Two for the Show is the first live album by American progressive rock band Kansas, released in 1978. The album was recorded over the course of the band's three previous tours in 1977 and 1978. It was certified Gold and then Platinum shortly after its release.[4] In 2008, a remastered and expanded edition was released to commemorate the album's 30th anniversary.
| Two for the Show | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover photo inspired by Norman Rockwell's painting "The Charwomen" | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | October 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1977, 1978 with Record Plant Mobile Recording Unit | |||
| Venue | The Palladium, New York City, Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkson, Michigan, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 80:12 (original album) 148:22 (2008 expanded and remastered edition) | |||
| Label | Kirshner/CBS, Epic | |||
| Producer | Kansas | |||
| Kansas chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Two for the Show | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [3] |
One single, "Lonely Wind," was released from the album. The single version was edited to under 3 minutes, and included a small amount of the piano solo that precedes it on the album. It received a reasonable amount of airplay and rose to No. 60 on the pop charts.[5] Record World called it "a characteristic Kansas ballad with a lush high harmony hook."[6]
In addition, Kirshner Records issued a promotional album of edited selections from the release, entitled Kansas Mini Concert on the spine and label, and Two for the Show Special Limited Edition on the cover. It features "Lonely Wind," "Dust in the Wind," "Song for America," and "The Wall." The same songs appear on both sides, and the first side is unbanded, meaning there is no indication on the vinyl of where each song begins. This promo album was issued with both a black and a white cover.
Track listing
editOriginal 1978 LP version
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Song for America" | Kerry Livgren | Song for America (1975) | 7:31 |
| 2. | "Point of Know Return" | Steve Walsh, Phil Ehart, Robby Steinhardt | Point of Know Return (1977) | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Paradox" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Icarus - Borne on Wings of Steel" | Livgren | Masque (1975) | 5:58 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Portrait (He Knew)" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 5:19 |
| 6. | "Carry On Wayward Son" | Livgren | Leftoverture (1976) | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Journey from Mariabronn" | Livgren, Walsh | Kansas (1974) | 8:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dust in the Wind" (featuring Rich Williams acoustic guitar solo) | Livgren | Point of Know Return | 6:19 |
| 2. | "Lonely Wind" (featuring Kerry Livgren piano solo) | Walsh | Kansas | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Mysteries and Mayhem" | Livgren, Walsh | Masque | 4:01 |
| 4. | "Excerpt from Lamplight Symphony" | Livgren | Song for America | 2:39 |
| 5. | "The Wall" | Livgren, Walsh | Leftoverture | 4:54 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Closet Chronicles" | Walsh, Livgren | Point of Know Return | 6:55 |
| 7. | "Magnum Opus"
| Livgren, Walsh, Rich Williams, Dave Hope, Ehart, Steinhardt | Leftoverture | 11:18 |
* "Closet Chronicles" was omitted from the original CD release due to time constraints but appears on the remastered version of The Best of Kansas released in 1999, and appears on the second CD of the remastered version of Two for the Show.
2008 remastered version
editTwo for the Show was re-released as a 2-CD set in 2008 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the album with a second disc of songs that did not appear on the original album (except "Closet Chronicles" which was included on the original vinyl, excluded from the original CD release, and appears here on the second CD along with the bonus material) and a 24-page booklet.
