Search - Kansas :: Live: Dust in the Wind

Cut Down Version Of Live At The Whisky

lorien@maitreya.demon.co.uk | Edinburgh | 03/08/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a cut down re-release of the very poor Live At The Whisky album containing 10 of its 12 tracks. What follows is my review of Live At The Whisky which also applies to this disc by default:I recently reviewed Kansas 1978 live album Two For The show calling it probably the best live album of all time. And with that pleasant rosy feeling and memory I came to buy Live At The Whisky. If Two For the Show is a candidate for the best of all time then one can only call Live At The Whisky a candidate for the worst. This is a truly awful live performance from a band once noted for great live performances.My main over-riding criticism, and one that is pertinent to every track on the album is pointed directly at Steve Walsh's voice. Its gone, and not just slightly. He strains, squacks, croaks, grinds and makes himself painfully hoarse trying to reach notes in classic songs he can longer reach and indeed embarrassingly fails to reach upon trying on many occasions. And its painful to listen to how a once great singer has fallen, a long, long way. Walsh once had one of the greatest voices in rock - with Two For The Show proving he could sustain his incredible power and range during concerts and not just the studio. It's very sad but true.My other main criticism is with the band's performance itself and production. It's a 'going through the motions' performance from a band standing very much in the shadows of the once great spotlight they stood in. And its not helped by the fact that key band members Kerry Livgren and Robbie Steinhardt are missing, although Livgren does make a guest appearance at the very end for Carry On Wayward Son. In fact only a deteriorated Walsh, Williams and Ehart survive from the original line up.This album came as a great disappointment even though I should have suspected Walsh's vocal ability was finished from his performance on In The Spirit Of Things (see my review on this site).Definitely one for hardcore completists.Recommendation to avoid."

Rerelease of the Live at the Whiskey album!

Gitters | Allendale, IL United States | 05/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Emi Special Products release Kansas Live-Dust in the Wind is a trimmed down version of the Live at the Whisky album. Kansas captured live in the early ninties a couple decades past their peak in popularity. For the most part the band is pretty good, with the exception of Steve Walsh's horrible vocals, they should have fired him, he sounds awful, but the rest of the band sounds great, and it is a very enjoyable album. If you want a live recording without overdubbs this would be it."

Awful

The Plunkster | Fairfield, OH United States | 01/12/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"OK. I'll give it a generous 2 stars because musically, it's pretty good. But the vocals?!?! Oh my goodness---the vocals. Worst I have EVER heard. I could sing better. To Steve Walsh I would like to say brother, when it gets this bad, do us all a favor and go get a job in the private sector. At least they include "Dust In The Wind", and bring Kerry Livgren on stage to sing it. Kerry sounds pretty good on it---except for the high notes. Walsh introduces him as "an old friend". That's a laugh. Livgren was and always will be Kansas. The band basically threw him out, due to "artistic differences". Pretty sad when a guy's Christian influences in the music lead the band to pretty much boot him.



If you are going to get some Kansas CDs, get "Leftoverture" or "Point of Know Return". However, if you want to spend $6.98 for a nice coaster, then I'd go with this one.



Oh yeah---did I mention how bad the vocals are on this?"