Chicago (album)

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Chicago (sometimes referred to as Chicago II) is the second studio album and second double album by Chicago-based American rock band Chicago. This was the first album to use the Chicago logo on the cover, which became an enduring feature on the covers of all of the band's succeeding studio albums. Released in January 1970 on Columbia Records, Chicago was commercially successful. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April of the same year of its release, and certified platinum in 1991. It reached No. 4 on the album charts in the United States and No. 6 on the album charts in the UK, and produced three top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The album received three Grammy Award nominations - for Album of the Year, Contemporary Vocal Group, and Best Album Cover.

Video Chicago (album)

History

The album was released in 1970 after the band had shortened its name from "The Chicago Transit Authority" following the release of their self-titled debut album the previous year (to avoid legal action being threatened by the actual mass-transit company). Although the official title of the album is Chicago, it came to be retroactively known as Chicago II, keeping it in line with the succession of Roman numeral-titled albums that officially began with Chicago III in 1971.

While The Chicago Transit Authority was a success, Chicago is considered by many to be Chicago's breakthrough album, yielding three singles that made it into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, including "Make Me Smile" (No. 9), "Colour My World" (No. 7), and "25 or 6 to 4" (No. 4). The centerpiece of the album was the thirteen-minute song cycle "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon", written by trombone player James Pankow, and from which the singles "Make Me Smile" and "Color My World" were taken. Guitarist Terry Kath also participated in an extended classically styled cycle of four pieces, three of which were co-written by the well-known, arranger, composer, and pianist Peter Matz. The politically outspoken keyboardist Robert Lamm also tackles his qualms with "It Better End Soon", another modular piece. Bassist Peter Cetera, later to play a crucial role in the band's music, contributed his first song to Chicago and this album, "Where Do We Go From Here?".

Released in January 1970 on Columbia Records, Chicago was an instant hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and No. 6 in the UK.

Columbia Records was very active in promoting its quadraphonic four-channel surround sound format in the mid-1970s, and nine of Chicago's first ten albums were made available in quad. The quad mix features elements not heard in the standard stereo mix, including additional guitar work from Kath in "25 Or 6 To 4" and a different vocal take from Lamm in "Wake Up Sunshine," the latter of which reveals a different lyric in the song's last line.

In 2002, Chicago was remastered and reissued on one CD by Rhino Records with the single versions of "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4" as bonus tracks.

Rhino released a DVD-Audio version of the album in 2003, featuring both Advanced Resolution Stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes.

In 2016, British producer and musician Steven Wilson remixed Chicago from the original multitrack tapes. This version was released on January 27, 2017 by Rhino Records. A vinyl edition of the remix cut by Kevin Gray was released on August 11, 2017.

Maps Chicago (album)

Artwork, packaging

The Chicago logo, which made its first appearance on the cover of this album, was designed by John Berg and fashioned by Nick Fasciano, who were both nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover for their efforts. John Berg said the Coca-Cola logo was the inspiration for the Chicago logo. The cover art work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The band's official web site labels the cover design, "silver bar."

The double-LP album's inner cover includes the playlist, the entire lyrics to "It Better End Soon", a "Producer's Note" stating, "This endeavor should be experienced sequentially", and a declaration written by Robert Lamm, "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution. And the revolution in all of its forms."

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Critical reception

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Chicago a "D+" and called it "sterile and stupid", writing that if "Duke Ellington never got away with an extended work for horns and meaningfulness [what] makes James William Guercio and the self-designated revolutionaries who are his cohorts think they can?" Lindsay Planer from AllMusic was more enthusiastic in a retrospective review, giving the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and said its songs "underscore the solid foundation of complex jazz changes with heavy electric rock & roll that the band so brazenly forged on the first set".

Accolades

Other honors

• 1971: Chicago, Best Small-Combo LP, Playboy Jazz & Pop Poll

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Track listing

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Personnel

Chicago

• Peter Cetera - bass, lead and backing vocals
• Terry Kath - guitar, lead and backing vocals
• Robert Lamm - keyboards, lead and backing vocals
• Lee Loughnane - trumpet
• James Pankow - trombone
• Walter Parazaider - saxophone, flute, clarinet
• Danny Seraphine - drums

Production

• James William Guercio - producer
• Peter Matz - orchestration on "Prelude"
• Donald Puluse - engineer
• Brian Ross-Myring - engineer
• Chris Hinshaw - engineer
• Robert Honablue - mastering engineer
• Don Young - remix engineer
• Al Lawrence - remix supervisor
• Nick Fasciano - cover art
• John Berg - cover design
• Herb Greene - photography and poster photos

2002 reissue

• Paul Klingberg - remixing
• John Kellogg - remix producer
• Joe Gastwirt - remastering
• David Wild - liner notes

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Charts

Weekly charts

Singles

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Certifications

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Notes

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References

Source of article : Wikipedia