In 1989 Kerry took a break from AD and did this solo album and when I say solo I mean solo. He played each and every instrument on this instrumental album. It has a fairly progressive rock sound and really shows some of Kerry’s best guitar work. Personally nothing on the album jumps out at me but I am not a fan of instrumental songs. That said I am not disrespecting the album, it’s just not my genre but it is a great album. Track 10, “Tenth of Nisan”, has a footnote reading: “(The obvious debt to M.R. is acknowledged.)”. M.R. is Maurice Ravel a classical composer of the early 20th century. Kerry re-released this album in 1996 on his Numavox label and included a bonus track which we have included.
Tracklist 1 – Ancient Wing – 4:28 2 – And I Saw, As It Were… Konelrad – 4:57 3 – Colonnade Gardens – 4:10 4 – In The Sides Of The North – 4:26 5 – Alenna In The Sun – 4:23 6 – Tannin Dance – 3:37 7 – The Far Country – 3:46 8 – Diaspora – 3:36 9 – A Fistful Of Drachma – 4:11 10 – Tenth Of Nisan – 4:46 11 – Eerie Cove – 4:04
Credits Instruments (All), Recorded By, Mixed By, Producer – Kerry Livgren Mastered By – Glen Meadows
This was Kerry Livgren’s first album calling his band just AD. This album bumped up against the mainstream record label and rumour has it that the legalities of Kerry getting this album out was a nightmare. Kerry stated that the complete name change to AD was because he wanted to credit the whole band but behind the scenes it is fairly well known that his contract with CBS records meant he couldn’t even use his name. This release was on Kerygma Records and distributed by Sparrow. The album itself has a bit of a Kansas feel but not as much as you might think. Kerry’s songwriting skills are strong on this album and that helps the album stand out from his work with Kansas.
Tracklist 1 – All Creation Sings – 4:22 2 – We Are The Men – 4:41 3 – Lead Me To Reason – 3:56 4 – The Only Way To Have A Friend – 4:16 5 – Games Of Chance And Circumstance – 4:18 6 – The Fury – 5:34 7 – Progress – 4:39 8 – Heartland – 3:42 9 – Zion – 3:26 10 – Up From The Wastland – 4:25
Credits Bass Guitar – Dave Hope Design Concept, Executive Producer, Management – Ken Marcellino Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Dennis Holt Engineer [Additional Assistance] – Gary Westman Executive Producer, Management – Mark Ferjulian Guitar, Keyboards – Kerry Livgren Illustration [Front Cover Illustration] – Tim Wild Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Design Concept, Engineer – Michael Gleason Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Woodwind, Harmonica – Warren Ham Management – FM Management Mastered By – Glenn Meadows Producer, Engineer – Kerry Livgren Written-By – Kerry Livgren, Michael Gleason, Warren Ham
After the demise of AD Kerry Livgren and Warren Ham came back together to record and release this album using the AD name. It is said that this album was put together to fulfill contractual obligations and raise some funds. I’m not really sure if I believe this but it is said that Kerry said this but I can not find the actual quote. Kerry supplied all of the instruments with the exception of harp and sax supplied by Ham and this gives the album a rather unique sound and I really like it. I’m not disrespecting the rest of the band I’m just saying I really like this sound. The track “Portrait II” is actually a re-write of Portrait (He Knew), from the 1977 Kansas album Point of Know Return. Kerry rewrote it to be about Christ rather than Albert Einstein. Strangely the entire album was re-recorded and re-released in 1998 as Prime Mover II with 5 additional tracks. One last point of trivia of this album is that the UK vinyl version stated the title as “Prime Cuts” on the vinyl label. Rather odd error but errors on vinyl labels are actually quite common.
