Kansas in the top 100

Xonty wrote: Stool Man wrote: I'm one of those people who don't consider Kansas to be prog at all. Same here. Also, I don't see how it's lower than albums like Trespass in the Symphonic Prog section but higher in the overall. Is it a slightly different rating system to include all the genres?

It has to do with the number of albums involved.  Obviously, there are more albums in the entire database than there are in one sub-genre.  The number of entries affects the "query weighted rating" (different from the regular rating) of the album, which then affects its place on the chart.  Chart rankings are calculated by a weighted average.

That's why it's easier for a Progressive Electronic album to break the top 20 of that sub-genre than it is for a Symphonic album to do so, but both of these albums would have to compete against ALL the albums on the site for the homepage list.

Leftoverture has a QWR of 4.1816 when looking at all albums, while Trespass has 4.1535 (one place below Ashes Are Burning even).  However, when focusing only on symphonic albums, Trespass has a 4.1262 while Leftoverture has 4.1198 (just one place above Ashes Are Burning).

Stool Man wrote: I'm one of those people who don't consider Kansas to be prog at all.

Stool Man wrote: Looking at the Top 250, there are many albums that some might find surprising to be outside the Top 100 (for example "Songs From The Wood", "Phaedra", "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night", "Brain Salad Surgery" etc). But obviously the Top 100 albums can only include one hundred albums, regardless of subgenre, decade, or where the band is from.  There are over fortysix thousand albums listed on PA, so less than 0.25% of them can be in the Top 100 at any time.

This. Personally, I don't agree with many of the albums that are currently part of the Top 100, but that's democracy for you. Obviously, if ratings are taken into account, it is not surprising to see a non-prog album (though a masterpiece by every other name) such as Miles Davis' Kind of Blue rank very high in the Top 100. That being said, I don't think Leftoverture's inclusion in the Top 100 is any more puzzling than that of quite a few other albums.

Looking at the Top 250, there are many albums that some might find surprising to be outside the Top 100 (for example "Songs From The Wood", "Phaedra", "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night", "Brain Salad Surgery" etc).
But obviously the Top 100 albums can only include one hundred albums, regardless of subgenre, decade, or where the band is from. 
There are over fortysix thousand albums listed on PA, so less than 0.25% of them can be in the Top 100 at any time.

I'm one of those people who don't consider Kansas to be prog at all.

I voted for the bottom option. I like some Kansas albums but none are better than 4 stars for me. My favourite is probably the very late in the day Somewhere To Elsewhere. A band that are much better in the live arena imo.

If that Dream Theater crap is on the top 100, why not the good old Kansas?

The Truth wrote: ClemofNazareth wrote: When I joined PA 'Leftoverture' and 'Point of Know Return' were both in the Top 100 and 'Song for America' was bubbling a bit under.   Sure, I'd like to see those three as well as 'Masque' and 'Somewhere to Elsewhere', and even the reconstructed first Proto-Kaw in the Top 100.  But ultimately that's up to the 50,000+ global membership to decide with their reviews and ratings, and aside from Zappa and Miles Davis most American artists tend to be somewhat discounted by large portions of our membership.   Never tried the Proto-Kaw stuff, you would recommend it?

Kansas are easily one of the best prog rock bands ever !!! very few prog bands come close (listen to Magnum Opus, Cheyenne Anthem, Miracles out of Nowhere ...  etc ) ... top 100 is a complete insult and shows us how musically illiterate most people on prog archives really are.  One of the main reasons I don't visit this site that often is members tend to hold  crap up as God  and God up as crap , it gets a bit much in the end ...     Here is proof of my theory Voyage Of The Acolyte  98 ? anybody who knows anything about prog knows this Steve Hackett album is probably better than anything Genesis ever released or up there with their best ??? 98 ? its some kind of joke I`m telling you !  The top hundred list is  Kmart prog  .. the type of prog you find in Kmart its really not indicative of the true nature of things and how real prog heads feel ....  Kansas were 80% full progressive rock in the 70's Kansas also got voted Best AOR song of all time with Carry on wayward son .. which makes Kansas  head and shoulders above most bands on this site. The diversity of Kansas and their spirit is really what prog is all about , they simply  refused to conform with the Kmart fads , Don Kirshner loved that about them  ... All Hail - Livgren , Walsh , Steinhardt , Ehart , Williams , Hope or be trapped in your small world of Kmart prog forever !

and my last snide  remark .. Kansas eats Camel for dinner how Camel is above Kansas is staggering !  theres not a single strength Camel has on Kansas in any area ... its just really weird , Something against American prog is all I can put it down to, which is really silly.  


Edited by Enchant X - February 08 2015 at 01:14

Their best imo and certainly deserves to be in the top-100, perhaps along with Point of Know Return