Description
The Best of Kerry Livgren is a compilation album by the American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Kerry Livgren of Kansas and A.D. fame, independently released on Numavox in 2002. Many of the tracks have been re-recorded or re-mastered. Also featuring two brand new songs.
Don’t let the title of this album fool you, this is far from the average best of or greatest hits collection. There are two brand new songs and everything else has either been re-mastered or re-recorded. Drawing on Kerry’s post Kansas material this is a masterful collection of tunes from the solo and AD albums. Back in action are AD vocalists Warren Ham and Michael Gleason as well as Jacob Livgren, Kerry’s nephew, who can rock with the best of them. The album also serves as an introduction to a new vocalist by the name of June Murphy. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this young lady. She has a great set of pipes!
When I say that many of the tracks have been re-recorded or re-mastered, there is enough of a significant difference in the recordings to make the purchase of this album worthwhile. Some of the material on this project such as «Ground Zero» goes back twenty two years to Kerry’s first solo venture. Yet nothing on here sounds dated or stale, good music is good no matter how old it is and the songs presented here are not just good, they’re great. Songs like «To Live for the King» and «Exiles» are just as vibrant and fresh as the newer material. Kerry handled almost all of the instrumental chores such as guitars, percussion and keyboards with an occasional assist on drums from Chris Kearney. Back in the days of yore, I got a chance to see Kerry play not only with Kansas but also with AD, to say that this guy is a musical genius is quite a bit of an understatement. To those who are familiar only with «Dust In The Wind» or «Carry On Wayward Son» this collection is a great introduction to an artist who has been putting out thoughtful masterful rock music for over thirty years. Thankfully it looks like he will be doing so for quite a long time to come. Now only if we can get him back out on the road again. [Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock, The Phantom Tollbooth, 7/20/2002]
This is simply a *must have* album for any fan of Kerry Livgren, Kansas, or the blend of rock and progressive elements that made them international stars of the genre in the first place. For anyone who is not familiar with Livgren’s solo work or his ’80s band, AD, this would be an excellent sampler as it spans the 3 decades of his work apart from Kansas, beginning with songs from Seeds of Change (1980) through the AD years, subsequent solo albums plus 3 new songs written and recorded in 2002. Often times previously unreleased recordings on a “best of” album are used as padding or a hook to warrant buying the new album for those who already own the previous releases. In this case, the new songs truly belong in the best of category.
Not all the previously released songs are the original album versions. Several older songs were unavailable for this release. What could have been a roadblock, however, Livgren used to build a bridge from then to now as he recorded excellent new versions of these songs, using both original and new vocalists to recreate splendid “covers” of his own work.
Among the stand-out new material is a new version of «Exiles», featuring original AD vocalist Michael Gleason plus June Murphy. The result is decidedly funkier and more bluesy than the original. The paring of Gleason and Murphy is excellent. It’s awfully hard to pick a favorite on an album with so much good material, but this is one of my favorites.
Jake Livgren is in absolute TOP FORM for his vocals on «White Light», «When You Walk», and a recreation of «Ground Zero». These, with «Exiles» are my favorite 4 cuts off the album. Jake’s voice is perfect for Livgren’s music. His rendition of «Ground Zero» sounds amazingly like David Pack, yet is definitely Jake. Oh, if only Kerry and Jake Livgren had a band!
Warren Ham sounds the best he’s sounded since his AD days. His work on the new «Time Line» sounds relaxed and comfortable, in contrast to the oversinging he did on Prime Mover 2. All the background vocals, including choruses are done by Jake.
Another treat will be hearing Ronnie James Dio, who sounds just like he did in 1980. The new «To Live for the King» sounds very similar to the Seeds of Change release but with a little different interpretation by Dio and a new ending to the song.
The two big question marks were including «On the Air» and «Incantos» as part of a best of collection, but then, this is not a “best of” as determined by how songs did on the radio charts, they are Livgren’s choices as to his best material and they do round out the variety of styles in which Livgren has worked.
The Best of Kerry Livgren was delayed by the need to re-record the several songs from Seeds of Change and Time Line, which then snowballed into re-recording other songs as well. And then, as is the case with this musical perfectionist, the tweaking and re-tweaking began. Once, the project was ready to send to the manufacturer and then held for another two weeks while everything was remastered one more time. The result is a consistent sound quality which a crystal clear.
I think any Kerry fan will be pleased by the results and be able to forgive the long delay in release. It was well worth the wait. [Ken Westphal, The Phantom Tollbooth, 8/4/2002]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-best-of-kerry-livgren/87645730)
CD tracklist:
01. And I Saw, As It Were…Konelrad (Enhanced, Remastered) / Vocals by Kyle Livgren
02. Exiles (New Recording) / Lead Vocals by Michael Gleason. Backing Vocals by June Murphy
03. White Light (Previously Unreleased) / Lead Vocals by Jacob Livgren. Backing Vocals by Jamie Kearney
04. Time Line (New Recording) / Vocals and Blues Harp by Warren Ham
05. Incantos (Remastered) / Vocals by Warren Ham
06. On The Air (Remastered) / Vocals by The Billions
07. When You Walk (Previously Unreleased) / Vocals by Jacob Livgren, June Murphy
08. Eerie Cove (Remastered)
09. To Live For The King (New Recording) / Vocals by Ronnie James Dio
10. The Fury (Remastered) / Vocals by Michael Gleason
11. Utopian Dream (Remastered)
12. Smoke Is Rising (Remastered) / Lead and Backing Vocals by Darren Rogers. Backing Vocals by Jacob Livgren
13. The Navigator (Remastered) / Vocals by Jacob Livgren
14. Ground Zero (New Recording) / Lead Vocals by Jacob Livgren. Backing Vocals by Britta Livgren, Jessica Livgren, and Kim Borchers
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