Chicago

[JC_AOR]

I recently saw Chicago's 21 album come in at number 25 on a list of the 100 best AOR albums.

You can see the full list Here

 

This got me wondering, who the hell are Chicago???

 

I've heard the name mentioned on AOR sites everywhere, and always come across their albums when browsing through CD's or LP's at the shop but never cared enough to investigate their music. I saw on the HH main site they have 30 odd albums! What do they sound like, and which are their best albums? Is this band worth checking out, given that I like most of what is on that top 100 list?

[JC_AOR]

After translating the text on this page to English, I've discovered that the list is actually in alphabetical order so I have no idea where the Chicago album fits into the top 100. But hey who really cares?

[TIM (2)]

Wow, you never heard of Chicago? How's the weather been up there on the Moon these past 30 years?

 

Just kidding. This is a pretty good - if a bit generic - list of AOR albums. Pretty much all the classics are there, but as ever there are also a good few that shouldn't be anywhere near the top 100 (Bryan Adams, Alias, Jack Wagner, Paul Sabu, to name but a few...) & some that should've made it (Planet 3, Clif Magness). Chicago's 21 is another that shouldn't really be there. The real classic Chicago albums had Peter Cetera on them (16 & 17 were the two I remember), & of the albums with Jason Scheff on vocals then Chicago 18 is definitely & easily the best of the rest. In fact Chicago 20 is better than 21 IMO, as the latter is just full of ballads...

 

Also Chicago are really stretching the boundaries of AOR. They started as a jazz/pop band, & at their most rocking they were only ever westcoast AOR....

[Swazi]

Wow, you never heard of Chicago? How's the weather been up there on the Moon these past 30 years?

 

Just kidding. This is a pretty good - if a bit generic - list of AOR albums. Pretty much all the classics are there, but as ever there are also a good few that shouldn't be anywhere near the top 100 (Bryan Adams, Alias, Jack Wagner, Paul Sabu, to name but a few...) & some that should've made it (Planet 3, Clif Magness). Chicago's 21 is another that shouldn't really be there. The real classic Chicago albums had Peter Cetera on them (16 & 17 were the two I remember), & of the albums with Jason Scheff on vocals then Chicago 18 is definitely & easily the best of the rest. In fact Chicago 20 is better than 21 IMO, as the latter is just full of ballads...

 

Also Chicago are really stretching the boundaries of AOR. They started as a jazz/pop band, & at their most rocking they were only ever westcoast AOR....

 

Pretty good summary by Tim, which I can't add to much. But I do think that the Alias - s/t does deserve a place amongst the top 100 AOR discs. Just my humble opinion ....

[Faron]

Four classic ballads....

 

If You Leave Me Now

Hard To Say Im Sorry

Hard Habit To Break

You`re The Inspiration

[Jez]

Not really into the early Chicago Cetera stuff, although certain songs can be cherry picked from various albums. For the Westcoast fans out there, seriously check out the following albums, as they are all pretty damned good throughout.

 

Chicago - 16

Chicago - 17

Chicago - 18

Chicago - 19

Chicago - 21

Chicago - XXX

Chicago - XXXII: Stone Of Sisyphus

[John Drake]

Ok...now that was one of the dumbest lists of AOR I've seen.

The only reason I did sort of like it is it gave me some new groups to check out.

Aldo Nova - Twitch....replace that with his S/T one.

Franke And The Knockouts - Makin' The Point....replace that with their S/T one as well.

Jack Wagner and Benny Mardones???

I'm glad to say out of 1000 CDs I have no Michael Bolton.

 

Sorry....now back to the original reason I posted. Chicago was a hot group from early to mid 70s. They are sort of mellow and use horns. They were originally called Chicago Transit Authority on their 1st album. Peter Cetera began to front the band more and they had a few hits in the late 80s when they went soft rock.

 

Chicago's songs remind me too much of my growing up in grade school. I liked them but had no desire to get a greatest hits from them. I finally picked up a GH from them earlier this year. It's Chicago - The Very Best Of: Only The Beginning. It's a 2cd from Rhino. It has all the songs you would ever want to hear from them, if you just want one album.