| Artist | Kansas |
|---|---|
| Studio | 16 |
| Live | 7 |
| Compilation | 9 |
| Music videos | 17 |
| Singles | 29 |
The discography of Kansas, an American rock band, consists of 16 studio albums, seven live albums, nine compilation albums, and 29 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.
After the release of two albums in 1975, including Masque (which eventually sold half a million copies in the United States after the group scored hit singles with later releases), 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".[1] 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.
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 returned to the studio seven years later for the Freaks of Nature album (1995) on Intersound Records.[1] In 1998, Always Never the Same was released on River North Records, followed by Somewhere to Elsewhere in 2000 on Magna Carta Records. Lineup changes in 2014 motivated a return to the studio which led to the release of The Prelude Implicit in 2016 and The Absence of Presence in 2020.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Kansas have sold 15.5 million physical records as well as scoring RIAA awards for digital sales of their biggest singles.[2]
Albums
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] | AUS [4] | CAN [5] | SWE [6] | ||||||
| 1974 |
| 174 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1975 |
| 57 | — | — | — |
| |||
| 70 | — | — | — |
| ||||
| 1976 |
| 5 | 68 | 2 | — | ||||
| 1977 |
| 4 | 52 | 7 | — | ||||
| 1979 |
| 10 | 69 | 18 | 27 | ||||
| 1980 |
| 26 | — | 96 | 35 |
| |||
| 1982 |
| 16 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1983 |
| 41 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1986 |
| 35 | — | 93 | — | ||||
| 1988 |
| 114 | — | — | — | ||||
| 1995 |
| — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1998 |
| — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2000 |
| — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2016 |
| 41 | — | — | 59 [9] | ||||
| 2020 |
| — | — | — | 51 | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
| Source:[10] | |||||||||
Live albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] | AUS [4] | CAN [5] | |||||||
| 1978 |
| 32 | 95 | 29 |
| ||||
| 1992 |
| — | — | — | |||||
| 1998 | King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Kansas
| — | — | — | |||||
| 2001 |
| — | — | — | |||||
| 2002 |
| — | — | — | |||||
| 2009 |
| — | — | — | |||||
| 2017 | Leftoverture: Live and Beyond
| 20 (rock sales) | — | — | |||||
| 2021 | Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond [11]
| 53 (current album sales) | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details | Peak positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] | CAN [5] | ||||||||
| 1984 |
| 154 | 86 |
| |||||
| 1992 |
| — | — | ||||||
| 1994 |
| — | — | ||||||
| 2002 |
| — | — | ||||||
| 2004 | Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection
| — | — | ||||||
| 2005 |
| — | — | ||||||
| 2006 |
| — | — | ||||||
| 2008 | Playlist: The Very Best of Kansas
| — | — | ||||||
| 2015 | Miracles Out of Nowhere
| 68 | — | ||||||
| 2022 | Another Fork In The Road - 50 Years Of Kansas
| — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [12] | US Main [13] | US AC [14] | CAN [15] | CAN AC [16] | AUS [4] | UK [17] | |||||
| 1974 | "Can I Tell You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Kansas | ||
| 1975 | "Lonely Wind" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Song for America" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Song for America | |||
| 1976 | "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Masque | ||
| "Carry On Wayward Son" | 11 | — | — | 5 | — | 58 | 51 | Leftoverture | |||
| 1977 | "What's on My Mind" | — | — | — | 89 | — | — | — | |||
| "Point of Know Return" | 28 | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | Point of Know Return | |||
| 1978 | "Dust in the Wind" | 6 | — | 6 | 3 | 1 | 52 | — | |||
| "Portrait (He Knew)" | 64 | — | 62 | — | — | — | |||||
| 1979 | "Lonely Wind" (live) | 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 | ||
| "Chasing Shadows" [airplay] | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Right Away" | 73 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | "Fight Fire With Fire" | 58 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 116 | Drastic Measures | ||
| "Everybody's My Friend" | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | "Perfect Lover" [airplay] | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of Kansas | ||
| 1986 | "All I Wanted" | 19 | 10 | 14 | 75 | 29 | — | 187 | 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 |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | "Carry on Wayward Son" | |
| 1977 | "Point of Know Return" | |
| 1978 | "Dust in the Wind" | Bruce Gowers |
| 1979 | "On the Other Side" | |
| "People of the South Wind" | Arnold Levine | |
| "Away From You" | ||
| "Reason to Be" | ||
| 1982 | "Windows" | |
| "Play the Game Tonight" | Mark Stimson | |
| 1983 | "Fight Fire with Fire" | Dominic Orlando |
| 1984 | "Everybody's My Friend" | Dominic Orlando |
| "Best of Kansas (Medley)" | Ed Pacio | |
| 1986 | "All I Wanted" | |
| 1987 | "Can't Cry Anymore" | James Yukich |
| 1988 | "Stand Beside Me" | Michael Patterson Candace Reckinger |
| 2017 | "Rhythm in the Spirit" | Steven C. Knapp |
| 2020 | "Throwing Mountains" |
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Certified Awards Search
- ^ "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".
- ^ "INSIDE OUT MUSIC - Kansas: : Launch 'Carry On Wayward Son' from 'Leftoverture Live & Beyond'". www.insideoutmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-05.
- ^ "Kansas Announces Live Concert Album Point of Know Return Live & Beyond to be Released May 28"
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
- ^ "Kansas". Official Charts Company.
- ^ Retrieved March 20, 2024.
- ^ Retrieved August 27, 2023.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 02, 2010: Kansas certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-06-02.