Which Chicago album do you stop at?

Probably their best album.

 

For me, the first two are the very best. I have the studio albums through VI and the Greatest Hits.

 

They purposefully stopped trying to do anything but make hits sometime around VI. Notice how few songs after III are Part 1/Part 2 singles?

That said, they have some decent Top 40 material for the time -

Baby What Big Surprise is my guilty pleasure.

 

Alive Again

 

I always thought Cetera was under-appreciated as a bass player. So fluid.

 

Other than Free Form Guitar, the whole album is remarkable. I hope you will enjoy it






;0

 

He was very good -- added melody and personality to some songs in need of them. He reminded me of the Doobie Brothers' Tiran Porter in that respect.

 

x

After that one, I lost interest in them.

VIII was mediocre, but X did it in.

 

I like Chicago's music up to and including the song "If You Leave Me Now", whatever album that song was on. I have a few albums by them but have not listened to them in a long time. I guess the Terry Kath years would sum it up for me.

 

CTA through VII for me.... VIII and X had some really good songs but also some below par by their previous standards. XI was much better and then... The tragic loss of Terry Kath and the split with Guercio were events from which it seemed they never truly recovered.

That said, the amount of excellent music in those early years (including 4 double albums and a 4 record live album) represents a great run.

 

I have all of their studio albums. Got into the band in high school with 16/17/18, then got curious and bought CTA & 2 when CDs first came out. Wow! I was blown away by both of those records, and still am. Initially I didn't like III, but the more I listen to it the more I like it. I'm very fond of everything through VII, still giving VIII through XI a chance to grow on me a bit. Have to admit that although I like the later band okay, I spend most of my time on the early stuff.

In my collection of audiophile material - the DVD-A's of II & V are terrific, and the SACD of VI is very good as well. Love the Quad of CTA on DVD as well from Rhino. While not audiophile quality, the job that Rhino did on the Carnegie Hall CD Set was excellent. But my best quality Chicago CD set is easily Group Portrait. Great song list with outstanding mastering - a must have for anyone who wants essential Chicago without collecting all 14 Columbia albums.

I really need to get Live in Japan before it goes out of print again. I think I'll order it tonight...

 

Once Terry Kath was gone and Jim Guercio was no longer producing I lost interest.

 

I've got em all but I rarely listen to anything after Terry's last one (XI).

 

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No kidding.... I bought the Carnegie Hall box when it was originally released in 1971 and always loved the performances, the extended jams, the whole sprawling thing. The Rhino remastered/expanded set was a major positive surprise, including the packaging. Well worth a listen if you like the band's early career. I have always been a fan of a Chicago III as well.

The SACD of Chicago V is excellent as well.

 

My collection stops at VII.

I also own the 2-CD Only the Beginning comp, which covers any of the latter-day material I have any interest in hearing.

 

Call me crazy, but I really loved the song "Hard Habit to Break" from Chicago 17. Good song. I think Chicago was one of those groups that had a lot of peaks and valleys, flop hits, terrible albums, great albums, and huge hits... an uneven career. But I think both Cetera and Chicago suffered when they split up.

Interesting to reflect that replacement singer Jason Scheff has been with the group longer than Cetera was.

 

None...just never cared for them

 

Chicago Transit Authority
Great album!

 

I love that whole album, even though it wasn't fashionable even then to like it. And that is a terrific song.

I bought 16-18 when they came out, went back and picked up the early GH (was that IX?) and then sort of lost interest in the band when I went off to college. Interestingly my brother gave me the cassette for 19, which he won from a local radio station, and he knew I liked the band.

In recent years I've picked up some of the early material including Carnegie Hall, but also have not bought Live in Japan yet. I remember seeing that title at Best Buy in the late 90s for something like $50 on import!!

 

I hope I'm not the only person here who hates the sound of Chicago II. So flat and mid-rangy, especially after the excellent sound on Chicago Transit Authority. Has anyone here read/heard an explanation for why it sounds the way it does?

Thanks.

 

The DVD-A is a huge improvement.
I had no idea that there was acoustic guitar buried in the mix on 25 or 6 to 4!

 

I bought CTA, II & III when they were released. I was disappointed with III. That's as far as I went with them.

 

I would like to remark that Free Form Guitar is also remarkable...

 

Stopped at VII. Couldn't get into "Harry Truman" on VIII (too pop), so skipped buying that LP. And I already had everything in the Greatest Hits album that followed, so I skipped that one as well. And I've passed on everything since. I miss the experimentation found on the earlier albums