More Chicago: List your five favorite Chicago album COVERS

I never had a problem about that police chase theme of those album gatefold artwork and photos. I actually love the concept.

 

Chicago Transit Authority (1969)

 

Chicago VIII (1975) - cardinal bird, the first album by Chicago that didn't "open up".

 

Love this album cover for Chicago IX (1975), their first compilation album

 

I agree with you about the interior gatefolds, but I responded to the OPs request as focusing on the exterior covers, right or wrong. ;-)

Chicago IX Greatest Hits I interpret as a metaphor for the band wanting even more exposure, wanting more people to hear their music, so they are applying their logo as graffiti on the side of a building. The old woman who happens to live there, doesn't like rock & roll or graffiti, as she attempts to circumvent the effort and calls police. For me the narrative works.

But the storylines on the interior gatefolds of X and XI don't make sense to me. Why would Chicago be running from the police either in present day or back in say the 30s? Unless your band is named Wings, and there is a track on the album that parallels that theme?

On the other hand, it may be difficult to recall and understand the culture from 40 years ago that contributed to those design concepts. It made sense then, but may not have stood the test of time for some of us. But I still love IX GH cover.

 

I think it may be a case of me taking these things too seriously at the time (obviously more so than the band/record company)..

After all I was a teenager when these were released and it was all VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS!!!... no time for fooling around... that came later...

 

I don't think anyone will like this one....but I do.

 

That one is not in the same level or class as the outstanding John Berg's creations for Columbia artists' album covers including those he designed and supervised for the classic-era Chicago albums. That newer cover above is too cheesy and in my opinion a cringe-inducing cover for a great band like Chicago.

 

There's an album track called "Policeman" in Chicago XI.
I think they got the idea of the police encounter/chase scenes from the Beatles rooftop concert where the band was ordered by the police to stop playing because of noise complaints from neighboring businesses and the sound was causing traffic in the area to become worse.

That's also probably the time when the rumors about Chicago- Mafia ties (accounting and payola scandals) surfaced.

 

...Mafia rumors about Chicago the band's accounting - and payola specifically for them?

 

Me too...an homage to Norman Rockwell, in my opinion.

 

Can't pick five.

They're all very distinguished. Every single one looks cool and makes you wonder about what's on the album.

 

A higher resolution photo of CHICAGO X album cover art to show the intricate beauty of the design.

For the COVER ART, Chicago X won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Album Package for its designer JOHN BERG.
CHICAGO X received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.
The song "If You Leave Me Now" received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.
The song won a Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists (strings) for arranger Jimmie Haskell and producer James William Guercio and Best pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for Chicago (the first Grammy A...ward won by the group).

From Wiki - The album art depicts a partially unwrapped chocolate bar with the Chicago logo on it, resembling a Hershey's chocolate bar as it was packaged at the time. The cover art was included in a 2012-2013 exhibit of Berg's album covers at Guild Hall of East Hampton, and is now in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

 

My favorite is:



I also love CTA, 13, 16, 18, and Carnegie Hall.

Ed

 

Go for it ! I've written a complete 400-page project disecting the artwork from over 50 years of Beach Boys albums, and tracked down many of the designers, photographers etc...
www.facebook.com/beachboysalbumsleeves
Very satisfying to look back over...

 

The sleeve for Chicago XXXVI (aka Now) almost made me buy another Chicago album after I stopped at XIV.

 

You know what? The more I think about how they keep dragging the band on the road with an ever-diminishing lineup, and with Robert Lamm making the odd noise about how the direction of the band is chosen by what the band's managers want to do, the more I wonder if you might be onto something.