[3] Steve Walsh began to experience writer's block prior to the recording, and his contribution to the album would ultimately be limited to co-authoring three songs; it fell on Kerry Livgren to fill the void.

"[10] The magazine Playboy reviewed the album as "extremely strong" and lauded Kansas for representing "the solid, Midwestern values of our vast musical heartland.

[7] 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.

"[6] Gary Graff was more enthusiastic, finding Leftoverture to be "Kansas' breakthrough album and a thorough representation of its assorted musical sensibilities.

[14] 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".