Customer Reviews

Seeds of Change: The Spiritual Quest of Kerry Livgren

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In this book Kerry Livgren, the former songwriter and musician for the 70's rock band Kansas, chronicles his compelling search for spiritual peace. Told with good-natured frankness and warmth, Livgren takes his reader on an elliptical journey of religious investigation, eschewing his childhood Christian roots in order to examine nearly every philosophical view the world has to offer. All of this is done against the backdrop of the intriguing story behind the rise and fall of one of America's biggest 'arena rock' acts. It becomes evident that Livgren is not only a talented composer and musician, but a well-read scholar as well. He is able to articulate succinctly the main tenets of the world's major belief systems, and directs his reader through the emotional and logical process whereby he reached his destination: a return to biblical Christianity. His description of his personal conversion experience is especially poignant, full of drama and unexpected humor. This book is fascinating and entertaining reading for rock music enthusiasts as well as religious inquirers.

Kerry Livgren was the main contributor in the Progressive Rock Group Kansas throughout the 70's and continues to work indirectly with the band here and there. This book appears to be an autobiography on his sense of discovery, and includes some reasoning behind the Lyrics of some of the more Famous Kansas songs. Kerry appeared to be a man with a mission of self discovery, attempting to find truth in many religious views, then settling down to Christianity. This is a very good book. Although there is some history of most of the different versions of Kansas throughout the years, I would not call this a definitive history of the band, although there are some good highlights here....

Fans of the band Kansas in particular and progressive rock in general will find there curiousity rewarded by Livgren's personal journey in that genre and his remarks about his bandmates and other artists. But the book is especially recommended to those who are interested in Livgren's personal spiritual quest. Many who were fascinated with the spirit of seeking and questioning in Livgren's lyrics over the years will find their suspicions confirmed by this book. What impressed me was the author's credible claim that he was sincerely asking those questions and looking for answers rather than just delighting in the searching or entertaining fans. His quest took him through various views, including modern esoteric views, and ultimately to evangelical Christianity. Especially recommended for those who are seeking for themselves and want to experience the feel of finding an answer.

Seeds of Change covers a wide range of the experiences of Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren. The central point of the book revolves around his spiritual journey while the midst of fame and fortune. With plenty of references to the heyday of the band for all of us from that generation, Livgren is very honest about his path to Christianity, what it meant to him, the repercussions for his profession, and the changes in his family.

Being a life-long fan of progressive rock and a christian, I found this auto-bio to be one of the best of it's kind. I really identified with how Kerry became fascinated with the 'psychedelic' art forms of the 60s, but avoided the halucinogenic drugs from which these genres were spawned from. The story takes the reader on journey from Kerry's childhood first love of music and up the ladder of success for his band Kansas, and intermingles that with his quest for spiritual enlightenment.
After years of investigating different new age sources such as the Urantia Book and others, Kerry, as destiny would have it, met with a fellow musician Jeff Pollard of the band La Roux. Jeff who was a christian believer, engaged Kerry in a series of theological debates involving the bible and other relgious systems. This resulted in Kerry seeing the Light of Christ in a spiritual wilderness.
What followed was a whole new life and mission to embark on for Kerry, using his music to convey his new life in Jesus. New doors of opportunity opened and he released his first solo lp also titled 'Seeds of Change'.
I recommend this absorbing and inspiring account to any and all fans of Kansas who love to learn how God is working in the music world in these last days.