History Music / Kansas

'''Kansas''' is an American ProgressiveRock band [[CaptainObvious from Topeka, Kansas.]] The band formed in 1973 and still tours in North America and Europe, though the lineup has changed over the years. They debuted with a SelfTitledAlbum in 1974 and have since become quite popular, becoming a staple on classic rock radio and having their songs played in movies and TV shows.

->"''Carry on my wayward son\\

Don't you cry no more''"
-->--'''Kansas''', "Carry On Wayward Son"

* GoneHorriblyRight

* WeirdMoon: The man on the front of the cover of ''Monolith'' has an ''enormous'' moon in the sky behind him.

* VocalEvolution: Steve Walsh's voice deteriorated significantly over the years, largely due to substance abuse and never having a vocal coach, to the point that many casual fans who listen to their newer work often question if it's the same vocalist. It only got worse over the years, too, and may have been a contributing factor to his retirement in 2014.

* GoneHorriblyRight: The final verse of "Death of Mother Nature Suite"; pollution is the side effect of all of man's wondrous advances in technology. The last two lines (as sung by Robby) are "The ignorance of man will reach an end/And now she's gonna die", the last line being the same line that ends the first two verses. However, if the lyrics as printed in the album are WordOfGod, then Kerry Livgren originally ended the verse with ''"Cause now we're gonna die"''.

** The second time happened in 1990, when a German promoter arranged for all the original members of Kansas to come together for a reunion tour. All of them except Robby Steinhardt came on for the tour, though Dave Hope left immediately following the tour and Kerry Livgren left soon after.

* {{Instrumentals}}: "The Spider" from ''The Point of Know Return'', "Musicatto" from ''Power'', "T.O. Witcher" from ''In The Spirit Of Things'', "Section 60" from ''The Prelude Implicit''

* MoodWhiplash: The second half of ''The Point of Know Return'' goes from regal yet tragic ("Closet Chronicles") to dark and intimidating ("Lightning's Hand") to soft and philosophical ("Dust in the Wind") to serious and cynical ("Sparks of the Tempest") to light and heartbreaking ("Nobody's Home") to experiential and introspective ("Hopelessly Human").

* TenMinuteRetirement: Not many people know that Steve Walsh actually briefly quit the band during the production of ''Point of Know Return'' on account of the immense amount of stress that came from trying to follow up the highly successful ''Leftoverture''. It didn't help that Steve had a creative slump during the production of ''Leftoverture'' and he was determined not to let it happen again. While his retirement lasted only a few days, it would plant the seeds of his much longer departure in 1981.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Freaks of Nature''. While the album does have a few songs that don't fit this trope, as a whole it's the darkest album that Kansas has ever produced. Special mention goes to the song "Black Fathom 4", which is the closest that the band has ever come to [[Main/ProgressiveMetal Progressive]] ''[[Main/ProgressiveMetal Metal]]'', featuring a rather epic guitar/violin duet capped off with a MetalScream by Steve Walsh. Even Kerry Livgren's contribution to the album, "Cold Grey Morning", is quite moody. Notably, this is the first studio album with a violin since ''Vinyl Confessions'', and the violin adds to, rather than detracts from, the album's mood.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Not many people know that Steve Walsh actually briefly quit the band during the production of ''Point of Know Return'' on account of the immense amount of stress that came from trying to follow up the highly successful ''Leftoverture''. While his retirement lasted only a few days, it would plant the seeds of his much longer departure in 1981.

** ''Leftoverture'', which featured many songs that had been left on the cutting room floor from the previous album. "Magnum Opus" is a song composed entirely of unused melodies, to the point that originally the song was to be named "Leftoverture."

* ''Leftoverture'', which featured many songs that had been left on the cutting room floor from the previous album. "Magnum Opus" is a song composed entirely of unused melodies, to the point that originally the song was to be named "Leftoverture."
* "The Voyage of Eight Eighteen", which is eight minutes and eighteen seconds long.

