I have to confess, I basically kicked Kansas to the curb during this era. I returned when Steve returned. What are your basic thoughts on the man ? Did you accept him or reject him ? I know he was tallented, but Kansas without Steve Walsh was something I had no interest in at that time in my musical endeavors. At that time, I dove head first into Rush, and they became for favorite act.

I brought Vinyl Confessions and liked it at the time.
Purchased Drastic Measures and never really listened to it.
Saw the Vinyl Confessions tour with John.
John was a very good singer. The casual listener might not know that it was not Steve.
John had the high notes, but none of the passion and emotion of Steve.
And live? Have you seen him live???
Steve was one of the coolest live performers to me.
John, well :roll:
I've heard people say, well he was young etc.
So was Robert Plant! 19 in fact!
John just looked ridiculous live after seeing Steve.
Good voice but :lol: :lol: :lol:
Look at him on youtube!

I TRIED to accept him but just couldn't stand his voice. To me it killed the sound I knew to be Kansas. I recently listened to some Mastadon tracks and they all sound the same to me and just sound flat.

It's all about the hair! ;) Really, to me he was just a tall Q-tip waiting to clean my ears! ;)

Seriously, I happened to like his voice very much, but his image was too "straight-laced" or "square" for Kansas. I don't think he's ever worn a plaid shirt, much less overalls! :lol:

You know, it's kind of funny because Kansas harkens back to a time when it was more about the music than the image.
Kansas in particular were not an image band.
However the one guy in the band who was trying hard to have an image at least once he stood up from behind the keys was Steve.
Like it or not, he was practically leaping off of the stage.
So when Steve left, to see John...
Well...
Maybe it was a relief to some of those who didn't like Steves antics as they have been called.
Well, to the rest of us John was just dopey to see.
Sounded "good enough" as replacement vocalists go, but...
It's a bit like Sammy replacing Roth.
Some people hated Roth.
In this case the replacement was the technically better singer.
But, Van Halen without Roth?
With that little twerp trying to cover that swagger?
Not the same band.[/i]

Steve was, back in the day, a kick ass dynamic performer who captivated the audiance. He is still great by the way, its just different now. John Elefante was a bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream. Bland, safe, unintimidating. He just didn't work for me.

I was disappointed when Steve left Kansas because he did have a phenominal voice and was definitely the focal point of the band when I saw them for the first time in 1979. As far as the vocals were concerned I didn't feel that JE was far enough away that it made a difference to me. I never saw Elefante perform live until several years ago when I came across the MTV video filmed in Omaha, and it wasn't as bad as most want to make it out to be. He was different onstage from Steve, but everyone's different. I also have all of John's solo work and the Mastedon cd's and think he has a great voice. I also think he has written some great (and some not so great) music both for Kansas and for his solo career. All in all, I feel that he gets a bad rap, and truth be told, his voice today is much better than Steve's. Steve and Kerry were my heroes and Kansas has never been the same without one or the other of them not in the band.

I agree with a bith of everyone on this. Steve was original and was and is the voice of Kansas. I think John gets an unfair rap most of the time.

VC still is one of my favorite albums the band did. On stage he was not bad at all, just different. After all if we are talkibng about movement, this band minus SW is the most motionless "live" band around. Vanilla may not be far off, but in a good way.

He did come in young, but (unike Plant) was very aware he was NOT an original memember etc. The worst part to me of the Kansas Omaha sound and that tour was the very talented but wretched sax parts of Warren Ham.

I really like his solo stuff and he has written some great songs.

Vocally I like SW much better, but John has still has the voice of his youth, and well Steve..... :lol:

Steve's voice was what originally drew me in as a Kansas fan.
It is radically different know although he still has his moments when he still shines vocally.....it pains me to hear him when he is struggling.
Still he will always be my favorite overall vocalist.....based on the emotion, range and power he possessed. John I agree gets a bad rap,
sure he was inexperienced, about 8 to 10 years younger than the other members of Kansas but he filled some very big shoes vocally although not so much on keys....hence the addition of the sideplayers they used in the VC and DM era. John was more of a straight ahead Pop-Rock vocalist than Steve and writes more in that vein as well. He has improved greatly as a vocalist and you can tell that if you take the time to listen to any of his post Kansas material. He is probably the most successful overall of the Kansas Alumni....and I respect him for his talent and for pursuing what he loves most!

Well said Pony!! I would love to hear John sing with the current line up.

I would not see Kansas without Steve. I'd have zero interest.

He did what he was brought in to do. Nice guy and a solid talent!

I think there's room for the both of them. Billy, John and Steve would sound quite nice together.

In my opinion John Elefante is a decent singer, but pales in comparison to Walsh. Elefante is a good producer and writer, but lacks any stage presence. His "shadow boxing" while he sang was, I thought, laughable every time I saw him with Kansas. I also feel his voice is a bit nasal sounding.

I like Elefante as a person; I've met him several times and he seems to be a really nice guy. Unfortunately; he is so nice that it takes away from what he may have been able to exude through his voice, his writing and his stage persona... Being religious is one thing, but pushing it down peoples throats via your lyrics isn't the way to convert anyone.

I'm glad he is doing well in his career as a producer... I'm even more glad that Steve is the voice of Kansas still.

I would have absolutely NO INTEREST in seeing John re -join Kansas as an alumni, reunion, R&R Hall of Fame (like thats' gonna' happen,) or any other way.
John served his purpose on vinyl when Steve left.
Even if Johns voice has held up better, and I'm sure it has since it was used so much less.
I don't care.
Steve is the man who sang 'em.
I don't care if he whispers them, or lets Billy take the choruses, :wink: Steves' the man!
When Steve left, it was one man down, Kerry was with them and it was kind of Kansas.
With the current line up, if Steve was gone well...
That's not Kansas to me.