Published on Sep 8, 2000
If you’ve been paying attention here on “The DailyVault,” you
know that Kansas released a CD recently,
Somewhere To Elsewhere, and we’ve had interviews and
features recently on “Power Chords”. The first thing that comes to
mind is that
Glossolalia, the new solo disc from Kansas’s lead vocalist
Steve Walsh, is another attempt at promotion, a throw-away
collection of songs to keep a name in prominence.
You might think that. You would be dead wrong as well. This is
not a Kansas CD.
From the first moments of the title track, with Mike Slamer’s
churning, biting guitar intro, you’re a million miles from the
ethereal elegance of “Dust In The Wind”. While
Glossolalia occasionally sounds like Kansas musically,
there’s always enough departure that this should be… nay,
must be… judged on its own.
So the question remains: what
is
Glossolalia? The result of a suggestion by Magna Carta
president Pete Morticelli,
Glossolalia was polished and refined by Walsh’s friendship
with Magellan keyboardist Trent Gardner. Gardner made the happy
mistake of asking Walsh if he had any songs of his own. From that
came this CD, a documentation of the personal struggles that Walsh
has gone through over the last 25 years.
This is not a happy CD in many places. Walsh’s career has been a
proverbial roller-coaster: joining, then leaving, then joining,
Kansas again; dealing with alcoholism and drug usage; and accepting
the emotional changes and traumas that come with a life on the
road. However, Walsh makes this more than a dues and blues CD,
keeping the honest regret from descending into a morass of angst.
Glossolalia is a sharp album, never failing to maintain its
atmosphere of passion and anger. Yes, there are a few rough spots,
a few meanderings, but it avoids degenerating into indulgence or
blandness.
The musicianship is excellent. Bassist Billy Greer is the only
member from Kansas who records on
Glossolalia. Guitarist Michael Slamer (who was part of Walsh
and Greer’s early-80s project Streets), Gardner, and drummer Virgil
Donati round out the band. Walsh should also be commended for
musical experimentation: the title track has a strong metal
influence. “Heart Attack” is funk with a spoken-word intro (note to
Chris Thelen: Boss, I will NOT type the words “Steve Walsh raps”.
I’m sorry, you don’t pay me enough), and “Mascara Tears” has a
strong blues or torch song element.
Walsh is best, however, when he stays in his element of the
power rock song. “Kansas” (which is about the state, not the band)
is a dark, brooding testament to the blood-soaked nature of
history, and “Smackin’ The Clowns” is a powerful statement about
childhood’s end and innocence lost.
All in all,
Glossolalia is a powerful, coherent statement about a man’s
past and his hopeful future. Kudos to Walsh for not only not doing
just another Kansas album, but doing a CD that is, in many ways, as
good as or better than much of what he’s done with Kansas.