1974 Record Was Just Ranked the 'Most Underrated Classic Rock Album' of All Time

Despite the popularity of the genre, classic rock still has plenty of hidden gems.Collider recently highlighted several classic rock albums that have been ignored.

On May 10, the publication shared a ranking of "the 10 most underrated classic rock albums of all time," spotlighting records like Aerosmith's Get Your Wings (1974), Sabotage by Black Sabbath, released in 1975, and The Doors' Strange Days from 1967. According to Collider, Kansas' 1974 record, Kansas, with its tracks like "Can I Tell You" and "Bringing It Back," deserves the title of the "most underrated classic rock album" ever recorded.

Kansas' Arguably Most Famous Track is Off Their 1976 Album, 'Leftoverture'

As referenced by Collider, Kansas began receiving mainstream success after the band released the hit "Carry on My Wayward Son" off their 1976 album, Leftoverture. Members of Kansas discussed their 1976 classic song in the 2015 documentary, Miracles Out of Nowhere. Kansas' drummer, Phil Ehart, shared that guitarist, Kerry Livgren, approached his bandmates with "Carry on My Wayward Son" after they finished rehearsing Leftoverture before recording.

"We rehearsed Leftoverture. We got all the songs done. We're packing up our gear. I mean, I remember breaking down my drumset. And he walks over and he goes, 'Hey man, I've got another song," said the drummer. "Not, only is it the miracle developing this song, as a songwriter, no one even knows where it's coming from. But at the last minute, he brings out the first breakout song that we've been needing."

In the documentary, Livgren recalled that he and his bandmates were immediately impressed with the song.

"The night before, the last day of rehearsal, I went home, and I wrote this song called 'Carry on My Wayward Son.' I sat down at the guitar and out it came. And one note led to the next note. It just had a magical feel to it," said the prog rock musician, now 76. "We knew something was different about the sound. And we sat back and listened to that first chorus and we just looked at each other and thought, this is another order of magnitude of anything we've ever had."

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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 2:28 PM.