Editing Leftoverture (section)

== Reception ==
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/leftoverture-mw0000190455 |title=Kansas - Leftoverture review |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |accessdate=December 29, 2017 }}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2Score = D+<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: K|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=K&bk=70|accessdate=February 28, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
|rev3Score = 4/5<ref name="graff">{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=Gary |author-link=Gary Graff |url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter=Kansas: Leftoverture |location=Canton, Michigan |publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0787610371 |accessdate=December 29, 2017 |url-access=registration }}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name="Cross">{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Charles R.|author-link=Charles R. Cross|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=Kansas|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/446 446]}}</ref>
}}

The album was met with mixed reviews. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' called ''Leftoverture'' Kansas's best album to date, and said that it "warrants Kansas a spot right alongside [[Boston (band)|Boston]] and [[Styx (band)|Styx]] as one of the fresh new American bands who combine hard-driving group instrumentation (with a dearth of flashy solos) with short, tight melody lines and pleasant singing."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kansas/albums/album/122250/review/5940962/leftoverture |title=Album Reviews: Kansas - Leftoverture |last=Niester |first=Alan |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=January 27, 1977 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222101910/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kansas/albums/album/122250/review/5940962/leftoverture |archivedate=February 22, 2008 |accessdate=December 29, 2017 }}</ref> The magazine ''[[Playboy]]'' reviewed the album as "extremely strong" and lauded Kansas for representing "the solid, Midwestern values of our vast musical heartland."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Kansas: Leftoverture |magazine=[[Playboy]] |date=July 1977 |url=https://www.superseventies.com/kansas.html |accessdate=December 29, 2017 }}</ref> In contrast, [[Robert Christgau]] said the album lacked the intelligence and conviction of European progressive rock, and that the self-deprecating humor implied in the song and album titles is completely absent from the record itself.<ref name="CG"/>

More recently, [[AllMusic]]'s [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] wrote that the album contains "neither hooks nor true grandiosity to make it interesting" and, despite the great single "Carry On Wayward Son", the fact that Kansas "never manage to rival it anywhere on this record is as much a testament to their crippling ambition as their lack of skills."<ref name="allmusic"/> [[Gary Graff]] was more enthusiastic, finding ''Leftoverture'' to be "Kansas' breakthrough album and a thorough representation of its assorted musical sensibilities."<ref name="graff"/> ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' critic Matt Wardlaw considered "Carry On Wayward Son", "Magnum Opus", "The Wall", "What's on My Mind" and "Opus Insert" to be classics.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Wardlaw, Matt|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kansas-leftoverture/|title = 40 Years Ago: Kansas Carry on in a Big Way with 'Leftoverture'|accessdate=2023-01-24|date=October 21, 2016|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock}}</ref>  ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated "Carry On Wayward Son" as Kansas' greatest song and "The Wall" as Kansas' sixth greatest song.<ref name=ucr>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Kansas Songs|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kansas-songs/|author=Rivadavia, Eduardo|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|accessdate=2022-06-12|date=June 15, 2013}}</ref> 

''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated "The Wall" as Kansas' all-time best song, as well as rating "Carry On Wayward Son" number 2 and "Miracles Out of Nowhere" number 5.<ref>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Kansas Songs|author=Kachejian, Brian|date=September 26, 2022 |publisher=Classic Rock History|accessdate=2023-01-24|url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-kansas-songs/}}</ref>  ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' critic Dave Ling also ranked three songs from ''Leftoverture'' among Kansas' 10 best – "Magnum Opus", "Miracles Out of Nowhere" and "Carry On Wayward Son".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top 10 Best Kansas Songs|date=July 14, 2016|author=Ling, Dave|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock|accessdate=2023-01-24|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/too-10-best-kansas-songs}}</ref>

Ronnie Platt, who became Kansas' lead singer in 2014, rated three songs from ''Leftoverture'' as being among his 10 favorite Kansas songs – "Carry On Wayward Son", "The Wall" and "Miracles Out of Nowhere".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-kansas-songs-by-kansas-frontman-ronnie-platt|title=The 10 Best Kansas songs, by Kansas frontman Ronnie Platt|date=November 6, 2017|accessdate=2023-05-12|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock}}</ref>