, while the other longtime Kansas members, that is drummer Phil Ehart, guitarist Rich Williams, violinist David Ragsdale and bassist Billy Greer, tried their luck in 2009 with a side project, Native Window, which, truth be told, impressed only a handful of longtime fans.
The arrival of Platt, Manion and Rizvi pumped new energy into Kansas, and after many years they finally got down to writing new material. With Rizvi, Kansas got an extra rhythm guitarist for the first time in ages, while Manion is the first Kansas keyboardist since Greg Robert. Both left a serious songwriting mark on the album. The same goes for Platt, who had the tough job of stepping into the shoes of the charismatic Walsh. His voice sits somewhere between young Walsh and John Elefante, so it’s not hard to fall in love with it, and you can safely call him a very fortunate pick.
“The Prelude Implicit” is overall a very balanced album, sailing nicely between the symphonic-leaning progressive rock of Kansas’ golden days and the melodic rock they got a taste for in the eighties. You can hear it plain as day right on the opener “With This Heart,” which, with its regal symphonic arrangements, razor-sharp guitar passages and Platt’s mighty vocal performance, instantly kills any doubts about the credibility of the legendary band’s latest incarnation. The slightly nostalgic “Visibility Zero” turns out even better, with Ragsdale’s violin reigning supreme. It’s also fascinating to hear how far Williams has come as Kansas’ main guitarist since Livgren’s (final) departure. On the lightly, tolerably sugarcoated power ballad “The Unsung Heroes,” Kansas got songwriting help from Ehart’s friend Geoff Byrd, whom most people know as the first musician to break through to a wider audience via the internet. One of the more interesting pieces on the album is definitely the refreshing and somewhat punchier “Rhytm in the Spirit,” which brings some interesting new sonic ideas into the traditional Kansas sound, built on violin-and-guitar harmonies, over a light, almost ‘shy’ jazzy foundation.
On the romantic-melancholic “Refugee,” British guitarist Mike Slamer co-wrote, an old buddy of Greer’s from Seventh Key and a former member of Walsh’s former band Streets. Fans of the epic symphonic prog rock Kansas made in the seventies will get their fill with the excellent epic “The Voyage of Eight Eighteen,” which is without a doubt among their best work without Livgren around and will surely join the Kansas classics in no time. Lavish symphonic harmonies and complex transitions are crowned with a mighty vocal performance and brilliant guitar and violin solos. Kansas haven’t shown this level of experimental edge in a good long while, maybe not since the end of the seventies.
The mystical, mighty mood carries on with “Camouflage,” which boasts an exceptionally pretty, almost AOR chorus, while hard-hitting guitar riffs and rich symphonic harmonies strongly recall the seventies. The melodic-rock “Summer,” with Greer on lead vocals, is a solid piece with its fast tempo, melodic nature and clever transitions, but not an overly exciting one.
“Crowded Isolation” turns out a bit more interesting, with epic vocal harmonies that especially impress (they can’t be praised enough), while programmed keyboard samples and subtle violin passages liven up the whole thing. “Section 60” is a decent instrumental that provides a pompous, dramatic close to the album. As bonus tracks, at the very end of the special edition of “The Prelude Implicit,” you’ll find an interestingly rearranged, sung version of the anthem of the U.S. state of Kansas, “Home On The Range,” written in 1872 by Daniel E. Kelley, and the traditional American folk song “Oh Shenadoah,” with which the band tipped their hats to their musical roots and homeland.
With “The Prelude Implicit,” Kansas rose from the ashes like the mythological phoenix pictured on the not exactly aesthetically successful cover, and made a much better album than most would have expected, given that Walsh and Livgren, once the two key songwriters of the American prog rock legends from Topeka, are no longer on it. The arrival of three new members was exactly the infusion of fresh energy that the longtime members, as songwriters and musicians, badly needed. It bought them a longer future and proved they can still make a quality studio album, one that may not rank among their greatest masterpieces but is better than most of the material made without Livgren in the lineup. Signing with the German prog-minded label Inside Out Music, which they’ve worked with since 2009, was also a smart move, and it will surely help the new album reach more lovers of good music than it otherwise would have.
Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. With This Heart (4:13)
2. Visibility Zero (4:28)
3. The Unsung Heroes (5:02)
4. Rhythm in the Spirit (5:58)
5. Refugee (4:23)
6. The Voyage of Eight Eighteen (8:18)
7. Camouflage (6:42)
8. Summer (4:07)
9. Crowded Isolation (6:11)
10. Section 60 (3:59)
Lineup:
Ronnie Platt – lead vocals, piano on “The Voyage of Eight Eighteen”
Rich Williams – electric and acoustic guitar
Billy Greer – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Summer”
Phil Ehart – drums, percussion
David Ragsdale – violin, backing vocals
David Manion – keyboards
Zak Rizvi – electric guitar, backing vocals
