STEVE WALSH – Black Butterfly (2017)

As the former lead vocalist and keyboard player for the classic American prog band Kansas, STEVE WALSH is the voice behind the hits “Carry On My Wayward Son”, “Point Of No Return”, “Dust In The Wind” and “All I Wanted”. As a songwriter Steve is well known for penning classic tunes and his wide range of musical influences can be heard on his previous solo releases as well as the melodic rock / AOR band Streets. He has also contributed his vocal talents to more than a dozen projects by other artists covering a variety of musical genres.
“Black Butterfly” is Walsh’s last solo album, joined by Tommy Denander who co-wrote the majority of the songs (and produced), and FM’s Steve Overland adds backing vocals.

Another notable on the album is vocalist Jerome Mazza, who was once of Christian rockers Angelica (a band well worth tracking down). He takes lead vocals on three songs and duets with Steve Walsh on the storming opener ‘Born In Fire’. Vocally he is not that different from Steve Walsh at times and both vocalists complement each other well.
A Mike Slamer ound/feel can be heard on ‘Grace And Nature’, while ‘The Piper’ (also recorded by Denander’s project Radioactive) is the closet to the progressive rock of Kansas, building nicely to a strong chorus. This song, along with all the others on here, features a sizzling guitar solo from Denander.
Overall though the album sounds like a mix of Streets and Steve Walsh’s previous albums.

Interesting to hear modern, almost dance beats/effects added to a couple of songs notably ‘Warsaw’. Bit of social commentary on ‘Billy Carbone Dead’, showing how we focus on politicians/celebrity news and not on the more important issues that the media forgo in lieu of reporting what they think we want to read.
Great keys on this one and a bizarre vocal passage midway through – grab your headphones for this one. One of the stand out songs on here and wouldn’t look out of place on Kansas’s excellent ‘In The Spirit Of Things’ album.

‘Nothing But Nothing’ adds a little pomp to the proceedings, none more so than on the harmony vocal overload on the song’s outro, wonderful on the ears.
‘Black Butterfly’ marks a triumphant return to the recording studio for Steve Walsh and even if he doesn’t want to tour again, we can enjoy the music on here. Hopefully there will be more music after this CD.
HIGHLY Recommended

01 – Born in Fire (feat. Jerome Mazza)
02 – The Piper
03 – Grace and Nature
04 – Dear Kolinda
05 – Winds of War (feat. Jerome Mazza)
06 – Tanglewood Tree
07 – Now Until Forever (feat. Jerome Mazza)
08 – Warsaw
09 – Nothing but Nothing
10 – Hell or High Water
11 – Mercy on Me (feat. Jerome Mazza)
12 – Billy Carborne Is Dead

Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Piano – Steve Walsh
Lead Vocals – Jerome Mazza
Guitar, Keyboards – Tommy Denander
Drums, Percussion – Peter Yttergren
Backing Vocals – Steve Overland

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