Point of Know Return (Kansas) | Extended Play Lounge (Ep. 43)
Added 2023-05-02 21:20:39 +0000 UTCI'm pleased to present this episode of the Extended Play Lounge, featuring Kansas for the first time. Point of Know Return won our poll, and I had only previously heard Dust in the Wind...although, I realized that I had heard the title track as well as soon as I heard the organ riff.
So, I hope you enjoy this proggy gem of an album as much as I did!
Unlisted Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/823146500/b05f68a888?share=copy
Comments
Nice review of an album I haven't listened to in a while. I "discovered" Kansas via Steve Hackett- because Steve Walsh and Phil Ehart both feature heavily on "Please Don't Touch" (have you heard that album yet?). Started with the double live from 78, and worked from there. Sometimes their tendency to wander into whimsy gets on my nerves, but POKR is a great album and is a wee bit more focused than some others of theirs. I love "Hopelessly Human". I think Kerry was on his route to Evangelical Christianity at this time, and he of course left to form "AD", whose albums aren't too bad.
Ralph Darvill
2024-03-21 14:56:26 +0000 UTCI have been wanting Doug to react to "Hopelessly Human" forever and now we get that, plus the entire album! Thanks for picking this wonderful album.
Craig Higgins
2023-06-11 15:52:44 +0000 UTCIf you do more kansas, it would be nice to go for the Two For The Show album. Kansas live is about 10x better than studio kansas (with the interesting exception of Carry On Wayward Son, which was just produced to perfection). Any song from Masque in particular is really best done live.
Michael Stover
2023-06-09 20:50:10 +0000 UTCThis was a lot of fun! I remember buying this album because of the strings they employ, especially the violin. I was playing at the time (in high school) and was trying to learn the violin parts, especially for Dust In the Wind. This was the only album of theirs that I owned, but I am somewhat familiar with some of the other work, especially Left Overture, and got the chance to seem them live back in the early 00's (they opened for ELP). They were a good live act!
Jesse L. Purdom
2023-05-19 12:11:53 +0000 UTCThe band was at its peak from 1974 to 1978. Although their other albums have great moments, this is timeless stuff, both musically and lyrically. Kerry Livgren is a master composer and lyricist. Not bad for a guy who never learned to read music!
Brad L Duren
2023-05-12 22:21:54 +0000 UTCAs good as American prog. ever got. Just fantastic!
David Granger
2023-05-09 05:05:03 +0000 UTCI bought this pretty much the moment it came out, and loved it... but in the 40+ years since then, always with new music to discover, I'd forgotten what a truly magnificent album this is... and how Kansas was one of the most cohesive sets of musicians ever.
Neale Brassell
2023-05-07 20:44:05 +0000 UTCThank you, Doug for another fine review of an album and band that I've enjoyed for many years. I am still waiting for your review ELP's Pirates like you've recently mentioned! Cheers!
Gerard Dion
2023-05-06 17:39:21 +0000 UTCIt was originally about Einstein. Kerry Livgren later rewrote the lyrics about Jesus and rearranged it as Portrait II.
Randy Hammill
2023-05-06 04:49:35 +0000 UTCI loved this review. For me, the first five Kansas albums are "can't miss." Different from each other but all fantastic. I hope to see some more Kansas episodes soon!
Ross Pollack
2023-05-05 15:47:20 +0000 UTCKansas often switched the lead vocals between Steve and Robby not just in a song but sometimes a bridge versus verses (Hopelessly Human) or verses versus chorus (Sparks of the Tempest). Really cool to have that veristality just like having two guitars, two keyboards and the violin. The sum of Kansas is always better than its individual parts. Kerry Livgren very influenced by things like Wagner and movie soundtracks so lots of layers.
