Kansas Wheels And Other Rarities

American preeminent progressive rock band, Kansas, are touring select cities in the United States and Canada, expanding the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of their massive hit album Point Of Know Return. Speaking of 'deep cuts' and rarities, a new Kansas compilation has just been released under the title "Wheels And Other Rarities". Among the hard to find tracks included here are "Wheels", the new song composed by Steve Walsh & Kerry Livgren especially recorded for the Kansas Boxed Set appeared in 1994 and never released into any other album. Also we find the rare remixes of the band's classic 'Carry On Wayward Son' and 'The Wall (Remix)', a very good quality demo of 'Can I Tell You (Demo)', and 'Perfect Lover', written by then-lead vocalist John Elefante and his brother Dino Elefante, only included into 'The Best of Kansas', their first Greatest Hits compilation appeared in 1984…

By the time of their eighth album, Audio-Visions, Kansas had entered the post-platinum solo-album phase of the typical successful rock group's career. Leaders Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh were devoting time to making their own records, and Kansas was becoming a part-time occupation. The two divided up the songwriting chores on Audio-Visions, alternating Livgren's always spiritual and by now explicitly religious lyrical sentiments and ornate musical structures with Walsh's earthier and harder-rocking concerns. Livgren's Christian-themed "Hold On" ("Outside the door He is waiting") made the Top 40, and Walsh's "Got to Rock" was a singles-chart entry, but nothing here matched the music from the group's late-'70s heyday…

Replacing Steve Walsh with singer/keyboard player John Elefante, Kansas demonstrated that they could carry on by scoring their biggest hit in four years with the Top 20 "Play the Game Tonight," the leadoff track from Vinyl Confessions. Like now-undisputed group leader Kerry Livgren, Elefante was a born-again Christian, however, and his involvement in the songwriting turned the group decisively toward religious lyrical sentiments, often of a judgmental, us-versus-you nature. It's possible that fans who had been happy to accept the notion that "we are dust in the wind" were less patient with the ideas expressed in Elefante's "Face It" ("How many times do I have to tell you?") or Livgren's "(You're Standing on The) Borderline." Or maybe it was just that it was getting hard to distinguish Kansas from Foreigner and Journey. In any case, Vinyl Confessions was Kansas' first album since their debut not to go gold.

Mark Spiro is an iconic American songwriter and an established award winning producer, recording artist, and accomplished musician, with a career that spans over two decades. Among his many accomplishments are 45 Gold and Platinum Records, and nine solo albums. His songs and productions have been represented on records that have sold over 100 Million copies worldwide. The “2+2 = 5: Best of + Rarities” compilation encompasses the best of Mark’s solo material starting from “Now Is Then, Then is Now”, originally released in 1996, until “It’s a Beautiful Life”, released in 2012. Also included are his songwriting collaborations with none other than Dann Huff (Giant), Michael Thomson (MTB), Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams), and Tim Pierce. As a special treat for the discerning and passionate melodic rock fans, the album includes 13 unreleased songs which also includes collaborations with Dann Huff, Michael Thompson, Tim Pierce and Jason Derlatka. Mark is currently working on a new solo album.