Kansas – The Best Of Kansas

The Best of Kansas stands as the inaugural compilation by the American progressive rock band Kansas, originally released in 1984. Noteworthy for its inclusion of the new track "Perfect Lover," composed by then-lead vocalist John Elefante and his brother Dino Elefante, the album showcased a curated selection of the band's iconic hits such as "Carry on Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind."  

In 1999, the compilation underwent a reissue under the supervision of the original band members. This version saw the exclusion of "Perfect Lover" but introduced three additional tracks from the original lineup: "The Pinnacle" from Masque, "The Devil Game" from Song for America, and a live track originally deleted from the CD version of Two for the Show called "Closet Chronicles," originally from Point of Know Return.

The album's Billboard performance saw it reach No. 154 on the Billboard 200 chart. With over 4 million copies sold in the United States, "The Best of Kansas" achieved quadruple platinum certification in 2001.

Notably, the 1984 release featured remixed versions of "Carry On Wayward Son" and "The Wall" by Kerry Livgren, unique to this collection. However, the 1999 reissue opted for the original 1976 mixes from the album Leftoverture. The removal of "Perfect Lover" from subsequent releases made the track out of print in the United States. The original track listing and mixes were eventually restored for the 2014 180-gram vinyl release of the album by Friday Music, with a subsequent red vinyl edition released a few years later.

Tracklist