To suck or not to suck? That is the question when it comes to the band once known as Chicago Transit Authority. Is Chicago’s Greatest Hits a worthy blast from the past, or an annoying reminder of everything that was wrong with rock in the 70′s??
THUMBS UP: Like many rock bands, Chicago had high points and low points. It just so happens that their highs were higher, and lows lower, than many of their contemporaries. Fortunately, Chicago IX (ie Greatest Hits) captures most of the high points and ignores those troubling lows. From its opening blasts of brass, ’25 Or 6 To 4′ is one of the coolest songs of the entire decade, and would redeem any album. But there are other great moments here as well: ‘Saturday In The Park’ is cheesy, but it’s an aged, smoked cheddar that still tastes (er, sounds) great, and ‘Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is’ boasts genuine soul, as well as a great horn chart. It’s easy to hate on Chicago, but it’s even easier to drop the needle on their Greatest Hits and just sit back and enjoy the sound of the 70′s.
THUMBS DOWN: In a decade known in part for saccharine sweet songwriting, Chicago stands out for being particularly schmaltzy. Nearly half of their Greatest Hits is given over to cloying balladry, and the kind of simple, 7th grade poetry captured in ‘Feelin’ Stronger Every Day’: “I do believe in you/And I know you believe in me/Ohhhhh yeah, ohhhhh yeah.” Feeling sick yet? For anyone who had to endure Peter Cetera & Chicago’s vapid warblings throughout the 80′s, this is an awful reminder that worse was yet to come. There’s no denying that there are some great moments to be found here, but on balance, this album is the kind of slick 70′s garbage that your friends have every right to make fun of you for playing.
[Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you've heard from both the prosecution and defense. Please retire to your chambers and take as long as you need to come up with a fair and just verdict...]
Tags: Chicago's Greatest Hits
20 January 2008 at 8:48 am |
I can’t believe the staying power of vintage Chicago is even being put out to the polls! Without the schmaltzy sounds of the 70′s, today’s presidential campaigns wouldn’t have anything to blast through rented sound systems!
Who else paired organ, trombone, trumpet, guitar, drums, and three singers, seamlessly trading leads on song after song? Chicago skillfully blended rock, jazz, R&B, and pop for – get this – 5 decades, and this album represents this band in its prime. Though I’m sure they now carry the dreaded “adult contemporary” tag, I refuse to banish Chicago to the guilty pleasures pile!
20 January 2008 at 9:31 am |
Terry Kath is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. I believe Hendrix even referrerd to him as the best ever.
Peter Cetera on the other hand….
Yes, they were great. Yes, they sucked. Just depends on which lineup you happen to be listening to.
20 January 2008 at 11:19 am |
Had this on LP since fer decades, then had to get it on CD when it was released. Nuff said.
20 January 2008 at 11:53 am |
Total flashback to junior high love. Slow dances in the cafeteria. It was just right for the time. And you gotta love that brass section. Might sound a little dated now, but I’m okay with that.
20 January 2008 at 12:45 pm |
i own this album but i own many albums and i never reach for this at home. never. just too much other good stuff to warrant any real playing time. i do however enjoy some of these cuts when i hear them on a mix or on the radio….
now give me the old moody blues stuff and we can talk…
20 January 2008 at 3:09 pm |
I’m pretty sure this one just flat-out sucks.
20 January 2008 at 7:15 pm |
Are you friggin’ nuts? Chicago’s music is great! End of story.
21 January 2008 at 1:56 pm |
It all depends on your sitch. Swanky dinner party? Cetera’s falsetto ain’t gonna cut it. Barbecued hot dogs in the backyard? That horn section sounds awesome. Sometimes smoked cheddar from Hickory Farms just tastes güd.
21 January 2008 at 9:58 pm |
Once I hit my mid-30s music started to sound different. I used to be rebellious with my music. Now I really enjoy the cuts on this album and – yikes – Springsteen. Chicago in the 80s? Maybe that will have to wait until my kids have grown and I’m a 64 year old woman with a bunch of cats.
22 January 2008 at 9:24 am |
i’m a little disappointed that chicago II, chicago VII, chicago VIII or hot streets hasn’t been submitted “on the fence” as well.
not everything that was popular in the seventies sucked, no matter how tempting it is to cynically say so. as a body of work, this could be one of the best pop compilations of all time.
as musicians, these guys had chops. the production is tight, holding its own with jazzier counterparts such as steely dan. peter cetera wasn’t always a lame vocalist, and robert lamm had a solid vocal style as well.
unfortunately, mainstream fans at the time only wanted to hear pop confections like ‘saturday in the park.’ while many of chicago’s compositions/arrangements might seem dated and slightly cheesy now, others might surprise listeners three decades on.
all together, this greatest hits album, along with a few others (such as elton’s first compendium of hits), prove that popular music could — at times — also be considered good music.
22 January 2008 at 3:38 pm |
They aren’t even the best band named after an american city.
I think their ingenious album titles say it all.
23 January 2008 at 9:33 am |
As Furr notes, Terry Kath was indeed one of the most talented guitarists of his generation. He also authored one of the strangest deaths in the history of rock, when he accidently shot himself in the head in front of a house full of party guests in January 1978. The group was never the same after.
ShelbyDee and Foo make the same good point in different ways: this is surely music that is better given a certain time and place. Whether that means the proper event (hot dog roast), or the proper age (older and reflective) is up to you, the listener.
Per Cordell’s outstanding comment, I’d like to say that I consider the 70′s to be the most fertile decade in the history of popular music, for a number of reasons that I won’t go into. But the 70′s also have a plastic-y, overly bright and shiny side (call it the opposite of the dark side) that sometimes bugs me. So while I use the 70′s stick to beat some groups I don’t care for, I have a great deal of love for the decade musically. Heck, I was weaned on 70′s music.
And finally, regarding Bert’s comment on their “ingenious album titles”: these guys make Peter Gabriel look like Funkadelic in the album naming department. What are we up to now, Chicago XXXVIII??
11 February 2008 at 1:32 pm |
Name another American band that has sold over 120 million records like Chicago… ….only the Beach Boys. Two American music institutions – like ‘em or not!
12 February 2008 at 7:12 am |
Alas, quantity does not equal quality. Otherwise we’d be celebrating ABBA – and their 370 million albums sold – as one of the finest groups of all-time.
I appreciate the passion though…
17 October 2009 at 3:35 am |
If you only paid attention to the stuff that, for whatever reason, made it to radio airplay, you’d have a very skewed perspective on this group–it’s nowhere near their best music. Check out Chicago V, or the first album Transit Authority, instead.
13 June 2010 at 10:16 am |
Hey, I’m hoping someone out there knows of the publicity photo on the inside of the Chicago IX Album of the group running from police. I no longer have the album and am dying to see that photo again. Anyone?
14 June 2010 at 12:29 pm |
That image can be viewed here.
14 June 2010 at 12:36 pm
Thanks. That’s great. Much appreciated.