Customer Reviews

Chicago 17

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This sounds AWESOME! Now granted I don't have a fancy stereo system. I use my iMac G5 with bose speakers hooked up to it but the resolution/definition in these songs are much improved from the old 80s CD. It even sounds much clearer and more detailed than the same songs that are featured on the box set that came out about 3 years ago. It is like redescoving this CD since I am able to hear it in a way I never was able to before.

The main complaint I have is the bonus track. This is probably Chicago's most consitant album and I believe it was ruined by the bonus track. The song sounds unfinished and it features Robert Lamm singing with what sounds like David Pack of Ambrosia fame. There are many other great songs that could have been used. Another complaint some may have, but I don't, is that they used the LP version to make this CD so there are a couple of songs on here that aren't going to sound like the old 80s CD. This doesn't bother me much since I grew up with the LP version.

So if you have fond memories of this album like I did or you are a fan of 80s music... buy this CD!

Much the same thing can be said of this album as can be said of Chicago 16:most people are going to go into this thinking they know what they're in for musically. All Music Guide: The Experts' Guide to the Best CD's, Albums & Tapes (All Music Guide Series) defined this recording as,and I quoate "this is what happens when you really go for the ballads".Well as far as ballads go this is a ten song album and of them you only get three. Obviously you have "Hard Habit To Break" and "You're My Inspiration" are the big songs here;the former is actually a really interesting song from a musical perspective but the former...well it has a little radio ware for me and really has a more AC kind of Peter Cetera solo ballad,similar to something you might find on his Solitude/Solitaire a couple years after this."Remember The Feeling" well...is really more or less the same but is something of a weaker song in terms of writing as I see it. Interestingly enough this album,as with the one before it is primarily devoted to upbeat and uptempo tunes,something Chicago have always done and all of them have some selling point.As pointed out in the liner notes everything here could've easily charted and,not only that considering what was going on in music in the mid 1980's,especially in pop/rock (the majority of this album has a bit much of a drive to be called thoroughly adult contemporary) this music is actually pretty creative.Chicago were musical veterans who realized even if you couldn't set trends,you really had to make them work for you rather then work for them. Again produced by David Foster,the album opens with Peter Cetera and him actually working around a very upbeat 80's rock in "Stay The Night";it's a bit on the arena-y side but it does the trick.Robert Lamm gets a turn at bat with "We Can't Stop The Hurtin'",actually not a bad example of stripped down "naked funk" with Champlin throwing down some fine rhythm guitar overall.James Pankow turns in his own tune with Foster on "Only You",another great tune in a similar style-the break beats heavy,the hand claps pounding away it's probably the only Chicago song you'd be likely to be able to breakdance to.But not to worry;it's a great song and not silly at all."Along Comes A Woman" is a more driving Cetera rocker with some great horns for this later period Chicago. There's nothing lost here as the contemporary (for the time) R&B/funk tune really takes shape on "Please Hold On",a Lionel Richie co-composition which,considering Lionel's tendancy to be as musically overwraught as Certera was in this period,is a really driving tune with this nice locked tight shuffle and keyboard/horn arrangement;it's easily one of the very best tunes here."Prima Donna",also from the Two of a Kind (Soundtrack) : John Travolta is a decent but fairly conventional rocker and Pankow's closer "Once In A Lifetime" really works the rock/R&B groove very well again.The bonus track is Robert Lamm's "Where We Begin",a really nice off the cuff jazzy tune that's kind of romantic in an odd sort of way. This album as with all the Chicago reissues has excellent remastered sound quality and everything sounds a whole lot crisper for it. Sadly this would be there last album with Peter Cetera;his solo career did bring him commercial success but it was a loss to he and the bands...soul when the two parted ways in many senses. Considering though that Chicago weathered the tragic passing of Terry Kath eight years earlier they would manage to soldier on again even after this,a once highly underrated album that is not nearly as commerically ingratiating as you might've thought.

Chicago 17 was Chicago's 1984 release and their 17th release and included such hits as "Stay the Night", "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration". The booklet is quite simple with the logo and the number of the album on the front. A Scott Galloway writes some interesting linernotes about the album. The lyrics are easy to read and we get a nice list of whom plays what on the album. 4/5.

Oh my, its been twenty two years since I had this cassette. I waited for the CD to be remastered and it was worth it. It sounds great. Rhino did a good job. I would have given this 5 stars but they put one bonus track on it which was okay but I was looking for them to remix something new or atleast include the old remix of "Along comes a women" It was good to hear "Stay the night" remastered and sounding great! This was Peter Cetera's last ride with Chicago and he went out with a bang. The band did get lucky and they handed things over to Jason Scheff. He could pull off this material with no problem.