Tracklist 1 – Don’t Pass Me By – 4:24 2 – Fathers And Sons – 3:56 3 – Portrait II – 5:35 4 – Children Of The Shadows – 4:49 5 – Wandering Spirit – 4:04 6 – I’ll Follow You – 3:55 7 – New Kind Of Love – 3:37 8 – One More Song – 4:09 9 – T.G.B. – 5:58
Credits Design – Nick Newton Illustration [Photo Illustration] – Mark Fokol Instrumentation By [All Instruments By] – Kerry Livgren Lead Vocals – Warren Ham Mastered By – Glen Meadows Producer [Produced By] – Steve Walsh Recorded By, Mixed By – Kerry Livgren Vocals – Kerry Livgren, Steve Walsh, Dean Heitkamp, Michael Gleason
Companies, etc. Produced For – GrandyZine Productions Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Kerry Livgren Productions,Inc. Copyright (c) – Kerry Livgren Productions,Inc. Recorded At – The Peach, Covington, GA Mixed At – The Peach, Covington, GA Mastered At – Masterfonics
Kerry Livgren made the big announcement in 1980 that he had become a born-again Christian. That caused a bit of friction with some of his bandmates in Kansas, although they continued making albums together after that. The album cover features a baby in the womb of a diamond. Kansas albums were always big on imagery, and I think this could be discussed at length (by someone), but the baby seems to be a pretty clear reference to being born again. Notably though, Kerry did the majority of his Christian themed writing for his solo projects and with his new band, A. D. This record includes vocals from Christian rock artist Mylon Lefevre on a few tracks, as well as lead vocals by famed metal guitarist Ronnie James Dio on “Mask Of The Great Deceiver” and “To Live For The King.” This is a 7 song affair, with some marathon song lengths reaching over 8 minutes long. There is only 1 song under 5 minutes on the album. The musical offering here continues on from a consistent arc where Kerry left off with Kansas at the time. It’s a record that would not isolate any fans, and the high level of talent he had to make this album certainly shows. It’s a great transition album for him, aptly named “Seeds of Change.”
Tracklist 1 – Just One Way – 5:46 2 – Mask Of The Great Deceiver – 7:36 3 – How Can You Live – 4:13 4 – Whiskey Seed – 5:33 5 – To Live For The King – 4:55 6 – Down To The Core – 5:18 7 – Ground Zero – 8:36
Credits Kerry Livgren – Producer, Songwriter, Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, Percussion, Vocals Brad Aaron – Producer, Background Vocals Barriemore Barlow – Drums Bobby Campo – Trumpet Ronnie James Dio – Vocals Phil Ehart – Drums John Fristoe – Background Vocals Gary Gilbert – Bass Paul Goddard – Bass Joey Jelf – Background Vocals Darryl Kutz – Harmonica Mylon LeFevre – Vocals Victoria Livgren – Background Vocals Davey Moire – Vocals David Pack – Vocals Jeff Pollard – Vocals Robby Steinhardt – Violin John Thompson – Drums Steve Venezia – Background Vocals Steve Walsh – Vocals Donna Williams – Background Vocals
Companies, etc. Distributed By – CBS Records Manufactured By – CBS Records Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Inc. Copyright (c) – Corn & Blood, Inc. Recorded At – Axis Sound Studio Mastered At – Sterling Sound Published By – Don Kirshner Music Published By – Blackwood Music Publishing
The last album to feature the original (at least recorded version) members of Kansas. It is also the first “post-conversion” Kansas album for band leader Kerry Livgren. Lead singer Steve Walsh would soon leave the band to pursue solo ventures. It was also considered that his departure was influenced by the increasing Christian content presented by Livgren and supported by two other recent Christian converts in the band. The album shows a disjointed vision with Livgren’s distinctly Christian content and Walsh’s decidedly worldly lyrical influence. But Walsh was a very special vocalist and hearing him sing Livgren’s work is compelling. He also stayed around long enough to work on the demos for the follow-up album (Vinyl Confessions) and I do have copies of those demos. AV has all the trademarks and trappings of Kansas with progressive, classically influenced rock epics filled with progressive time signature changes, creative arrangements, violin interludes and thought provoking lyrical images. It also contains what could be Livgren’s finest Christian song on a Kansas project, No One Together. Clocking in at nearly seven minutes this song should rank along with Portrait (He Knew), Song For America, Journey from Mariabronn and Magnum Opus in Kansas “epic” lore.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Relentless – 4:55 2 – Anything For You – 3:56 3 – Hold On – 3:45 4 – Loner – 2:26 5 – Curtain Of Iron – 6:08 6 – Got To Rock On – 3:19 7 – Don’t Open Your Eyes – 4:03 8 – No One Together – 6:54 9 – No Room For A Stranger – 2:55 10 – Back Door – 4:20
