Which Chicago album do you stop at?

Chicago 17.

 

I stopped with the second,although I did like "Wishing You Were Here".

 

one of the best sounding albums I've ever heard

 

I don't know what happened to Chicago, the early albums were bursting at the seams with phenomenal ideas, great songs, interesting arrangements, experimental brilliance and incredible singing and playing, but as the albums went along, each album started to loose a little of the spark bit by bit. By the time 13 came out -as a member of the album buying public, I had had enough. 13 was over produced and bad beyond belief. It featured lame song writing by committee tripe, with an emphasis on chick ballads, attempts at slickness coming off as second-rate bar-band rock, and a treasure-trove of stuff waved over the dead smell of un-hip disco with appalling results. The exuberant confidence of the earlier albums CTA-VII, waning about the time of VIII and X was now replaced by the time of 13 with slick substance fueled mediocrity peppered with attempts to be more AM disco-contemporary -probably at the urging of some cool-in-his-own-mind, greasy-short-pony-tailed record label guy -which by the time of 13, the AM disco-contemporary ship had long ago sailed on. The even sadder part is after 13 -apparently Chicago felt direction-wise as an only option, was to do exclusive AM contemporary drivel (forget anything FM album rock). It is so true that Kath was the heart and soul of that band and curiously at the end, he had more of a presence on XI -and it being a later album -was all the better for it. I also wanted to believe Chicago could rise out of the ashes after Kath's death like a phoenix from the fire and use (12) Hot Streets as a wake up call to make great music again... but it only fostered (wink wink) the rot and paved way to the dreaded 13...and beyond. After 13 I never bought another vinyl album of theirs. Alas, I've bought CTA-XI on the original CD's, CTA-Hot Streets on the Rhino's and CTA-XI on Japanese SHM-CD. As much as I hate their "teen" through XXX's (or what ever number they are up to) album output and their adult contemporary sell out, to me though they still belong in the hall of fame for the CTA-XI Kath years.

 

First 2 albums and then the Greatest Hits (IX).

 

18

 

I stop at V in my mind... VI is also in my collection, though.
.

 

Truth.

 

Continuous through, and including, Twenty 1 although I also have The Box (28) and XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus.

 

Ditto.

 

CTA holds up after all these years. It's one of my favorite cds to take on a long road trip. Crank it up and you won't worry about nodding off at the wheel. Good lord, it's been 45 years!!!

 

Yup - XI for me too. God bless Terry Kath.

 

VII

 

Chicago 47 vs Rocky 14

 

II

 

totally agree. I love the feedback side to this day.

 

II

 

Me too.

 

I and II

 

I was a huge fan from CTA through Chicago VII... I thought there was a noticeable drop off by VIII, although it had some great songs. Chicago IX doesn't count as it was a greatest hits package. I thought X was poor (although the much maligned "If You Leave Me Now" was very good IMO), XI was much better overall, but not return to former glories. Sadly, after the double-whammy of the death of Terry and the dismissal of Guercio. it was a fast slide downhill. That being said, I still listen to the albums I like.

If anything, it seems they may have worked too hard in the early years and simply run out of steam... their output and touring schedule in those early years was ambitious to say the least.

I also think too much is made of Cetera as the ballad guy who was responsible for their demise. As a whole, the band had shifted significantly by Chicago VIII. Sure, Cetera wrote and sang ballads, but so did Kath (as early as Chicago II). And Cetera was a great bass player.

I don't think any one member can be blamed... it was a group dynamic when they were great and a group dynamic when they weren't...

 

Transit Authority through XI consecutively, also have 17 and the XXV (Christmas CD). Group dynamics really changed after the Kath tragedy, but I've always been a fan of the original Chicago "sound".

 

I stopped at XI, though I have Chicago 17 and the We Are The World album because they had one of the better tracks on that album.

 

VII, then 16 (which is good) and 17 (which is great).

 

the first 3 albums are great,the second is one of my very favorite records...after that it was a song here or there that i liked but no more of the albums for me