Brian Pate
2023-05-05 15:45:36 +0000 UTCI probably have not listened to this record for at least 30 years. Well...my reaction to Kansas is still really mixed. I still feel that the prog stuff and the "heartland boogie" stuff are pulling in different directions...and that, if they *only* did the boogie stuff, I could hear them as a very good set of players playing yr basic '70s hard rock, alongside the prog stuff it sounds either pandering or just schizophrenic. The prog stuff is often pretty good...although sometimes it does seem to suffer from the most common proglem (sorry...couldn't resist!) of shifting time signatures, blistering playing, and weird chord sequences...whether they make sense or are motivated, or not. On the other hand, I'm remembering that I really did like "Hopelessly Human" back in the day, and I get whyβand while I remembering thinking the title track was too poppy, now I hear it as a very successful attempt to do a proggish catchy pop song: why not? "Closet Chronicles" is pretty good, tooβas is the fiendish "The Spider." And yes: "Dustin LeWynn" is just a good song, period. There's a real mournfulness in the performance, too. (And yeah: Walsh at his peak was a fantastic singer: great range, that wonderful sort of openness in his tone that, probably because the band's called Kansas, I always associate with a big open prairie...BTW: give him a listen on the couple tracks he sings on Steve Hackett's second solo record...) I enjoyed hearing this again...although as much as I can appreciate these guys as good players, tracks like "Lightning's Hand" just don't do much for me.
Jeff Norman
2023-05-05 03:30:14 +0000 UTCI haven't listened to this album in years. Forgot how good it was. "Masque" is probably my favorite Kansas album though.
Martin Broten
2023-05-03 19:34:22 +0000 UTCI bought this album when it came out I haven't heard this in Decades Thanks Doug
Slew
2023-05-03 16:29:39 +0000 UTCThis was my first Kansas album and I got it because browsing at the clearance section on a record store I found it was super cheap so worst scenario I would have lost a few pennies. The only tune I knew before was Dust in the Wind and I didn't like it that much but I heard these guys did some prog. To my surprise the album was top notch. Loved it from start to finish (and came to start liking DITW)
Juan Ignacio Quesada
2023-05-03 14:13:12 +0000 UTCThanks for featuring this album. Bypassed the vinyl when it came out, opting for the audio cassette instead so I could listen in my car! Other than Dust in the Wind which has been played about a trillion times on the radio, my familiarity with these songs had generally faded. The exceptions being the title track Point of Know Return and Portrait both of which I learned a few years back to play in a band. Fun to play! As always, it was enjoyable to hear your observations as you listened for the first time.
Howaard Hughes
2023-05-03 12:49:01 +0000 UTCMy favourite album by Kansasππ»π
Karl Stubsjoen
2023-05-03 11:36:08 +0000 UTCJourney from Mariabronn is one of my favorites, and of course The Pinnacle is great. He definitely needs to do a full album listen of Leftoverture. He has already done Magnum Opus though, a couple of years ago.
peter drysdale
2023-05-03 07:25:48 +0000 UTCSo happy to hear this album. One of my favorites from Kansas. Future listening to them is highly recommended!
Bill Coonley
2023-05-03 02:11:30 +0000 UTCThis relisten reminds me how much I find Kansas formulaic. Sorta Styx-like. The best of it was beaten to death on the radio back in the day. Talented musicians and vocalists for sure.
Jim Reeves
2023-05-02 22:59:43 +0000 UTCKansas is very underrated IMO. Each of their first five albums rank high with little filler. Other songs I'd love to see include Apercu, Journey from Maribronn, Magnum Opus, Icarus, Lamplight Symphony, Mysteries and Mayhem and The Pinnacle. I especially appreciate how the band took prog rock ideas and added symphonic elements while also creating more concise, listener-friendly songs. Hope to see more. Great job as always Doug!
Michael Strawn
2023-05-02 22:55:41 +0000 UTCI always thought "He Knew" was about DaVinci. But who knows? Maybe it's about any particular Genius individual who was misunderstood and changed the world.
Richard Rathbun
2023-05-02 22:46:26 +0000 UTCWonderful addition, keep up the incredible works. βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ
John Baird
2023-05-02 21:52:07 +0000 UTCI think I'm only familiar with "Dust in the Wind" (and maybe one or two other popular Kansas songs that might have been played on classic rock radio when I listened to radio in the 90s). Listening to the album on Spotify now before watching your video.
BRIAN MILLER
2023-05-02 21:51:48 +0000 UTCSo happy to see this notification!
M. Gideon Hoyle
2023-05-02 21:23:10 +0000 UTC