** Very few "Best Of" compilations acknowledge anything past ''Drastic Measures''. Some don't acknowledge the Elefante era either. This is also reflected in their live shows. Aside from "Icarus II" and songs from the recent ''The Prelude Implicit'', you'd be hard pressed to hear them play any song later than "Fight Fire With Fire".

* CoverVersion: "Bringing It Back"[[note]]By J.J. Cale[[/note]] on ''Kansas'', "[[Music/TheBeatles Eleanor Rigby]]"[[note]]By The Beatles[[/note]] on ''Always Never The Same''

* RevolvingDoorBand: An odd example where most of the band's members join, leave, rejoin, and releave. Most of the departures are amicable, as many former members contribute on some shows. The only two original members still in the band are drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams, though vocalist Steve Walsh has been with the band nearly as long, only having a brief departure from 1981-1986 and retiring in 2014. Bassist Billy Greer has also been with the band since 1986.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Very few "Best Of" compilations acknowledge anything past ''Drastic Measures''. Some don't acknowledge the Elefante era either. This is also reflected in their live shows. Aside from "Icarus II" and songs from the recent ''The Prelude Implicit'', you'd be hard pressed to hear them play any song later than "Fight Fire With Fire".

* VocalEvolution: Steve Walsh's voice deteriorated significantly over the years, largely due to never having a vocal coach, to the point that many casual fans who listen to their newer work often question if it's the same vocalist. It only got worse over the years, too, and may have been a contributing factor to his retirement in 2014.

* AscendedFanboy: John Elefante, who cited Steve Walsh, the man he was brought in to replace, as his inspiration.

* CoverVersion: "Bringing It Back"[[note]]By J.J. Cale[[/note]] on ''Kansas'', "T.O. Witcher"[[note]]By Dixie Dregs[[/note]] on ''In The Spirit Of Things'', "[[Music/TheBeatles Eleanor Rigby]]"[[note]]By The Beatles[[/note]] on ''Always Never The Same''

* AwardBaitSong: "It Takes A Woman's Love (To Make A Man)" was an ''attempt'' at this. Emphasis on "attempt". It actually came about as a result of ExecutiveMeddling from the owner of their record label Don Kirshner[[note]]Yes, [[Music/TheMonkees that]] Don Kirshner[[/note]], who kept pressuring the band for a number one hit. The problem is, they really didn't know what made a number one hit and tried to make something that sounded like what was popular at the time. Needless to say, it didn't even chart.

* AwardBaitSong: "It Takes A Woman's Love (To Make A Man)" was an ''attempt'' at this. Emphasis on "attempt". It actually came about as a result of ExecutiveMeddling from the owner of their record label Don Kirshner[[note]]Yes, [[TheMonkees that]] Don Kirshner[[/note]], who kept pressuring the band for a number one hit. The problem is, they really didn't know what made a number one hit and tried to make something that sounded like what was popular at the time. Needless to say, it didn't even chart.

* AwardBaitSong: "It Takes A Woman's Love (To Make A Man)" was an ''attempt'' at this. Emphasis on "attempt". It actually came about as a result of ExecutiveMeddling from the owner of their record label Don Kirschner[[note]]Yes, [[TheMonkees that]] Don Kirshner[[/note]], who kept pressuring the band for a number one hit. The problem is, they really didn't know what made a number one hit and tried to make something that sounded like what was popular at the time. Needless to say, it didn't even chart.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Freaks of Nature''. While the album does have a few songs that don't fit this trope, as a whole it's the darkest album that Kansas has ever produced. Special mention goes to the song "Black Fathom 4", which is the closest that the band has ever come to [[Main/ProgressiveMetal Progressive]] ''[[Main/ProgressiveMetal Metal]]'', featuring a rather epic guitar/violin duet capped off with a MetalScream by Steve Walsh. Notably, this is the first studio album with a violin since ''Vinyl Confessions'', and the violin adds to, rather than detracts from, the album's mood.