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Reviews

Kenso — Ken-Son-Gu-Su
(Pathograph PA 3003, 2000, CD)

Ken-Son-Gu-Su Cover art

This writer was not in attendance for Kenso’s North American debut at Progfest 2000, but every report seems to indicate that their performance varied between outstanding and life-changing. Thankfully for those of us who were not in attendance, the band has released this album, a live document of their 25th Anniversary concert earlier in the year in Tokyo. My prior exposure to Kenso consists of their first two studio albums, and so I must admit to not being familiar with their many live releases, but this particular one is bloody superlative. Consisting of 14 tracks and over 70 minutes of music, there is a lot of ground covered, including five tracks from the first two albums. This band can still really play, and their execution of lightning-quick symphonic passages is flawless. When they slow down, the results are no less remarkable, appearing as pretty, introspective interludes between storms of virtuosity. The band performance is not the only worthwhile aspect of this release, even if it is a showstopper. The excellent sound quality conveys every nuance of the live performance to the listener; one would think they were in the studio if not for the bursts of applause at the end of various tracks. The packaging even includes a mini-essay about the band. Undoubtedly one of the top releases of 2000, this release shows Kenso in top flight, maybe better than they’ve ever been before. Wow.

by Sean McFee, Published 2001-03-01

I always forget the count on Kenso live albums, but there was a period in the 90s where it seemed like they put one out a year. This one, however, is my very favorite of those, if perhaps because it coincided with their first US performance at Progfest, which to this day I'd still rate as one of the five best concerts I’ve ever attended. So in many ways this is sort of the keepsake of that experience, largely because the song order was pretty close. They cover most of their previous albums on this, back to the early 80s all the way through the most recent work, all of which were enhanced and improved by this point. I find it difficult to remember their titles, but on the second half of this CD there's a series of four or five songs that I used to love so much that for a period of time, I'd play the CD and just restart them over and over again.

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2018-01-25

A band reaching their highest peak at 25 years is an impressive thing to behold. Long-running Japanese symphonic rock masters Kenso have recorded many a live album, so this is no mere achievement even by their standards. This is the band’s 25th Anniversary concert, a CD that was available in very small quantities, yet became mythological within 15 minutes of the end of their Progfest 2000 performance, months before its official release. As with most of their live albums, Kenso give you a basic career overview here, but with a studio album freshly available, there is more of a mix of the new with the old. The results are surprisingly homogenous. Even with the variation in style as evidenced on their last studio album, Esoptron, the CD here features the classic Kenso sound, a dual-keyboard-webbed progressive with a plethora of complex, interwoven melodies and shifting meters. Even the tracks from Esoptron are integrated into this sound, becoming much more than their rawer, pared-down original versions. Not only do Kenso nail classics like “Sora Ni Hikaru” and “Beginnings,” but they breathe new life into pieces from latter-day albums such as Sparta and Yume No Oka and generally sound as revitalized and fresh as they ever did. A fitting document of one of the genre’s finest.

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2001-03-01

One might wonder if we really need another live disc from Kenso, especially since the last one (In the West) came out just a couple of years ago. Plus, more than half of that collection is represented here as well. I could honestly care less, since rarely has a group come along with such a sure command of its craft that I am reminded of the best moments of Happy the Man, Gamalon, and Jeff Beck. Their sound lacks any of the conventions of modern pop music, no drum machines, sequencers, techno-industrial throbs, or thrashing drums. Instead Kenso is true to the classic forms of instrumental fusion rock music — nimble and fluid leads and unisons married to a muscular rhythmic bedrock that keeps it all from spiraling out of control. The occasion of this live recording, the band’s 25th anniversary, reveals all Kenso’s many gifts in spades. You’d expect a chops workout and you get it here, without any of the metal posturing found from some stateside cousins such as Black Light Syndrome, et al. What distinguishes Kenso for me, however, are both the incredible keys work of Kenichi Oguchi and Kenichi Mitsuda, along with the band’s ability to delve so easily into calmer and more sensitive territory as shown on the tracks “Anesthesia Part 2” and “Les Phases de la Lune II.” All around this is a band to be reckoned with and those who caught them live at this year’s Progfest were fortunate indeed.

by Paul Hightower, Published 2001-03-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 21, 2000 releases

Related artist(s): Kenso

 

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