THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING THIS ALBUM, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY MANY FAVORITES. PEOPLE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THEIR. (KANSAS) MUSIC 100YRS FROM NOW IF WERE ALL STILL HERE.....
As much as i love song for America, Masque, leftoverture, and point of know return i think monolth is a strong album and has some of Steve Walsh's finest vocals with angels have fallen and how my soul cries out for you being some of my top favorite Kansas songs and also this album took a lot of listens for me to fully appreciate it
Another outstanding Kansas record. That fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, suggests it went platinum in the early 1990s, with Kerry giving his platinum disc away to the Kansas State Historical Society.
@@TimsVinylConfessions I'm sure you're right but I was intrigued by the comment that Kerry had a platinum Monolith disc to give away. Unfortunately, I've had a hunt around the net for some corroboration and come up empty handed. Wikipedia is great but it's not infallible. Thoroughly enjoying the series (and, indeed, your channel in general). Cheers!
My favorite song from this album is Glimpse Of Home. I think that the intro sounds like a church organ. I think that Steve gives an emotional performance on Angels Have Fallen. Away From You is bouncy
Another sterling album by this unique band, exquisite job gentlemen. To me the first seven Kansas records - with the classic lineup - are perhaps their best. (With some later albums sprinkled in.) This band was so different to every other group out there: their Prog side, their boogie side, the thinking man’s lyrical content, the intense instrumental interplay of the sextet, the compositions, the two titanic vocalists, etc. No other band sounds like Kansas, although Shooting Star may have tried. 😉 Monolith is an underrated record in their oeuvre. Maybe it didn’t sell as well as their two previous platters for myriad reasons (to be). 😉 1. It’s more an album the band made for themselves and it caters less to commercial constraints. 2. Walsh and Livgren were starting to move apart and in other directions. 3. The changing musical landscape with a new decade right around the corner. 4. Very few bands can keep putting out consecutive multi-platinum albums in a row. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin are two that come to mind. Even Styx had a big drop off with Kilroy, down from two or three million to only one million units sold. No matter platinum or near platinum, it doesn’t negate the greatness of Monolith. My personal favorites from the record are: “On the Other Side,” “People of the South Wind,” “A Glimpse of Home,” “Away from You” and “Reason to Be.” I like this record a great deal because it’s different. It might not have that immediate feel like its two predecessors, but it still rocks! “On the Other Side” is brilliant. It seems sad and downtrodden, but that chorus lifts it, spiraling 🌀 to the heavens! To put it succinctly, l love it. Cheers from The Big Apple. 🍎 Rock Out, Prog On and Pontificate! Your peculiar pal and mine, ~ The Mysterious, Surreptitious and Delicious Davey Cretin, from CRETIN CLASSICS.
Monolith is this longtime Kansas fan's second favorite album(Song For America is first). Besides Kerry Livgren's usual mastery, the songs Steve Walsh wrote, were, as a group, his best(yes, Stay Out Of Trouble had Rich Williams and Robby Steinhardt as cowriters, but still a Walsh song), matching Livgren. Angels Have Fallen is the best song Walsh wrote, and is the best on the album, IMHO (Monolith is the only original six album where I can say that). I've never understood why some Kansas fans don't like it. Other than the aforementioned Stay Out Of Trouble(the usual " boogie rock " number Kansas albums had), every song was the usual prog with occasionally hard rock the band always did. Reason To Be could be called an attempt to match Dust In The Wind, an acoustic song with a synth solo subbing for DITW's violin solo. The only fault I had with Monolith was ending the album with Reason To Be( on vinyl and cassette), A Glimpse Of Home should have closed it out. RIP Robby Steinhardt 🎻
Monolith slays!!!!! So good. And the tour was nuts.
Step outside and feel the tingle. Love that lyric. Stay out of trouble, love that song .
THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING THIS ALBUM, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY MANY FAVORITES. PEOPLE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THEIR. (KANSAS) MUSIC 100YRS FROM NOW IF WERE ALL STILL HERE.....
Just love this album to death. Thanks for watching.
Great Discussion and episode! Love Monolith ans one of my favorites! Can't wait for the Audio Visions episode!
I am a HUGE fan of Monolith. Finally someone reviews it on UA-cam. Great job.
Thanks Ralph. If you're at all interested in my Kansas book, shoot me an email at timsvinylconfessions@gmail.com
I absolutely adore Kerry’s guitar chops. In so many ways he is an amazingly talented musician. And like Phil Ehart, he is so underrated.
