Kansas discography
The discography of Kansas, an American rock band, consists of sixteen studio albums, seven live albums, nine compilation albums, and twenty-nine singles. Formed by members Kerry Livgren, Robby Steinhardt, Dave Hope, Phil Ehart, Steve Walsh, and Rich Williams, the group signed a recording contract with Kirshner Records in 1974. That same year they released their self-titled debut album.[1]
| Kansas discography | |
|---|---|
 Kansas in 2008. | |
| Studio albums | 16 |
| Live albums | 7 |
| Compilation albums | 9 |
| Singles | 29 |
After the release of two albums in 1975, including Masque (which sold half a million copies in the United States), the group released Leftoverture in October 1976. The album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Carry On Wayward Son", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, leading the album to sell over five million copies in the United States. The following year, their fifth album Point of Know Return was issued and certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America; it spawned the Top 10 single "Dust in the Wind".[2] After the release of a live album, the group sixth studio release Monolith was issued in 1979, which spawned two singles. Audio-Visions was released in 1980 and certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Their eighth studio album Vinyl Confessions contained the single "Play the Game Tonight", which became their first Top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in four years; however, the album itself did not sell well. Eventually, after the release of a ninth studio album in 1983, the group disbanded.[1]
Kansas reformed again in 1985 and released the studio album Power in 1986 on MCA Records, whose single "All I Wanted" reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. After the release of another album in 1988, the group reunited seven years later for the Freaks of Nature album (1995) on Intersound Records.[2] In 1998, Always Never the Same was released on River North Records,[1] followed by Somewhere to Elsewhere in 2000 on Magna Carta Records. Another studio album, The Prelude Implicit, appeared in 2016.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Kansas have sold 15.5 million records.[3]
Albums
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
AUS [5] |
CAN [6] |
SWE [7] | ||||||
| 1974 | Kansas
|
174 | — | — | — | US: Gold[8] | |||
| 1975 | Song for America
|
57 | — | — | — | US: Gold[8] | |||
Masque
|
70 | — | — | — | US: Gold[8] | ||||
| 1976 | Leftoverture
|
5 | 68 | 2 | — | US: 4× Platinum[8] | |||
| 1977 | Point of Know Return
|
4 | 52 | 7 | — | US: 4× Platinum[8] | |||
| 1979 | Monolith
|
10 | 69 | 18 | 27 | US: Gold[8] | |||
| 1980 | Audio-Visions
|
26 | — | 96 | 35 | US: Gold[8] | |||
| 1982 | Vinyl Confessions
|
16 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | Drastic Measures
|
41 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1986 | Power
|
35 | — | 93 | — | ||||
| 1988 | In the Spirit of Things
|
114 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | Freaks of Nature
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| 1998 | Always Never the Same
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | Somewhere to Elsewhere
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | The Prelude Implicit
|
41 | — | — | 59 [9] |
||||
| 2020 | The Absence of Presence
|
— | — | — | 51 | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Source:[10] | |||||||||
Live albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
AUS [5] |
CAN [6] | |||||||
| 1978 | Two for the Show
|
32 | 95 | 29 | US: Platinum[8] | ||||
| 1992 | Live at the Whisky
|
— | — | — | |||||
| 1998 | King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Kansas
|
— | — | — | |||||
| 2001 | Dust in the Wind
|
— | — | — | |||||
| 2002 | Device - Voice - Drum
|
— | — | — | |||||
| 2009 | There's Know Place Like Home
|
— | — | — | |||||
| 2017 | Leftoverture: Live and Beyond
|
20 (rock sales) | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
CAN [6] | ||||||||
| 1984 | The Best of Kansas
|
154 | 86 | US: 4× Platinum[8] | |||||
| 1992 | Carry On
|
— | — | ||||||
| 1994 | The Kansas Boxed Set
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2002 | The Ultimate Kansas
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2004 | Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2005 | On the Other Side
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2006 | Works in Progress
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2008 | Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas
|
— | — | ||||||
| 2015 | Miracles Out of Nowhere
|
68 | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [11] |
AUS [5] |
US Main [12] |
US AC [13] |
CAN [14] |
NZ [15] |
UK [16] | ||||
| 1974 | "Can I Tell You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Kansas | |
| 1975 | "Bringing It Back" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Song for America" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Song for America | ||
| 1976 | "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Masque | |
| "Carry On Wayward Son" | 11 | 58 | — | — | 5 | — | 51 | US: 4× Platinum[17] | Leftoverture | |
| 1977 | "What's on My Mind" | — | — | — | — | 89 | — | — | ||
| "Point of Know Return" | 28 | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | Point of Know Return | ||
| 1978 | "Dust in the Wind" | 6 | 52 | — | 6 | 3 | 36 | — | US: 3× Platinum[17] | |
| "Portrait (He Knew)" | 64 | — | — | 62 | — | — | ||||
| 1979 | "Lonely Wind" | 60 | — | — | — | 62 | — | — | Two for the Show | |
| "People of the South Wind" | 23 | — | — | — | 59 | — | — | Monolith | ||
| "Reason to Be" | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1980 | "Hold On" | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Audio-Visions | |
| "Got to Rock On" | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1982 | "Play the Game Tonight" | 17 | — | 4 | — | 35 | — | — | Vinyl Confessions | |
| "Right Away" | 73 | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Chasing Shadows" | — | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1983 | "Fight Fire With Fire" | 58 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | Drastic Measures | |
| "Everybody's My Friend" | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1984 | "Perfect Lover" | — | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | The Best of Kansas | |
| 1986 | "All I Wanted" | 19 | — | 10 | 14 | 75 | — | — | Power | |
| 1987 | "Power" | 84 | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Can't Cry Anymore" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1988 | "Stand Beside Me" | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | In the Spirit of Things | |
| 1995 | "Desperate Times" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Freaks of Nature | |
| "Hope Once Again" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2020 | "Throwing Mountains" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Absence of Presence | |
| "Memories Down The Line" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Jets Overhead" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
Other album appearances
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "The Light" | Sounds Like Christmas |
References
- Brennan, Carol. "Kansas Biography". Musician Guide.
- Ankeny, Jason. "Kansas > Biography". Allmusic.
- "Top-Selling Music Artists". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25.
- "Kansas Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 164. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Top Albums/CDs". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal: Kansas albums". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 02, 2010: Kansas certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved September 30, 2016. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
- http://www.insideoutmusic.com/newsdetailed.aspx?IdNews=22049&IdCompany=8
- "Kansas Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- "Kansas Chart History: Mainstream Rock Songs". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- "Kansas Chart History: Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- "charts.nz - New Zealand charts portal: Kansas singles". charts.nz. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
- "Kansas". Official Charts Company.
- "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 02, 2010: Kansas certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-06-02.