Monolith is the sixth studio album, and seventh album overall, by American rock band Kansas, released in 1979 .
This album was largely influenced by The Urantia Book, reflecting an interest in the movement by bandmember Kerry Livgren before his conversion to Christianity.
The album initially sold about 800,000 copies, obtaining Gold status, but ultimately went Platinum in the early 1990s, and Kerry Livgren donated his platinum record to the Kansas State Historical Society[1]. Although this was...
Monolith is the sixth studio album, and seventh album overall, by American rock band Kansas, released in 1979 .
This album was largely influenced by The Urantia Book, reflecting an interest in the movement by bandmember Kerry Livgren before his conversion to Christianity.
The album initially sold about 800,000 copies, obtaining Gold status, but ultimately went Platinum in the early 1990s, and Kerry Livgren donated his platinum record to the Kansas State Historical Society[1]. Although this was Kansas' 3rd straight studio album to hit the Billboard Top 10, its sales were slow compared to its last few releases, and its one Top 40 hit, People of the Southwind, didn't last on the charts very long. The album was supported by a full scale North American arena tour, taking them to venues in major cities in places they had never played before. Further, a special promotional disc was released in Japan of highlights of the album mixed with earlier popular tracks, in anticipation of a small Japanese tour in 1980. Even more ambitious perhaps was the fact that 4 promotional music videos were shot for the album, even though MTV was still years away. While this album marks the end of Kansas's true commercial peak, the support surrounding the record was more sophisticated than at any time before or since. By the time their next record was released, two members had released solo albums, and not a single song from this record appeared in their live set. Indeed, the band rarely has played much of anything from this album live since the original Monolith tour, which initially featured all 8 songs played live.
Track listing
"On the Other Side" (Livgren) – 6:26
"People of the South Wind" (Livgren) – 3:41
"Angels Have Fallen" (Walsh) – 6:39
"How My Soul Cries Out for You" (Walsh) – 5:46
"A Glimpse of Home" (Livgren) – 6:37
"Away from You" (Walsh) – 4:26
"Stay Out of Trouble" (Steinhardt, Walsh, Williams) – 4:15
"Reason to Be" (Livgren) – 3:51
Personnel
Phil Ehart - drums
Dave Hope - bass
Kerry Livgren - guitar, keyboard
Robby Steinhardt - violin, vocals, anvil
Steve Walsh - keyboard, vocals
Rich Williams - guitar
Production
Producer: Kansas
Engineers: Brad Aaron, Davey Moiré, Steve Tillisch
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position
1979 Pop Albums 10
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Year Single Chart Position
1979 "People Of The South Wind" Pop Singles 23
1979 "Reason To Be" Pop Singles 52
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
