In the Spirit of Things

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

In the Spirit of Things - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the Spirit of Things

Art direction by Storm Thorgerson

Studio album by

Kansas

Released

October 25, 1988

Recorded

1988

Studio

Soundscape (Atlanta)
Can-Am (Los Angeles)
Ocean Way (Hollywood)

Genre

Art rock, hard rock

Length

52:54

Label

MCA

Producer

Bob Ezrin, Greg Ladanyi, Phil Ehart

Kansas chronology

Power
(1986)

In the Spirit of Things
(1988)

Carry On
(1992)

Singles from In the Spirit of Things

"Stand Beside Me"
Released: October 31, 1988 (US) ^[1]

In the Spirit of Things is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kansas, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). It is a very loosely organized concept album, telling the story of a flood hitting the real Kansas city of Neosho Falls in 1951.^[2]^[3] It was the first Kansas album since 1975's Masque to lack a hit single.

History

According to the author Dan Fitzgerald, Rich Williams was inspired to create this album after having read the book Ghost Towns of Kansas, Volume II (1979), specifically the chapter on Neosho Falls.^[4]

The album is Kansas's last studio effort for a major label. It didn't receive much promotion, as MCA Records dropped a slew of "older" artists shortly after its release and famously switched its attention to current younger acts such as Tiffany. Kansas got caught in that decision and the album was a commercial failure. The label did produce several promotional materials for the record, including a glossy video for "Stand Beside Me". The song was played regularly on MTV and allowed the single to hit the album rock charts, the last Kansas single to chart in any format. Other songs were released in odd formats, such as a 12" promotional single of "I Counted on Love", an import edited CD single of "House on Fire", and a small-sized CD single of "Stand Beside Me". The album would also be the last Kansas release to appear in vinyl format until the release of The Prelude Implicit in 2016.

A tour in support of this album included a broadcast by the King Biscuit Flower Hour, which many years later released the show as a CD.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[6]

In its retrospective review, AllMusic deemed the album "one of the group's more consistent albums and easily a latter-day highlight." They criticized the album's dated production and the lack of a single to compare to their 1970s hits, but argued it to be one of Kansas's most focused efforts.^[5]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ghosts"	Steve Walsh, Steve Morse, Bob Ezrin	4:18
2.	"One Big Sky" (additional lyrics by Ezrin, Walsh, Phil Ehart)	Howard Kleinfeld, Michael Dan Ehmig	5:17
3.	"Inside of Me"	Morse, Walsh	4:42
4.	"One Man, One Heart"	Mark Spiro, Dann Huff	4:20
5.	"House on Fire"	Walsh, Morse, Ezrin, Ehart	4:42
6.	"Once in a Lifetime"	Antonina Armato, Dennis Morgan, Albert Hammond	4:14

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Stand Beside Me"	Marc Jordan, Bruce Gaitsch	3:28
8.	"I Counted on Love"	Morse, Walsh	3:33
9.	"The Preacher"	Walsh, Morse	4:18
10.	"Rainmaker"	Walsh, Morse, Ezrin	6:44
11.	"T.O. Witcher" (instrumental)	Morse	1:39
12.	"Bells of Saint James"	Walsh, Morse	5:39

Credits

Kansas

Steve Walsh - keyboards, lead vocals
Steve Morse - guitars, vocals
Rich Williams - guitars
Billy Greer - bass, vocals
Phil Ehart - drums, co-producer on tracks 4, 6 and 7

Additional personnel

Greg Robert - keyboard programming, background vocals
Christopher Yavelow - Kurzweil synthesizer sound design
Ricky Keller - percussion programming on track 2, keyboards programming on track 4
Steve Croes - Synclavier
Terry Brock - background vocals on track 4
John Pierce - fretless bass on track 7
Bob Ezrin - percussion, vocals, background vocals
Rev. James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir - background vocals on tracks 2, 9 and 10

Production

Bob Ezrin - producer, engineer, mixing, arrangements with Kansas
Greg Ladanyi - co-producer on tracks 4, 6 and 7, engineer, mixing
Garth Richardson - engineer, mixing
Stan Katayama, Bob Loftus, Brendan O'Brien - engineers
Lawrence Fried, Edd Miller - assistant engineers
Stephen Marcussen, Doug Sax, Mike Reese - mastering
Robert Hrycyna - production and technical supervisor
Jack Adams - equipment assistant
Storm Thorgerson - art direction
Paul Maxon - photography, photography production
Tony May, Glenn Wexler, Derek Burnett - photography
Jon Crossland - stylist

Charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[7]	114

References

^ "Kansas singles".
^ Devault, Russ (February 17, 1989). "Haunted By a Hit, Kansas Would Like Fans to Get Into 'Spirit of Things'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
^ Popson, Tom (January 27, 1989). "Band Hears Music In Deserted Kansas Town". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
^ Fitzgerald, Daniel (2009). "Foreword (2009 Version)". Ghost Towns of Kansas (2 ed.). Dan Fitzgerald Company. p. 14. ISBN 9781449505196.
^ ^a ^b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "In the Spirit of Things - Kansas | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Kansas". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 446. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ "Kansas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

v t e Kansas
Phil Ehart Rich Williams Billy Greer Tom Brislin Ronnie Platt Joe Deninzon Zak Rizvi Kerry Livgren Dave Hope Robby Steinhardt Steve Walsh John Elefante Steve Morse Greg Robert David Manion David Ragsdale
Studio albums	Kansas Song for America Masque Leftoverture Point of Know Return Monolith Audio-Visions Vinyl Confessions Drastic Measures Power In the Spirit of Things Freaks of Nature Always Never the Same Somewhere to Elsewhere The Prelude Implicit The Absence of Presence
Live albums	Two for the Show Live at the Whisky King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Kansas Dust in the Wind Device – Voice – Drum There's Know Place Like Home
Compilations	The Best of Kansas Carry On The Kansas Boxed Set The Ultimate Kansas Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection On the Other Side Works in Progress
Singles	"Song for America" "Carry On Wayward Son" "What's on My Mind" "Point of Know Return" "Dust in the Wind" "Portrait (He Knew)" "People of the South Wind" "Hold On" "Play the Game Tonight" "Fight Fire with Fire" "All I Wanted"
Other songs	"The Wall"
Related articles	Discography Members Native Window
Category

Categories:

Hidden categories: