Freaks of Nature (Kansas album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Freaks of Nature
| type = Album
| artist = Kansas
| cover = Kansas - Freaks of Nature.jpg
| alt =
| released = May 29, 1995
| recorded = 1995
| venue =
| studio = Caribbean Sound Basin, Trinidad, West Indies
| length = 45:14
| label = Intersound (US){{cite news |last1=Sculley |first1=Alan |title=KANSAS GOES BACK TO 'NATURE' |work=The Morning Call |date=23 June 1995 |page=D6}}
Essential/Castle Communications (Europe)
Sony Music (Japan)
| producer = Jeff Glixman
| prev_title = The Kansas Boxed Set
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Always Never the Same
| next_year = 1998
}}
{{Album reviews
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r216799/review|first=Mark W.B.|last=Allender}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|2|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&pg=RA5-PA1998|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|first=Colin|last=Larkin|date=May 27, 2011|publisher=Omnibus Press|via=Google Books}}
|rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
|rev3score = B−{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/1995/05/19/freaks-nature-2/|title=Freaks of Nature|website=EW.com}}
| rev4 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev4score = {{Rating|1|5}}{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Charles R.|author-link=Charles R. Cross|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=Kansas|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/446 446]}}
}}
Freaks of Nature is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band Kansas, released in 1995.{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=Jon |title=Kansas dusts off the old tracks |work=Intelligencer Journal |date=27 Oct 1995 |department=HAPPENINGS |page=3}}{{cite news |last1=Craft |first1=Dan |title=A DEATH IN THE FAMILY |work=The Pantagraph |date=19 July 1996 |page=D1}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kansas-mn0000303626/biography|title=Kansas Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic}} Two edited singles were issued but did not chart, nor did the album itself, making it the only Kansas studio album not to appear on any Billboard chart. The band promoted the album by touring with the Alan Parsons Project, and then opening for Styx.{{cite news |last1=Prince |first1=David |title=KANSAS IS NOT JUST A LITTLE DUST IN THE WIND |work=The Santa Fe New Mexican |date=21 July 1995 |department=PASATIEMPO |page=52}}{{cite news |last1=Kassulke |first1=Natasha |title=STYX, KANSAS BRING THEIR HITS |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=21 Sep 1996 |page=4C}}
Production
Recorded in Trinidad, the album was produced by Jeff Glixman.{{cite news |last1=Cain |first1=Carol |title=Kansas rocks Saturday |work=Press-Register |date=October 27, 1995 |location=Mobile |page=1E}}{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Howard |title=FROM BARRY WHITE TO MEGADETH, IT'S AN ECLECTIC MIX |work=Miami Herald |date=August 25, 1995 |page=23G}} Violinist David Ragsdale cowrote four of Freaks of Nature's songs.{{cite news |last1=Nichols |first1=Natalie |title=Eat Our Dust: Kansas Carries On |work=Tulsa World |department=Entertainment |page=4}} The band chose to forgo the overproduction of previous albums, including eschewing orchestral instrumentation.{{cite news |last1=Kinch |first1=Tamara |title=Carryin' on with the sounds of Kansas |work=The Times |date=August 18, 1995 |location=Munster}}
Critical reception
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "the techno synths and hoedown fiddles of 'Need' and the AOR schmaltz and African drums on 'I Can Fly' are fairly innovative syntheses." The Washington Post determined that the band "continues to sound like a middle-American knockoff of such British predecessors as Yes."{{cite web |title=It's been 17 years since 'Dust in the Wind'... |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/08/11/parsons-comes-alive/f31521e9-58e6-444d-98ed-49bdcd392fa8/ |website=The Washington Post |access-date=11 May 2022}}
The Deseret News noted that "the world-rhythm-inspired 'Need' adds a new angle to Kansas' Midwest progression while the album's title cut is pure, blues-based rock-a-rolla."{{cite news |last1=Iwasaki |first1=Scott |title='FREAKS' SPINS A WELCOME, FAMILIAR SOUND |work=Deseret News |date=June 17, 1995 |page=B10}} USA Today concluded: "If you insist on listening to overblown art-rock, the band's new Freaks of Nature album isn't any worse than 'Carry On Wayward Son'."{{cite news |last1=Christensen |first1=Thor |title=Would the real band please stand up and sing? |work=USA Today |date=July 7, 1995}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| title1= I Can Fly
| writer1 = David Ragsdale, Steve Walsh
| length1 = 5:21
| title2 = Desperate Times
| writer2 = Walsh
| length2 = 5:25
| title3 = Hope Once Again
| writer3 = Walsh
| length3 = 4:34
| title4 = Black Fathom 4
| writer4 = Walsh, Ragsdale
| length4 = 5:54
| title5 = Under the Knife
| writer5 = Walsh, Ragsdale
| length5 = 4:54
| title6 = Need
| writer6 = Walsh
| length6 = 3:59
| title7 = Freaks of Nature
| writer7 = Ragsdale, Walsh, Phil Ehart
| length7 = 4:05
| title8 = Cold Grey Morning
| writer8 = Kerry Livgren
| length8 = 4:14
| title9 = Peaceful and Warm
| writer9 = Walsh
| length9 = 6:44
}}
Personnel
- Phil Ehart - drums, percussion
- Rich Williams - guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Walsh - lead vocals, keyboards
- Billy Greer - bass, guitar, backing vocals
- Greg Robert - keyboards, backing vocals
- David Ragsdale - violin, backing vocals
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160812230351/https://podsodcast.com/2015/09/02/em06/ David Ragsdale Track by Track Interview about Freaks of Nature from 2015]}} with {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20161019080427/https://podsodcast.com/ The Pods & Sods Network]}}
{{kansasband}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Jeff Glixman