Like you have only recently begun to pay attention to Kansas, I actually see them as a fusion of Rush and Styx with maybe a hint of Uriah Heep.
It’s kind of crazy, to look at them they seem like they should be southern rock but the intricacies of the songs is just mind blowing, especially considering 6 musicians had to be in perfect sync.
The inclusion of violin is as iconic as Ian Anderson’s flute in Tull. It stuns me that this band were never more highly rated, their ability to seamlessly go from shorter rock/boogie songs to epic prog masterpieces is insane.
I am currently poised to purchase 4 of their albums on vinyl. At the moment I only have Two For The Show, Song For America and Audio Visions. Can’t wait to get all the pre ‘78 LPs and indulge.