Leftoverture (studio album) by Kansas

From Jboy56 08/08/2023 12:19

The Wall is great, but this album is very versatile in the genre spread it offers.

Album Rating: 68.13
(545/8)


1.Carry On Wayward Son. 78
2.The Wall. 68
3.What's On My Mind. 67
4.Miracles Out Of Nowhere. 76
5.Opus Insert. 49
6.Questions Of My Childhood. 61
7.Cheyenne Anthem. 74
8.Magnum Opus. 72

America weren't known for the birth of progressive rock bands. This mid-seventies masterpiece will sit happily in any prog chart. Love the vocal harmonies and general musicianship. The album is bound within an amazing very prog sleeve which if you didn't know better would hint towards a British band.

An album that is known for that one big track but there are some hidden gems on here which are very creative and enjoyable. A few examples of this is The Wall and Miracles Out Of Nowhere. Instrumentally, it is very diverse and experimental with the use of the synths being most effective in making the album sound unique amongst the competition. The organ and piano are brilliant as well and create some intelligent layering that gives you a lot to relisten to when you come back to this album. The vocal is very strong and the lyrics are fun to explore as well. However, the second half is quite weak and is lacking the infectiousness the first half possessed. I think it is due to the choruses and instrumentation which is a bit lacklustre and repetitive by that point. Also, a few songs are unnecessarily stretched out for my liking. Overall, if you love great vocal performances and diverse instrumentation then this is a fantastic album for you.

Very good album, loved the vocal and complicity between both singers on a lot of track. Great prog album.

Great Album with a lot of 70s classics of that amazing band

From AndrewJFisher 04/16/2019 07:26

I rate Kansas above the "usual suspects" of a top 10 prog. bands list i.e British bands like Floyd, Genesis, Jethro, Yes...I prefer their first album to most of the others, but this one would be in my second place alongside some of their other '70s albums. So most of this album is composed by Kerry Livgren, I have to admit that overall I like his songs better than Steve Walsh's, though Steve wrote and contributed to some great ones too. I think the songs on Leftoverture range from good to great. Besides being prog. rock, it's also part heavy metal and even a little bit synth-pop("Questions of My Childhood"). My favourite is "Miracles Out of Nowhere", great synthesizer opening and heavy metal outro.

This classic album brought Kansas’ music to the masses. While not my personal favorite of their works, it is nonetheless sublime. Add on top of the music, the album artwork is fantastic. Kansas’ music, like most prof, is complicated and difficult to “find a beat” with changing time
signatures, but between Steve Walsh’s amazing lead vocals supported by Robbie Steinhart’s harmonies (and sometime leads as well as of course his violin), and Kerry Livgren’s amazing song writing (READ the lyrics), you just cant beat this band.

A masterpiece of american progressive rock. A band in his highest creative point

From Fischman 11/01/2016 20:40

My #1 Album of 1976. Epic songs, outstanding musicianship, excellent variety--it has just about everything going for it. Not a weak song in the bunch--no need ever to skip a single track.