As John Elefante said about Kerry Livgren: He’s brilliant with an IQ around 160, but he couldn’t find his own car in a parking lot! BRILLIANT INDEED!
Seen Kansas 5!times. 1979,1980, 1986, 1995 and 2018. Steve Walsh was something else on those first 3 shows. Monolith is a solid 4.5! Stars!
As much as i love song for America, Masque, leftoverture, and point of know return i think monolth is a strong album and has some of Steve Walsh's finest vocals with angels have fallen and how my soul cries out for you being some of my top favorite Kansas songs and also this album took a lot of listens for me to fully appreciate it
I need to listen to this album Tim. I am not too familiar with it. Great episode!!! 👍🏼👍🏼
Another outstanding Kansas record. That fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, suggests it went platinum in the early 1990s, with Kerry giving his platinum disc away to the Kansas State Historical Society.
Unfortunately RIAA hasn’t listed it as such
@@TimsVinylConfessions I'm sure you're right but I was intrigued by the comment that Kerry had a platinum Monolith disc to give away. Unfortunately, I've had a hunt around the net for some corroboration and come up empty handed. Wikipedia is great but it's not infallible.
Thoroughly enjoying the series (and, indeed, your channel in general). Cheers!
@@carlwmpylu there are some times when wiki and RIAA both fail. But I kind of have to use RIAA as the standard.
@@TimsVinylConfessions I think you're right to stick with the RIAA!
My favorite song from this album is Glimpse Of Home. I think that the intro sounds like a church organ. I think that Steve gives an emotional performance on Angels Have Fallen. Away From You is bouncy
Another sterling album by this unique band, exquisite job gentlemen. To me the first seven Kansas records - with the classic lineup - are perhaps their best. (With some later albums sprinkled in.) This band was so different to every other group out there: their Prog side, their boogie side, the thinking man’s lyrical content, the intense instrumental interplay of the sextet, the compositions, the two titanic vocalists, etc. No other band sounds like Kansas, although Shooting Star may have tried. 😉
Monolith is an underrated record in their oeuvre. Maybe it didn’t sell as well as their two previous platters for myriad reasons (to be). 😉 1. It’s more an album the band made for themselves and it caters less to commercial constraints. 2. Walsh and Livgren were starting to move apart and in other directions. 3. The changing musical landscape with a new decade right around the corner. 4. Very few bands can keep putting out consecutive multi-platinum albums in a row. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin are two that come to mind. Even Styx had a big drop off with Kilroy, down from two or three million to only one million units sold. No matter platinum or near platinum, it doesn’t negate the greatness of Monolith.
My personal favorites from the record are: “On the Other Side,” “People of the South Wind,” “A Glimpse of Home,” “Away from You” and “Reason to Be.” I like this record a great deal because it’s different. It might not have that immediate feel like its two predecessors, but it still rocks! “On the Other Side” is brilliant. It seems sad and downtrodden, but that chorus lifts it, spiraling 🌀 to the heavens! To put it succinctly, l love it.
Cheers from The Big Apple. 🍎
Rock Out, Prog On and Pontificate!
Your peculiar pal and mine,
~ The Mysterious, Surreptitious and Delicious Davey Cretin, from CRETIN CLASSICS.
Monolith is this longtime Kansas fan's second favorite album(Song For America is first). Besides Kerry Livgren's usual mastery, the songs Steve Walsh wrote, were, as a group, his best(yes, Stay Out Of Trouble had Rich Williams and Robby Steinhardt as cowriters, but still a Walsh song), matching Livgren. Angels Have Fallen is the best song Walsh wrote, and is the best on the album, IMHO (Monolith is the only original six album where I can say that). I've never understood why some Kansas fans don't like it. Other than the aforementioned Stay Out Of Trouble(the usual " boogie rock " number Kansas albums had), every song was the usual prog with occasionally hard rock the band always did. Reason To Be could be called an attempt to match Dust In The Wind, an acoustic song with a synth solo subbing for DITW's violin solo. The only fault I had with Monolith was ending the album with Reason To Be( on vinyl and cassette), A Glimpse Of Home should have closed it out.
RIP Robby Steinhardt 🎻
Well said!
livgren was anabsolute masre of his craft.....
THE KANSA PEOPLE THE WIND PEOPLE LATER PHRASED SOUTH WIND PEOPLE.....thesE ARE THE FIRST PEOPLES THAT THE STATE WERE NAMED AFTER....