Kansas: ‘Masque Is A Kind of Metamorphosis’

Released in September 1975, Masque was described as a “concept album” in the liner notes. If you liked Kansas, you liked this album although I knew a few people who bought Masque just for the album cover art. It’s a portrait made with fish, eels, rays, shells, turtles and coral. “It amazes me how Masque is a favorite for so many Kansas fans” drummer Phil Ehart said in the book, ‘Mountains Come Out of the Sky.’ “[The album] sounds odd. It has a dark cover. It was a record we came off the road [to record], did in a hurry, went back on the road in a hurry. It has real light and poppy songs like ‘Two Cents Worth’ and ‘It Takes a Woman’s Love’ and yet also ‘The Pinnacle’ and ‘Mysteries and Mayhem.’ To me, Masque is a kind of metamorphosis. We were in a cocoon – a [caterpillar] changing into a butterfly, if you will.”

Raquel R., YouTube