Always Never the Same is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Kansas, released in 1998. This album consists of mostly covers of the band’s previous work, re-recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. New songs include "In Your Eyes", "The Sky Is Falling", "Need to Know" and the instrumental "Preamble". "Prelude & Introduction" is a medley of the Kansas songs "Carry On Wayward Son", "Point of Know Return", "Opus Insert", and "Lamplight Symphony". The album also includes a cover of The Beatles’ "Eleanor Rigby". "Carry On Wayward Son" was also recorded during this time, in case strong sales would bring forth a second symphonic album, but was never released. This is the final Kansas album to include new songs from lead singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh.
| Always Never the Same | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 19, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | September 1997 – February 1998 | |||
| Studio | Southern Tracks, Electric Landlady and Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta, Georgia, Abbey Road Studios, London, UK (Orchestra recordings) | |||
| Genre | Symphonic rock | |||
| Length | 71:05 | |||
| Label | River North (US) Edsel (Europe) Victor (Japan) | |||
| Producer | Phil Ehart, Rich Williams, Trammell Starks | |||
| Kansas chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from the album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Eleanor Rigby" (The Beatles cover) | John Lennon, Paul McCartney | 3:22 | |
| 2. | "Dust in the Wind" | Kerry Livgren | Point of Know Return (1977) | 4:01 |
| 3. | "Preamble" (orchestral) | Larry Baird | 3:25 | |
| 4. | "Song for America" | Livgren | Song for America (1975) | 9:15 |
| 5. | "In Your Eyes" (new song) | Steve Walsh | 4:30 | |
| 6. | "Miracles Out of Nowhere" | Livgren | Leftoverture (1976) | 6:27 |
| 7. | "Hold On" | Livgren | Audio-Visions (1980) | 4:18 |
| 8. | "The Sky Is Falling" (new song) | Walsh | 7:50 | |
| 9. | "Cheyenne Anthem" | Livgren | Leftoverture | 7:29 |
| 10. | "Prelude & Introduction" (medley) | Phil Ehart, Billy Greer, Robby Steinhardt, Walsh, Rich Williams, Baird | 4:53 | |
| 11. | "The Wall" | Livgren, Walsh | Leftoverture | 5:29 |
| 12. | "Need to Know" (new song) | Walsh | 4:02 | |
| 13. | "Nobody’s Home" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 6:04 |
Personnel
edit- Kansas
- Steve Walsh – keyboards, lead vocals
- Robby Steinhardt – violin, lead and backing vocals
- Rich Williams – guitars, producer
- Billy Greer – bass, vocals
- Phil Ehart – drums, producer
- Additional musicians
- The London Symphony Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Larry Baird
- Production
- Trammell Starks – producer, digital editing
- Russ Fowler, James Majors, Jim "Z" Zumpano – engineers
- Peter Cobbin – orchestra recordings engineer
- Jeff Glixman – mixing at Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
- Greg Calbi – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
- Brian Jobson, James Majors – digital editing
- Michael Allen – copyist
- Pennie Moore, Conni Treantafeles – art direction and design
- Marti Griffin – photography
References
edit- ^ Jehnzen, Daevid. "Kansas - Always Never the Same review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ 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.