Credits A&R [Correspondence] – Brad Lentz Bass, Vocals – Dave Hope Co-producer, Engineer – Brad Aaron, Davy Moire Crew – Clay Schell, Jerry Gilleland, Merle McLain, Steve “The Count” Venezia Design [Album], Art Direction, Illustration [Additional] – Tom Drennon Design Concept [Album] – Kansas Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Phil Ehart Engineer [Assistant] – Greg Webster Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals – Kerry Livgren Guitar, Percussion, Vocals – Rich Williams Illustration – Peter Lloyd Keyboards, Vibraphone [Vibes], Percussion, Lead Vocals – Steve Walsh Management – Budd Carr Mastered By – George Marino Photography By [Inner Sleeve] – Exley Producer – Kansas Technician [Studio Assistance] – Jerry Gilleland, Count Venezia Violin, Viola, Lead Vocals – Robby Steinhardt Voice [Additional], Sounds – Donna Williams, Joey Jelf, Lisa White, Terry Ehart, The Four Bassmen, Vicci Livgren Written-By – Hope (tracks: B2), Livgren (tracks: A1, A3, A5, B2, B3), Ehart (tracks: B2), Williams (tracks: B2, B4), Walsh (tracks: A2, A4, B1, B2, B4, B5)
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Axis Sound Studio Mixed At – Axis Sound Studio Mastered At – Sterling Sound Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman Record Company – Don Kirshner Entertainment Corp. Distributed By – CBS Records Distributed By – CBS Inc. Published By – Don Kirshner Music Published By – Blackwood Music Publishing Published By – CBS Music Publishing Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Inc. Copyright (c) – Corn & Blood, Inc.
When it became public that Kerry Livgren of Kansas had been “born again” nobody knew what was next for the iconic 70s band. Drastic Measures is their first recording after that and it is a stellar album by any measure. The sound on Drastic Measures is harder than the sound that Kansas was known for due to songs like Dust in the Wind. The 80s demanded a little more modern and hard rock sound, and they delivered, but not without bringing in the softer sounds needed to bring the lyrics home, or the mood of a song like “Andi.” The opening track “Fire With Fire” lets you know they mean business right away. Even though it’s at a slower pace, “Going Through The Motions” still carries a strong rock vibe with a strong rhythm in it. After this album, Kerry put his efforts into his new band “AD” which was mostly new members, other than Dave Hope.
Tracklist
1 – Fight Fire With Fire – 3:40
2 – Everybody’s My Friend – 4:09
3 – Mainstream – 6:36
4 – Andi – 4:15
5 – Going Through The Motions – 5:43
6 – Get Rich – 3:43
7 – Don’t Take Your Love Away – 3:44
8 – End Of The Age – 4:33
9 – Incident On A Bridge – 5:37
Credits
Art Direction – Drennon Studio
Backing Vocals – David Pack, Kyle Henderson, Terry Brock
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Boxcar PeeWee And The Megapeople (tracks: A3), The Gang Of Men (tracks: B1, B2), Women At Work (tracks: B1)
Bass – Dave Hope
Crew [Kansas Crew] – Buren Fowler, Clay Schell, Davy Moire*, Jerry Gilleland, John Thompson (15), Merle McLain
Drums – Phil Ehart
Engineer [Recording Engineer Assistance – Bullet Recording] – Danny Mundhenk
Engineer [Recording Engineer Assistance – Le Mobile] – Cliff Bonnell, Guy Charbonneau
Guitar – Rich Williams
Keyboards [Additional] – Neil Kernon (tracks: A2)
Keyboards, Guitar – Kerry Livgren
Keyboards, Vocals – John Elefante
Lacquer Cut By – HW*
Management – Budd Carr, The Carr Company
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Photography By – Glen Wexler
Producer – Kansas (2), Neil Kernon
Recorded By, Mixed By – Neil Kernon
Steel Guitar – Jim Vest (tracks: A4, B3)
Words By, Music By – Dino Elefante (tracks: A1, A2, B1 to B3), John Elefante (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B3), Kerry Livgren (tracks: A3, B4, B5)
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Corn & Blood, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Inc.
Manufactured By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Records
Recorded At – Lakewood Fairgrounds
Recorded By – Le Mobile
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Mixed At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – Son Of Other Room
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Carrollton, GA
Published By – Full Grown Man Music
Published By – Mastodon Music
Published By – Don Kirshner Music
Published By – Blackwood Music Publishing
This album was the second and last album using “AD” as the band name.
This album saw the departure of vocalist Warren Ham. Replacing him was Michael Gleason who had worked with Livgren in the past.
This album had more keyboards so it had a more 80’s techno sound but it wasn’t done too strong. Kerry engineered and produced this album and some reviewers actually criticized his skills in this area but personally I though the production was on par with his other albums.
Track Listing:
1 – All Fall Down – 4:27
2 – Life Of Crime – 4:16
3 – No Standing – 3:56
4 – Exiles – 4:15
5 – We Draw That Line – 3:43
6 – Walking The Wire – 3:44
7 – You Are The Distance – 4:06
8 – Highway To The Heart – 3:45
9 – One Golden Thread – 4:20
Credits:
Art Direction – Jean Hoefel
Backing Vocals – Terry Brock (tracks: A2, A4 to B2, B4, B5)
Bass Guitar – Dave Hope
Design [Jacket Design] – Jim Shanman
Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion – Kerry Livgren
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards – Michael Gleason
Percussion – Dennis Holt
Producer, Engineer – Kerry Livgren
Written-By – Kerry Livgren (tracks: A1 to B1, B3, B5), Michael Gleason (tracks: A1, B2 to B4 )
This was the 2nd album from Kerry Livgren after he and Dave Hope left Kansas.
While Kansas headed into obscurity Kerry Livgren’s Christian music career was just starting to take off. While most of the band members had connections to Kansas the album really doesn’t have much of a Kansas sound.
It has almost a funkier sound and features a brass section. Livgren wanted to have the band perform under the name AD, but the record label insisted he attach his name to the album making for a rather odd name for the band.
Track Listing:
1 – Time Line 4:04
2 – Tonight 4:53
3 – Make Or Break It 3:49
4 – Take Us To The Water 4:28
5 – Beyond The Pale 3:33
6 – New Age Blues 3:54
7 – Slow Motion Suicide 4:46
8 – High On A Hill 3:52
9 – Life Undercover 3:27
10 – Welcome To The War 4:11
Credits:
Art Direction – Ken Marcellino
and, Bass Guitar – Dave Hope
Band, Drums, Percussion – Dennis Holt
Band, Guitar [Guitars], Keyboards, Programmed By [DMX Prog.], Bass – Kerry Livgren
Band, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Michael Gleason
Band, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Woodwind [Woodwinds], Harmonica – Warren Ham
Concept By [Front Concept] – Ken Marcellino, Kerry Livgren, Mark Ferjulian, Rick Griffin
Engineer [Assisted By] – Davy Moire (tracks: 10), Michael Gleason
Executive-Producer – Budd Carr, Ken Marcellino, Mark Ferjulian
Illustration [Front Cover], Design [Logo] – Rick Griffin
Management – Ken Marcellino, Mark Ferjulian
Mastered By – Glen Meadows
Photography By [Back Cover] – Mark Tucker
Producer [Produced By], Engineer [Engineered By] – Kerry Livgren
