The Absence of Presence

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The Absence of Presence
File:Kansas - The Absence of Presence.png
Studio album by
Kansas
ReleasedJuly 17, 2020 (2020-07-17)
Genre
Length47:21
LabelInside Out
ProducerZak Rizvi, Phil Ehart, Rich Williams
Kansas chronology
The Prelude Implicit
(2016) 		The Absence of Presence
(2020)
Singles from The Absence of Presence
  1. "Throwing Mountains"
    Released: April 3, 2020 (2020-04-03)
  2. "Memories Down The Line"
    Released: May 15, 2020 (2020-05-15)
  3. "Jets Overhead"
    Released: June 5, 2020 (2020-06-05)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[1]

The Absence of Presence is the sixteenth studio album by American progressive rock band Kansas. The album was originally due to be released on June 26, 2020,[2] but due to manufacturing delays the release date was postponed to July 17, 2020.[3] It is their fourth studio album without founding member, lead vocalist and keyboardist Steve Walsh, who retired from the band in 2014; the other three being 1982's Vinyl Confessions, 1983's Drastic Measures and 2016's The Prelude Implicit. It is Kansas' first album to feature keyboardist Tom Brislin, and the last to feature violinist David Ragsdale and bassist Billy Greer. Guitarist Zak Rizvi left the band in April 2021, nine months after the release of this album, but rejoined in 2024.

Background

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The Absence of Presence serves as a follow-up to The Prelude Implicit, but unlike that album, The Absence of Presence was written entirely by the band. The bulk of the songwriting duties were carried out by the band's newest members, Zak Rizvi (who wrote the music for 6 of the 9 songs) and Tom Brislin (who wrote the music for the other 3 songs, plus lyrics for 6 songs), with other lyric contributions by Ronnie Platt (2 songs) and founding member Phil Ehart (4 songs). Ehart also came up with the album title, as well as at least three of the song titles (the title track, "Throwing Mountains",[4] and "Animals on the Roof"), which gave Brislin a concept to work with. The Absence of Presence marks the debut lead vocal from Brislin, making the total number of lead vocalists in the band at three, a feature not seen since Somewhere to Elsewhere. The album's recording sessions took place simultaneously with the band's tour cycle.[5]

Track listing

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The Absence of Presence track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."The Absence of Presence"Tom Brislin,[6] Phil EhartZak Rizvi[6]8:22
2."Throwing Mountains"Brislin[6], EhartRizvi[6]6:18
3."Jets Overhead"Brislin[6]Rizvi[6]5:17
4."Propulsion 1"InstrumentalBrislin[4]2:17
5."Memories Down the Line"Brislin[6]Brislin[6]4:38
6."Circus of Illusion"Ronnie Platt[4]Rizvi5:19
7."Animals on the Roof"Brislin[6], EhartRizvi[6]5:12
8."Never"Platt[4], EhartRizvi4:50
9."The Song the River Sang"Brislin[6]Brislin[6]5:05
Total length:47:21

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart performance for The Absence of Presence
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] 34
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[8] 110
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9] 44
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 50
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 39
French Albums (SNEP)[12] 133
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 7
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[14] 37
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[15] 79
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] 39
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[17] 79
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 51
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 4
UK Progressive Albums (OCC)[20] 4
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[21] 2
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22] 32
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] 31
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[24] 12

References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Kansas – The Absence of Presence" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – Kansas – The Absence of Presence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Ultratop.be – Kansas – The Absence of Presence" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  10. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kansas – The Absence of Presence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "Kansas: The Absence of Presence" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  12. ^ "Lescharts.com – Kansas – The Absence of Presence". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kansas – The Absence of Presence" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 31. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  17. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Kansas – The Absence of Presence". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Kansas – The Absence of Presence". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Kansas – The Absence of Presence". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "Official Progressive Albums Chart Top 30". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  22. ^ "Kansas Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  23. ^ "Kansas Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  24. ^ "Kansas Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

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