Chicago

The Nickelback of the 70’s and 80’s. These guys were at the right place at the right time.

If you love Kath-era Chicago as I do, check out Leonid & Friends' YouTube videos and thank me later...Best tribute band ever!

From Martini 08/21/2020 23:50

Terry Kath is one of the greatest and m9st underrated guitarists of all time. It's his guitar solos that make this band really stand out, especially live. Their best song is 25 Or 6 To 4

From ChrisPBacon 04/26/2020 01:10

I loved the first 7 albums, with the exception of Chicago 4 (the quadruple live album). Chicago 8, 10, and 11 were not as good, then Terry Kath died. People say it's a shame they turned into a wimpy band, but I think it's amazing how long they were great. Cetera had a great voice and was amazing on bass. Kath had a great voice and was amazing on guitar. Lamm had a fine voice, was very good on keyboards, and was a great songwriter. Seraphine was a fantastic drummer. Pankow wrote some great tunes. As for the brass and woodwinds, I am no expert, but they sounded just fine to me.

Love Chicago. They have had several great albums over the years however to me their greatest days were when Peter Cetera & Terry Kath were still with the band sharing the vocals & song writing with Robert Lamm & James Pankow. What a wealth of different but complimentary talent! Chicago Transit Authority & Chicago ll will always be their greatest albums & among the greatest Jazz Rock albums of all time however Chicago III,V,VI,VII, & Chicago X are also huge high points for me.

I absolutely adore Chicago I and II, but after that I feel they started to lose their way. They had a few great songs here and there but lost their soul.

Love them or hate them there is no denying that in the US Chicago were one of the most successful bands of all time. Never the critic’s favourites, and with only sporadic success in the UK , Chicago had 10 successive top ten albums including five consecutive number ones in America between 1970 and 1977.

Whilst many people will remember Chicago for their AOR power ballads of the 80’s their beginnings are much more exciting and radical. Chicago Transit Authority, as the band were known as at the time they originally signed with Columbia in 1968, were a brave amalgamation of pop, rock and Jazz with a punchy brass section. Their sound was exciting, the songs varied and the arrangements exceptional. They were blessed with three excellent songwriters each of whom had a distinctive vocal style.

Critically the band gradually declined form there startling debut but commercially they were phenomenally successful.

After their first two albums Chicago would start to take themselves a little bit too seriously, releasing a string of sprawling double albums which the critics attacked with vigour. Despite this the public kept buying and within the morass of music that the band produced in their earliest years there are some splendid tracks.

Chicago went on to release another 20 or so albums with a second period of huge success in the early eighties

From skelter54 05/30/2013 17:19

A great band in the 70s.