Oh, I like the original mix too. The horns were squashed in the mix, sounding like kazoos. The remixes bonus tracks don't like that
I can't understand when people say 'I stopped after certain album' You may not listen to certain albums as much, but at least you acknowledge them. To add the group to my collection, I need to be able to embrace them as a whole (all eras). Sorry for the rant (carry on) Darryl
'If you leave me now' still sounds divine after all these years. There's a song, 'You come to my senses' from 1991 that I'm very fond of.
I heard the scheff songs on the radio then and I didn't like them. I hear them on the radio and Music Choice now and I don't like them now, so I choose not to buy them. I only buy every album by certain artists who are my absolute favourites. You have your way which is totally cool and I have mine
It's really hard to pick off one element. They all worked as a group. The parts equal the sum. Since this is a forum filled with guitar rock fans, naturally, there is a tendency for most to focus on Terry Kath, but there is just no way to make him the most important component.
I agree with you that the collective efforts of the original band is greater than the sum of each individual band member's contribution.. but if it weren't for Terry Kath's great guitar playing, Chicago would probably be just another rock-jazz or brass rock group with two or three great songwriters
Robert Lamm said in many interviews that they were a "creative community". I think the original quote came from James Guercio. There is no doubt though that the great Terry Kath made them exceptional and unique.
That's what i'm saying: I think you're wrong. To say what you did is elevating Kath to a status within the band that he doesn't deserve. To say what you did marginalizes the other parts of the machine. Kath may have been the heart and soul of the members, but he wasn't the heart and soul of the music. Try this: without the horn section, Chicago would have just been another rock band. See how that works? Without Danny seraphine, Chicago would have just been another jazz-rock band with two or three great songwriters. Are you getting it? There's a reason the band, to this day, still wants Peter Cetera back playing and singing. Not only is he a definitive vocalist within the band, but an outstanding bassist. He is another critical component of that classic Chicago sound. Again, my argument is that you just can't put one member, or his instrument forward and say he made their sound. One more time: I know people on this forum tend to focus on guitar, but music does not begin or end with it.
I'm not trying to elevate Kath above the other six or seven members. I already stated that each original member contribution to the overall sound of the band was as important but the sudden death of Kath was a big blow to the band's overall sound and somehow affected the balance that have kept Chicago a well rounded music making machine for almost a decade from 1969-1977. We cannot deny the fact that the band's music and album sales have declined in quality and sales after they lost Terry Kath. Time have proven that there's no other guitarists can fill his role as the band's lone guitarist, as vocalist with distinctive baritone voice, as a songwriting contributor and to a lesser degree as their stage leader when performing live. The impact of his unexpected death has devastated the band and even the band members themselves admitted it. Of course, there were other factors that have contributed to the band's decline post 1977 such as the changing music landscape in the late 70's with the increasing popularity of disco and the arrival of new wave and punk music and also losing their mentor and producer James William Guercio who guided them had contributed but of all these contributing factors, Kath's death had the most immediate impact on the band's chemistry and synergy. Some would argue that the band's quality of music had already begun to suffer after 1975 but I don't buy that argument. The band's music (1975-1977) did not stale a bit and in fact continued to remain as good as the earlier albums but only different due to the increasing contributions from other members. I don't think the impact to the band's music would be as strong if they lost Parazaider or Laudir.
I'm a big fan of Chicago. You're The Inspiration, If You Leave Me Now, Flight 602 and 25 Or 6 To 4 is my favourite songs.
I still disagree with you. Why? I think you, and everyone else has forgotten that one little piece of the classic Chicago puzzle: James William Guercio, their producer and manager from 1967-1977. He was the one who harnessed all that raw talent into a hit-record monster. He helped shape their sound.
I don't understand why you are still arguing with me when I mentioned from the get-go that I was agreeing with some of your points. I don't think you are reading every word in my response. I did mention their mentor and producer James William Guercio in my response to your post as one of the major factors why the band's synergy and music as a whole have suffered tremendously after the band parted ways with him. You just actually repeated what I written in my response.
Ok...so I'm just now getting into this group. They are one of the most successful groups with great longevity on the Hot 100. 'Saturday In The Park' I heard yesterday and I looked up their chart history (I always do this) and have been listening to the hits thus far. I love their harmonies. They were also inducted into The Rock Hall just last year...wow.
I'm not arguing. I'm presenting food for thought for anyone who reads it. You can take it or leave it.
You may want him back, but they sure don't. Most of the current band probably hasn't even met Cetera.
There is certainly no love loss between the remaining founding members of Chicago, their management and Peter Cetera. The bad blood that was created from PCs no shows at the RRHOF and SONG Writers HOF just increased the acrimony. It's been 32 years since he left. I think they are over him.
You must admit, it's very hard to listen to their LPs after Hot Streets X was good and listenable but the others were very uneven with A LOT of mediocre material, like Window Dreamin'.
To each their own, but I can't understand why someone would continue buying records they didn't like, just because a band pleased them in the past. My own collection only contains records I like and listen to. I have no need to embrace a band/artist as a whole. I consider them for my shelves album by album, and in some cases just a song or three. I guess I don't understand the motivation of completists. I intend no offense, it's only talk.
If Chicago were to score another 1-2 Hot 100 Top 10 hits, it could top The Beach Boys in terms of most Hot 100 hits by a U.S. rock & roll group. Many think that would be unlikely- not only for Chicago scoring a big hit, but The Beach Boys also scoring a big Top 10 hit. The Beach Boy's That's Why God Made The Radio did get to No. 24 in 2014... However, many likely discounted the thought of The Beach Boys hitting the No. 1 spot -- let alone Top 10 -- in the late 1980s when they surprisingly topped the chart with Kokomo. So, anything's possible.
I don't think any producer really got that Chicago sound as clearly and precisely as James William Guercio did.
I have been thinking of adding Chicago to my collection & have been listening to this lately... I will have to try a few albums before I make my final decision. If just a GH collection contains most of the stuff I will listen to, there's no need to add the group. That is probably why it takes me so long to add groups to my personal collection (or as I like to call it, the archives). Darryl
So if you like what you hear you'll have to buy them all? If you like them, I hope you've got some spending money. Often (for me) the hits don't really factor in to my liking a band. Have at it.
The hits are only a start. I need to listen to complete albums to consider collecting a band's work. If I keep coming back to the hits or better known songs, then it's not worth adding the group. Also trying to force liking a band, makes all their other work seem less enjoyable. Hope I'm making a bit of sense here. Darryl