Disc One
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Song for America" | Livgren | Song for America | 7:29 |
| 2. | "Point of Know Return" | Walsh, Ehart, Steinhardt | Point of Know Return | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Paradox" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Icarus - Borne on Wings of Steel" | Livgren | Masque | 5:58 |
| 5. | "Portrait (He Knew)" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 5:18 |
| 6. | "Carry On Wayward Son" | Livgren | Leftoverture | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Journey from Mariabronn" | Livgren, Walsh | Kansas | 8:55 |
| 8. | "Dust in the Wind" (featuring Rich Williams acoustic guitar solo) | Livgren | Point of Know Return | 6:17 |
| 9. | "Lonely Wind" (featuring Kerry Livgren piano solo) | Walsh | Kansas | 4:29 |
| 10. | "Mysteries and Mayhem" | Livgren, Walsh | Masque | 4:00 |
| 11. | "Excerpt from Lamplight Symphony" | Livgren | Song for America | 2:38 |
| 12. | "The Wall" | Livgren, Walsh | Leftoverture | 4:58 |
| 13. | "Magnum Opus
| Livgren, Walsh, Williams, Hope, Ehart, Steinhardt | Leftoverture | 11:14 |
Disc Two
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Incomudro - Hymn to the Atman (Intro)/Hopelessly Human" | Livgren | Song for America/Point of Know Return | 8:42 |
| 2. | "Child of Innocence" | Livgren | Masque | 7:47 |
| 3. | "Belexes" | Livgren | Kansas | 4:34 |
| 4. | "Cheyenne Anthem" | Livgren | Leftoverture | 6:55 |
| 5. | "Lonely Street" | Walsh, Hope, Williams, Ehart | Song for America | 8:20 |
| 6. | "Miracles Out of Nowhere" | Livgren | Leftoverture | 7:59 |
| 7. | "The Spider" (featuring Phil Ehart drum solo) | Walsh | Point of Know Return | 7:41 |
| 8. | "Closet Chronicles" | Walsh, Livgren | Point of Know Return | 6:55 |
| 9. | "Down the Road" | Walsh, Livgren | Song for America | 3:44 |
| 10. | "Sparks of the Tempest" | Livgren, Walsh | Point of Know Return | 5:19 |
| 11. | "Bringing It Back" | J.J. Cale | Kansas | 7:07 |
All of the bonus tracks were recorded at the time of the recording of the album but omitted from the original album for various reasons including time constraints. Different live versions of "Bringing It Back," "Down the Road," "Cheyenne Anthem," and "Sparks of the Tempest" appeared as bonus tracks on the remastered versions of Kansas, Song for America, Leftoverture, and Point of Know Return respectively. A different, earlier live version of "Lonely Street" appears as a bonus track on the later recorded U.S. version Live at the Whiskey (a different live version of "Belexes" and "Journey from Mariabronn" appear as a single bonus track on the German version of this release, available on iTunes and Apple Music)
In 2010, Legacy released the Kansas entry in Legacy's Boxed Set series known as The Music of Kansas. The 3rd of 3 discs from this Boxed Set is culled entirely from the double CD version of this album, featuring live cuts from both the original and expanded release, marking the first compilation to feature any of the previously unreleased tracks. A 4 disc version of this release was also issued a year later.
Personnel
edit- Kansas
- Steve Walsh – keyboards, vocals[7]
- Robby Steinhardt – violins, vocals
- Kerry Livgren – guitars, keyboards
- Rich Williams – guitars
- Dave Hope – bass
- Phil Ehart – percussion, drums
- Production
- Kansas - producer, cover concept[7]
- Davey Moiré - engineer
- Brad Aaron - associate engineer
- Dave Hewitt - Record Plant Mobile engineer
- George Marino - mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
- Tom Drennon - art direction and design
- Jim Barrett - illustration
- Raul Vega, Terry Ehart, Andy Freeberg, Darryl Pitt, Neal Preston - photography
- 2008 remastering
- Phil Ehart – producer
- Jeff Glixman - producer, mixing and mastering of the remastered edition
- Jeff Magid - remastered edition producer
- Zak Rizvi, John Andreas - remastered edition mixing
- Brian Fanning, Frank Tozour - sony PQ editing
Charts
edit| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] | 95 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] | 29 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 32 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[11] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 449. ISBN 9780862415419.
- ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. Two for the Show at AllMusic
- ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Kansas". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 446. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database: Search for Kansas". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
- ^ "Kansas Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. January 13, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "Two for the Show - Kansas | Credits | AllMusic".
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0071a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ "Kansas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ "American album certifications – Kansas – Two for the Show". Recording Industry Association of America.
