Customer Reviews

CHICAGO XXV (25) - THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's almost a rite of passage for pop artists to release a Christmas collection. Most of them are far from memorable. This one, however, is a classic. These are stunningly original takes on old favourites, with that unmistakable Chicago sound throughout.

This one has instantly become my favourite holiday CD.

Chicago XXV is dominated by great vocals and the brass section. Bill Champlin lead and backing vocals dominate this effort. What Child Is This? is breathtaking and really showcases his tallents. He even gets funky with his organ playing and soulful voice on Santa Clause is Coming To Town. Then Robert Lamm does his thing on Christmas Time Is Here. He also has lead vocals on three other songs. This album continues Lamm's return to the forefront as a vocal force for this band which started with Night & Day (Big Band). The horn section blares throughout the CD also a continuation from Night & Day. My 7 year old daughter just loves this CD and so will you!

A great Cd by the kings of rock and horns. The band is tight throughout the entire Cd. A great blend of vocals and instruments. Chicago puts its unique style to some classic holiday music. The only drawback is that the Cd ends and you still want more. A truly fine effort by this legendary band that should be but is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This is almost like old-time Chicago! Very, very good arrangements of traditional and more modern Christmas favourites. The production quality is very good and so you won't be disappointed with the sound quality at all. It's so good you won't want to wait till X'mas season just to play it. In fact, I'm playing it now as I write and it's September!

Check out the treatment of "Feliz Navidad", "God Rest...Gentlemen", "What Child is This" and you'll know what I mean about great arrangements to old favourites. Highly recommended!

I don't usually like celebrity Christmas albums; in fact they can be really cheesy. But Chicago pulls this off with great syle. In fact, this is about the only album I want playing at Christmas!

That was a quote from me when I first heard the news of this project. I thought it was a horrible idea. I had been waiting since 1991 for a new oroginal CD from these guys and I was not going to buy some Christmas album!

So...gritting my teeth, I gave it a listen when it came out and my Bah Humbug-ish attitude melted away.

This is a wonderful CD. The band, with producer Roy Bittan, put down "Chicago-ized" versions of the old classics. And it works.

A real Christmas surprise.

It seems sooner or later, almost everybody does a Christmas album-- and many of them wind up forgettable. CHICAGO has done here what they did with Big Band tunes on NIGHT & DAY-- energized them and created something beautiful AND exciting to listen to! "The Little Drummer Boy" shocked me-- because it's one of those songs that, until now, NOBODY besides The Harry Simeone Chorale has ever done justice to! But my fave must be "Let It Snow! Let It Snow1 Let It Snow!", which they performed live on Letterman. Lee Loughnane's vocal reminded me a bit of Louis Prima! This is one of the few albums of its kind I feel comfortable playing all year 'round-- which includes the ones by Jon Anderson ("3 SHIPS"), The Partridge Family ("CHRISTMAS CARD") and even The Ventures!

Yes, I know that sounds a bit exaggerated, but one listen to this collection of Christmas songs done in the inimitable Chicago-style is all it will take to make you a believer. Just when you thought that there is nothing new and exciting to be found in the dozens of new Christmas albums released each year...Chicago breaks the rules! Even if you are tired of hundreds of different artists singing the same familiar carols...this album will revitalize your interest in Christmas music for sure. The best compliment I can give this album is that, unlike most other Christmas albums, you do not immediately recognize the song by the instrumental opening...it is only when the words are sung when the little light bulb goes off! A truly remarkable album. Christmas music aficionados will enjoy this album, and Chicago fans will absolutely LOVE it!

Christmas is a season to get together and share memories and possibly make new ones. Chicago XXV (or 25) is appropriately a Christmas album because theme fits the band.

The nineties witnessed the band's quick fall from popularity after the magnificent Chicago 19. Chicago 20 was a quickie greatest hits album and 21 was an unpromoted flop. The band tried to get back to it's roots with the SOS effort. Unfortunately the record executives decided not to release it, despite the band's best efforts. Then the Night and Day remakes of classic Big Band music before two safe redressed (Heart of Chicago) efforts containing a safe number of add-in tunes.

The compositions of Pankow (perenially the best composer of the group), Loughnane, Champlin and Scheff save the CD. Demonstrating more then a spark of the old Chicago flare, these men make most of the compositions worth purchasing. The uptempo "Little Drummer Boy", provides harmonies on the third verse which evoke memories of the Cetera/Lamm/Kath era. Champlin's vocals on "Santa Claus is Coming" are immaculate, and Loughnane's vocals on Let it Snow are remeniscent of his vocal efforts CandyBar and Map albums and also his great "Window Dreamin" composition on 13.

The really dismal pieces are Lamm's arrangements of (in order on the CD) "The Christmas Song", "Feliz Navidad", "Christmas Time is Here", and "White Christmas". His effort to take the uptempo version of Feliz Navidad, originally done by Jose Feliciano, and make it into an accordionized sleepy lounge song falls far short of his abilities. The other three pieces are predictable with an element of uptempo to save them. While Lamm may be giving the band direction, his compositions are getting the band nowhere.

The Christmas album is appropriate because it conjures visions of the band's glory days with familiar voices and brass arrangements while maintaining the Christmas image of mostly familiar Christmas tunes. Unfortunately there appear to be few memories to be made by the band which appears content to be resting on existing laurels.

I've been a fan of Chicago since about 1971. I could listen to "Let is Snow" 24 hrs a day!! I can't believe how much this song rocks; Lee Loughnane's amazing vocals; the horns!!

It's as if it's 1975 again and the band has found its roots.
The CD is far from perfect; some tracks hit, others miss, BUT

That song just floors me . . . this version is made to crank up as you cruise down the highway.