Customer Reviews

The Best Of Kerry Livgren

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those unfamiliar with Kerry Livgren, this is perhaps a good place to start for Post-Kansas material. For those already familiar with Livgren, what makes this a MUST HAVE are the new songs and the absolutely great re-recording of Ground Zero! Jake Livgren turns in his best vocal performance ever as Kerry's current vocalist of preference. It must be nice for Uncle Kerry to have a set of pipes like this in the family.

The hardest part about this collection must have been choosing what to leave out. There is just too much "best" to put on one CD; Oh well, Livgren chose these songs himself to represent the spectrum of his diverse work over several years and several albums ranging from strictly instrumental to gentle acoustic to all out rock.

For would-be Livgren fans, this is an appetizer ... a sampler ... that serves up with much more substance than expected. For the Livgrenite, it represents a little polish and shine on some of the excellent Livgren material we've come to know and love already with some worthy new material AND one of the best re-makes of a classic you're likely to hear in Ground Zero.

Highly recommended!

- Scriptor

This is simply a *must have* album for any fan of Kerry Livgren, Kansas or the blend of rock and progressive elements that made them international stars of the genre in the first place. For anyone who is not familiar with Livgren's solo work or his '80s band, AD, this would be an excellent sampler as it spans the 3 decades of his work apart from Kansas, beginning with songs from Seeds of Change (1980) through the AD years, subsequent solo albums plus 3 new songs written and recorded in 2002. Often times previously unreleased recordings on a "best of" album are used as padding or a hook to warrant buying the new album for those who already own the previous releases. In this case, the new songs truly belong in the best of category.

Not all the previously released songs are the original album versions. Several older songs were unavailable for this release. What could have been a roadblock, however, Livgren used to build a bridge from then to now as he recorded excellent new versions of these songs, using both original and new vocalists to recreate splendid "covers" of his own work.

Among the stand-out new material is a new version of Exiles, featuring original AD vocalist Michael Gleason plus June Murphy. The result is decidedly funkier and more bluesy than the original. The paring of Gleason and Murphy is excellent. It's awfully hard to pick a favorite on an album with so much good material, but this is one of my favorites.

Jake Livgren is in absolute TOP FORM for his vocals on White Light, When You Walk and a recreation of Ground Zero. These, with Exiles are my favorite 4 cuts off the album. Jake's voice is perfect for Kerry's music. His rendition of Ground Zero sounds amazingly like David Pack, yet is definitely Jake being Jake. Oh, if only Kerry and Jake had a band!

Warren Ham sounds the best he's sounded since AD days. His work on the new Time Line sounds relaxed and comfortable, in contrast to the oversinging he did so much of on Prime Mover 2. All the background vocals, including choruses are done by Jake.

Another treat will be hearing Ronnie James Dio, who sounds just like he did in 1980. The new To Live for the King sounds very similar to the Seeds of Change release, but with a little different interpretation by Dio and a new ending to the song.

The two big question marks for me were including On the Air and Incantos as part of a best of collection, but then, this is not a "best of" as determined by how songs did on the radio charts, they are Livgren's choices as to his best material and they do round out the variety of styles in which Livgren has worked.

The Best of Kerry Livgren was delayed by the need to re-record the several songs from Seeds of Change and Time Line, which then snowballed into re-recording other songs as well. And then, as is the case with this musical perfectionist, the tweaking and re-tweaking began. Once, the project was ready to send to the manufacturer and then held for another two weeks while everything was remastered one more time. The result is a consistent sound quality which a crystal clear.

I think any Kerry fan will be pleased by the results and be able to forgive the long delay in release. It was well worth the wait.

KW

I was really stunned that I did not love this CD, given that I have been a huge Kerry Livgren fan for decades. I grew up on Kansas . . . and by that I mean Kansas III (Livgren, Walsh, Steinhardt, Ehart, and Hope). And virtually every one of my favorite songs, the true classics, were all penned by Kerry Livgren. Hence, when I picked up this CD, I was surprised by my lukewarm response.

BUT . . . if you want to hear Livgren at his absolute best, then may I suggest you pick up the 3 Proto-Kaw CDs? These are, by and far, some of the BEST works Livgren has ever written! It's on par with the classic Kansas of Masque, Song for America, Kansas, Leftoverture, and Point of Know Return. Absolutely amazing!!

PROTO-KAW!!!!

After all these years, Kansas is still my favorite band and Kerry Livgren my favorite composer. This is a compilation of some of Kerry's best songs from the post Kansas era, most of it with a Christian theme. If you're a Kerry Livgren fan, you will want this collection.

This best of collection surprised me after having grown up with Livgren's "other" group Kansas. Initially I wasn't sure that I would enjoy this CD the first time around. However, the rather unsual variety of works here are indeed interesting and I have found many of the tunes sticking with me, a Livgren trademark reminiscent of my college days listening to Kansas.

Livgrin, the heart and soul behind Kansas. Kansas the most unique sounding band in rock n roll. I live in Troy, Kansas between Topeka and Saint Joe, Missouri home of Steve Walsh the other heart and soul of the band. Together with the rest of this great band have never put out a bad song. Sometimes a little obsessed with religion but doesn't seem to ruin it with too much Jesus, halaluyahs, praises and such, like true Christian bands who truely suck at rock n roll. Livgrin and the music is truely great to the ears. Buy this and all other Kansas albums including Steve Walsh, and steinhart/Moon project, Stormbringer of Florida, all good stuff.

I thought this CD would sound alot like Kansas, but it was very boring to me, especially without the vocals of Steve Walsh. I guess to enjoy the great work of Kerry is to listen and watch (if you have any videos with him) all the Kansas CD's.
Thanks