Legendary rock band Kansas have announced details of their first new album in sixteen years. Due for release on 23rd September 2016, 'The Prelude Implicit' comes ahead of plans to celebrate the band's fortieth anniversary with a special 'Leftoverture' Tour.
Featuring ten all new tracks written by the band and co-produced by Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart, and Richard Williams, 'The Prelude Implicit' contains Kansas’s instantly recognisable signature sound throughout. Showcasing Ronnie Platt’s soaring lead vocals, David Ragsdale’s blistering violin, Williams and Rizvi’s rocking guitar riffs, f David Manion’s B3 keyboards, Ehart’s thundering drums, and Billy Greer’s driving bass and vocals, the album began life in January 2016, after the band signing with Inside Out Music.
Says Inside Out founder and president Thomas Waber: “Kansas is the biggest and most important Prog band to come out of the United States. I grew up listening to them, and their music is part of my DNA. ‘The Prelude Implicit’ undoubtedly adds to their already impressive musical legacy. I can’t stop listening to it, and we are proud to be releasing the album.”
The result of the time in the studio was even more than the band imagined. “This is definitely a KANSAS album,” remarks original guitarist Richard Williams. “Whether it is the trademark Prog epic like ‘The Voyage of Eight Eighteen,’ biting rocker such as ‘Rhythm in the Spirit,’ or mindful ballad like ‘The Unsung Heroes,’ there is something on this album for every kind of Kansas fan. After years of pent-up creativity, the entire band is very proud of ‘The Prelude Implicit.’”
Lead Vocalist Ronnie Platt adds, “Recording ‘The Prelude Implicit’ was an incredible experience, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. It is my hope that, knowing the intense listeners that Kansas fans are, the continuity yet diversity of this album will be pleasing to them.”
Speaking about the album title and artwork, Ehart reveals: "Without a doubt, this is a new musical beginning," Tattoo artist, Denise de la Cerda, did the oil painting of the front and back cover. “It shows a Phoenix flying from the past into the future.”
Released on 23rd September on Inside Out Music, 'The Prelude Implicit' will be available on CD, Double 180 Gram Vinyl, and digitally on iTunes and Google Play. Pre-order opportunities will be available starting later this summer at KansasBand.com and Amazon.com.
Kansas will be debuting songs off 'The Prelude Implicit' in the U.S.A. in the autumn, as part of their Leftoverture 40th Anniversary Tour. More information including tour dates, can be found on the band's official website.
'The Prelude Implicit' Track Listing:
1. With This Heart
2. Visibility Zero
3. The Unsung Heroes
4. Rhythm in the Spirit
5. Refugee
6. The Voyage of Eight Eighteen
7. Camouflage
8. Summer
9. Crowded Isolation
10. Section 60