Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Kansas
Label: Epic Records
Released: 1983
Runtime: 42:00
Rating: 3/5
“Drastic Measures” is the album where Kansas fully turned into an AOR band and, for a short while, cut ties with their grand prog rock past. It was also their first album without violin, which turned out to be one of the least fortunate moves of their long career, since they lost a big chunk of their signature sound along the way. Longtime violinist Robby Steinhardt had given up on his increasingly shrunken role in the band, and on the religious fanaticism of guitarist Kerry Livgren and bassist Dave Hope, so he said his goodbyes before recording of “Drastic Measures” began. His decision was fueled by the uncomfortable realization that the band’s new, ‘God-fearing’ followers were trading religious litanies built from their lyrics before Kansas shows. They didn’t look for a replacement; instead, they grew more and more enamored with next-generation synthesizer technology, and it shows on the album.
Singer John Elefante got the exclusive right from Livgren to have pretty much total creative control while the album was being made. Livgren co-wrote only three songs, which he later regretted deeply. With the ‘old guard’ missing from the songwriting, Kansas on “Drastic Measures” sounded less like themselves and more like AOR bands à la Foreigner and Loverboy. Some of the lyrics are steeped in religious fervor and biblical references, but luckily enough camouflaging metaphors were used that it never got too obvious or overly annoying. Livgren tactically saved most of the religiously tinged lyrics for his second solo album/AD debut. Religious zeal aside, he was always an outstanding guitarist, a versatile songwriter and a smart guy who knew exactly what he wanted, but unlike the successful and well-received “Vinyl Confessions”, this time not everything went according to his plans, and in many ways the album comes off as a pale shadow of its predecessor.
The album opens with the pompous AOR anthem “Fight Fire With Fire”, which is also the only true Kansas classic on the record and the only song from it that still gets remembered now and then on tour. A killer guitar riff, greased with synth seasoning, a wrecking-ball bass line and a mighty vocal performance from Elefante made for the perfect recipe for a well-deserved hit. From there on, no song on the album is bad, exactly, but none of them is all that thrilling either, which means the whole thing slides into gray mediocrity.
“Everybody’s My Friend” is a classic rock ‘party’ song that, in its chorus and vibe, is closer to something like Van Halen than to Kansas. “Mainstream”, with both its mood and Livgren’s lyrics, vividly shows where Kansas stood at that moment; they had become a typical mainstream rock band of the era, which filled the band’s lead guitarist with more and more frustration. The short instrumental passage is a considerable letdown and uninspired compared to their past fusion-minded masterpieces, innovative bamboo percussion bits notwithstanding.
“Andi” is a sugar-coated power ballad, the kind that thankfully doesn’t show up much in the Kansas catalog. All that saves it from drowning completely in raspberry syrup is the overall technical perfection of the individual players and Elefante’s vocals, excellent as ever. “Going Through the Motions” is barely more than a playground for eighties synth technology and, as its title says, a fleeting stroll through empty emotions. “Get Rich” is yet another perfect period relic and a failed experiment. The power ballad “Don’t Take Your Love Away” is, somewhat surprisingly, one of the album’s few brighter moments. “End of the Age” is solid AOR, but no more than that, while “Incident On A Bridge” is a decent enough closer, though you’d expect a lot more from Livgren’s songwriting masterpieces.
After “Drastic Measures” came out, Kansas found themselves in a stalemate: nobody was happy with their new direction anymore, which was kind of ironic, since the whole point had been to win over the widest possible audience. Longtime fans were disappointed by the new AOR sound and the religious lyrics, while the new target audience, made up mostly of Christian enthusiasts, felt a bit betrayed this time, because Livgren’s lyrics weren’t as religiously tinged as on “Vinyl Confessions”. You can clearly feel all the way through the album that the band was already pretty burned out; fresh ideas were in short supply, while they bent over backwards to follow the sound trends of the day and sold off their own musical vocabulary. After the tour ended in late 1983, a disillusioned Livgren decided, together with Hope, to dissolve Kansas and start the Christian rock band AD. Luckily, Phil Ehart and Rich Williams had their heads screwed on straight enough to join forces again in the following years with the returning Steve Walsh and rebuild Kansas from scratch.
Lineup
Phil Ehart – drums
John Elefante – lead vocals, keyboards
Dave Hope – bass guitar
Kerry Livgren – guitar, keyboards
Rich Williams – acoustic and electric guitar
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Tery Brock – backing vocals
Kyle Henderson – backing vocals
Terry Pack – backing vocals
Production
Kansas, Neil Kernon
Track list
1. Fight fire with fire (3:40)
2. Everybody’s my friend (4:09)
3. Mainstream (6:36)
4. Andi (4:15)
5. Going through the motions (5:43)
6. Get rich (3:43)
7. Don’t take your love away (3:44)
8. End of the age (4:33)
9. Incident on a bridge (5:37)
