Chicago

Back in the early 90's I was a big Chicago fan. They had kind of moved past the ballady stuff they had in the mid 80's, and became an interesting band again. However, they were still mostly dominated by the ballad. So after Chicago 21 in 1991, the band issued a statement saying they wanted to move away from that kind of music, they wanted to do something new, something they really "wanted to do". So they started work on what became this album. However, the record label didn't like it. The entire story is fairly convoluted, but the band and the record label didn't see eye to eye, so the band said "F it", and took their record and didn't deliver it, or the label refused to release it (depending on who you talk to) Either way, it never came out. As the years passed, and more albums came out, Sisyphys became something of a legend. The band refused to talk about it, the tracks were never released, and it was widely bootlegged.

I had a copy of this for a long time, and realy did enjoy it. It was rather experimental, didn't sound like "usual Chicago". In early Spring of 2008, I was rather shocked to see it on the coming list from Rhino records. This was cool, because the boot I had was "OK", but it's never the same as a cleaned up version, properly released. On top of that, the official release has four demo versions of tracks. I didn't listen closely to see if they were bootleg versions or not. Additionally, there's one track that remains from the bootleg that is not on the final version, so it's not 100% completed, but that's a nitpick, really.

The album is great. It still sounds like "Chicago", but not like any traditional Chicago sound. There's a lot more funk and bass in this recording. Several tracks are quite awesome. Thing is, it's probably not for everyone. While I really like the recording, it has that feel of "acquired taste". If you're a Chicago fan though, you probably would like it. Take a shot.

This is the new studio album from Chicago. This is something that hasn't happened for ages. This is their 30th album, although the last time they released a full new studio album of material was "Chicago 21" back in 1991, so it's been 15 years and 8 albums of either compilations, live, or covers between then and now.

As I write this, I just got my copy in the mail less than 3 hours ago, and I don't have a real opinion on it yet. I'll have more on the music later. The single (Feel) I've known for a few weeks, and it sounds pretty decent.

UPDATE Aug 14 2008: Well, I never did go back and update this. XXX is an "OK" album. I was caught up in the novelty of a new Chicago album when I got it. It's a decent enough record, but has the usal album trap of "two or three decent songs, the rest is not that memorable". Probably for the Chicago hardcore fan only.

The Chicago Transit Authority is one of those bands I always associated with AM radio. For years the idea of buying one of their albums really seemed weird to me, but then I took my tried and true method - a greatest hits album.

This album actually replaces two other Chicago Greatest Hits CD's I used to own (now in the retired archive). This is a great collection of tunes, it covers all of their releases from 1970 through 2002. That hadn't been done before. So many of these songs I know from so many years ago. It's a great collection - if you don't own any Chicago, I strongly suggest going this route and buying this thing. You won't be disappointed.

There is also a very nice booklet on the band's history within. I didn't realize that Chicago was formed in 1967, so as I write this, it's their 39th anniversary (more or less). Of the 7 original members from 1967, four of them still remain in 2006, never having left the group, which is a great feat itself!