Members Mr. Botch Posted June 20, 2008 Members Share Posted June 20, 2008 Talk about a a letter from a long-lost friend! One of my favorite bands from way back, Chicago, had tired of their "power ballad" formula and had gone back to their roots, writing their own songs collaboratively, writing and playing music that mattered, way back in 1992-93. Warner Brothers hated it, refused to release it, and it sat on some shelf somewhere all this time. Don't know what happened, but it's out now. Wow, is this great to listen to! This is post-Cetera Chicago, but it sounds great (Champlin's singing is killer!), the horn charts are the best I've heard in forever, and not a power ballad to be found (there are a couple ballads, but no power guitar chords on them). A lot to chew on here. I know a lot of folks wrote Chicago off after their fifth album, but I've always followed and enjoyed them, and hearing this after all these years is just great. Highly recommended if you liked the Chicago sound! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted June 21, 2008 Members Share Posted June 21, 2008 I know a lot of folks wrote Chicago off after their fifth album That describes me, I was a Chicago fan up until about their fifth album, I could tolerate their sixth and seventh, but anything after that I just couldn't take. Unfortunately, after hearing "Stone of Sisyphus" I'm not convinced that they're back to their roots or are off into something new and experimental. It sounds like more of the same pop formula to me. If you want something more off-the-wall, then maybe Robert Lamm's CD called The Bossa Project might be worth a listen. It's like Robert Lamm attempting to do Stereolab-like bossa nova hybrid stuff, with mixed results. At least he's taking a chance, which is more than I can say for Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted June 21, 2008 Members Share Posted June 21, 2008 It's... so... bright... That snare... I'm sorry, not so sure I can recapture the magic I felt when I saw them the first couple of times (they were still Chicago Transit Authority the first three times). The horn charts are pretty ambitious, in a poppy way. Somehow, they're not going to displace the ToP horns for me, though. And I'm really not warming up to the singing. A song like "Mah Jong" will start up nice and funky but, I dunno... what sounded fashion forward in 1968 isn't enough to draw me back in, today. "All the Years" felt like it was going to turn into Steely Dan with horns but kind of disappointed, to. The production certainly is time capsule -- at least to the 80s/early 90s... I haven't heard so much 10 K and gated verb in a long damn time. I don't think they should rap, though. The rap section in "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed" would have sounded pretty square in '93, seems to me. OTOH... I'm likin' the charts and the general funkiness. But the apparent tip of the hat to Stevie Wonder's hilarious and totally on point dramatic vignette drop into "Fool for the City" really doesn't work for me. I'm glad this is out -- I can imagine it would please a lot of folks and it's great that they have a chance to hear it. But it doesn't really take me back to driving away from the first show of theirs I saw in this cavernous hall at the Orange County fairgrounds with a few hundred hippies and kids in attendance... they played up a swirling storm of horns and guitar. "25 or 6 to 4" was going through my head... Well... it's no one's fault, really. We just grew apart... PS... I just listened to "25 or 6 to 4" and "Does Anybody Really Know..." again (and their cover of "I'm a Man" is on -- I remember them just really, really cooking that song in concert back in '69). Maybe it's part nostalgia (still, there were other tunes from the first two discs I couldn't really listen to just now) but these tracks truly rock in their own ways... Terry Kath... what a fine guitarist to have in that band... a perfect complement to the horns. It just... rocked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted June 21, 2008 Members Share Posted June 21, 2008 and their cover of "I'm a Man" is on -- I remember them just really, really cooking that song in concert back in '69). Maybe it's part nostalgia (still, there were other tunes from the first two discs I couldn't really listen to just now) but these tracks truly rock in their own ways... Terry Kath... what a fine guitarist to have in that band... a perfect complement to the horns. It just... rocked... The good ol' days: [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Strat Rocker Posted June 22, 2008 Members Share Posted June 22, 2008 Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check it out. Chicago brings back one great memory for me. When I was in 5th grade marching band, we marched to 25 or 6 to 4. How cool of a band teacher was that? She was a single, red-headed hottie named Miss Crane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monstermaker Posted June 22, 2008 Members Share Posted June 22, 2008 Here's to Miss Crane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted June 22, 2008 Members Share Posted June 22, 2008 Thanks Ed A. for posting that video of I'm A Man - awesome!That's probably as close as I'll ever get to the dream I used to have of wishing that guitarist Terry Kath would make a solo album without a horn section - just pure rock guitar goodness. He was a monster player, and probably one of the most under rated in rock. I saw an interview with Chicago recently and they talked about the release of Stone Of Sisyphus. They said that at the time the label thought it was "too adventurous". Is it really that different than the sound we've come to know them for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted June 22, 2008 Members Share Posted June 22, 2008 Whoa, man! That just cooks! That is very much as I remember them from what would have been the previous spring or maybe even early summer ('69). Watching Kath and listening I got a clear shot of my memory of his guitar sound... that edge. I guess they just went one way and I went another but we were definitely in the same spot for their version of "I'm a Man" (and "25 or 6 to 4," too.) This video version is hotter than the album track, more edge, wilder. And the album track rocks pretty hard. It's really kind of nice to remember this because I'd sort of lost track... I wasn't just imagining that these guys were hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Sayers Posted June 23, 2008 Members Share Posted June 23, 2008 ah youth you can't beat it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Good to know. Thanks, Botch. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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