In the Spirit of Things

In the Spirit of Things
Studio album by Kansas
Released October 1988
Recorded 1988
Genre Art rock, hard rock
Length 52:54
Label MCA
Producer Phil Ehart, Bob Ezrin, Greg Ladanyi, and Paul Maxon
Kansas chronology
Power
(1986)Power1986		 In the Spirit of Things
(1988)		 Live at the Whisky
(1992)Live at the Whisky1992

In the Spirit of Things is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kansas, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). It is a very loosely organized concept album telling the story of a flood hitting the real Kansas city of Neosho Falls in 1951.[1][2] It is the first Kansas album since 1975's Masque to lack a hit single.

History

The album is Kansas's last studio effort for a major label. It didn't receive much promotion, as MCA dropped a slew of "older" artists shortly after its release and famously switched its attention to current younger acts such as Tiffany. Kansas got caught in that decision and the album was a commercial failure. The label did produce several promotional materials for the record, including a glossy video for "Stand Beside Me". The song was played regularly on MTV and allowed the single to hit the album rock charts, the last Kansas single to chart in any format. Other songs were released in odd formats, such as a 12" promotional single of "I Counted on Love," an import edited CD single of "House on Fire," and a small-sized CD single of "Stand Beside Me." The album would also be the last Kansas release to appear in vinyl format until the release of The Prelude Implicit in 2016.

A tour in support of this album included a broadcast by the King Biscuit Flower Hour, which many years later released the show as a CD.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]

In its retrospective review, Allmusic deemed the album "one of the group's more consistent albums and easily a latter-day highlight." They criticized the album's dated production and the lack of a single to compare to their 1970s hits, but argued it to be one of Kansas's most focused efforts.[3]

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1988 Billboard 200 114

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1988 "Stand Beside Me" Mainstream Rock Tracks 13

Track listing

  1. "Ghosts" (Bob Ezrin, Steve Morse, Steve Walsh) – 4:18
  2. "One Big Sky" (Phil Ehart, M. Ehmig, Ezrin, H. Kleinfeld, Walsh) – 5:17
  3. "Inside of Me" (Morse, Walsh) – 4:42
  4. "One Man, One Heart" (Dann Huff, Mark Spiro) – 4:20
  5. "House on Fire" (Ehart, Ezrin, Morse, Walsh) – 4:42
  6. "Once in a Lifetime" (Antonina Armato, Albert Hammond, Dennis Morgan) – 4:14
  7. "Stand Beside Me" (Bruce Gaitsch, Marc Jordan) – 3:28
  8. "I Counted on Love" (Morse, Walsh) – 3:33
  9. "The Preacher" (Morse, Walsh) – 4:18
  10. "Rainmaker" (Ezrin, Morse, Walsh) – 6:44
  11. "T.O. Witcher" (Morse) – 1:39
  12. "Bells of Saint James" (Morse, Walsh) – 5:39

Credits

Kansas

Additional personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ Atlanta Journal Constitution
  2. ↑ Popson, Tom (January 27, 1989). "Band Hears Music In Deserted Kansas Town". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "In the Spirit of Things - Kansas | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
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