Rhino does an excellent job once again with the chicago music catologue. Nice linear notes explaining the albums monumental success. Chicago 17 will not satisfy hardcore chicago fans but 17 brings me back to those magical and simplier 1980s. Chicago 17 sold over 7,000,000 copies throughout 1984-1985, in reality the chicago 17 tour(and album) was a launching pad for Peter Ceteras solo career, as Peter did write most of the songs on 17.James pankow did write "Once in a lifetime" and as an extra track on this remastered cd Robert Lamms "Where we belong". Producer and song writer David Foster co-wrote some of the songs and produced this blockbuster album. I do have to agree with some of the critics and reviews of this cd, that chicago 17 is mostly a Peter Cetera solo album. The rest of the band did contribute in some way to 17. I believe David Foster wanted to go in that direction, like it or not David Foster really helped Chicago with some really awesome success in the 1980s. One of the negatives of Fosters influence on 1980s Chicago is Danny Seraphines drumming is almost absent. I will always like Chicago 1-13 better than any of the 1980s recordings. I still think chicago does an awesome job on 17.The remastering is really crisp and sharp and lets you listen to Chicago 1980s in a different light. I realize edited songs may appear on Chicago 16-17 but I believe the songs were the same lengths on the original Lps, I am just glad 17 is remastered and will go along with my other Rhino remastered chicago cds.( note: Chicago 17s first vinyl run was pressed with the audiophile QUIEX II FORMAT for superior sound on vinyl records of that time. Recording engineer Humberto Gatica(recording engineer for 17) would eventually win a grammy for his recording expertise later on his career. When 17 first came out on cd improvements were made in the sound quality on the cd release of 17. Now hearing this remastered version of 17 the sound is even more awesome).

The liner notes say it all: it's sold about 7 million copies, the biggest-selling set in Chicago's 40-year history. It's called CHICAGO 17, and a new, beefed-up Rhino remaster with a bonus track shows it's still pretty good stuff after all these years.

One reason for this is the addition of vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Bill Champlin. A Grammy-Award winning songwriter, Champlin is also in possession of some of the greatest pipes in rock. On "17," he trades vocals effectively with the more familiar sound of Pete Cetera (his last bow with the group), and writes a hell of a tune or two.

The production of David Foster is another reason. Chicago's first producer/mentor was James William Guercio, a man ahead of his time. After his split with the band, the boys seemed directionless; the tunes became "discoed" and stale. Foster--brought on board in 1982 by Champlin (just in time to produce CHICAGO 16)--brings his tune-smithing, slamming drums, and modulation to this set, and the results on most songs are well worth hearing (this remaster also beefs up the volume, a definite improvement over previous Warner Brothers issues of the set).

Standouts include "Stay the Night," "We Can Stop the Hurtin'," "Only You," and the Champlin-growled "Please Hold On"--a ripping tune as good as anything Chicago's ever done (this remaster restores the LP version of the tune, which has not been issued on CD before). Too, "Remember the Feeling" and "Hard Habit to Break" are decent ballads.

For me, the album falters with the pop-ish "Along Comes A Woman" "Prima Donna," and "You're the Inspiration" (the album's biggest hit, so I realize I'm in the minority here; your taste will, of course, vary). "Woman" and "Prima Donna" seem like they come from a completely different album, the general production on both being surprisingly substandard. I feel this lack of consistency in the production makes "17" come in at a notch below "Chicago 16," which sounded more organic to me.

But the strong tunes, flawless harmony vocals, excellent brass arrangements, and the welcome return of Bobby Lamm's voice more than compensate for these flaws, making CHICAGO 17 a worthy addition to your CD collection (check out the Lamm demo "Where We Begin"--the chord changes and harmonics are really interesting, and I wish he'd finish it on one of his solo albums).

OK, so Chicago 17 is the album that propelled the superband with horns that dominated radio throughout the 70's back to the top of the charts and back into arenas. And 17 is the band's largest selling studio album in their vast catalogue of platinum records. With that out of the way, Chicago 16 released in '82 was the start of the comeback as the group has fallen off the face of the earth from 1980 to 1982. Like 17, 16 was guided by mageproducer David Foster whom the band brought in to direct them in the studio. 16 is a very good record, although not without its flaws, and found the group back on solid musical footing playing with gusto and with a new singer, Bill Champlin. Champlin's gruff bluesy baritone filled the void created by the untimely departure of guitarist Terry Kath nicely and the band was lifting off. 30 years later, I still enjoy listening to 16, while I have a hard time listening to 17. The reason is Foster's glossy 80's digital production. While cutting edge at the time in 1984 (he won the Grammy for Best Producer), in 2011, his touch seems much too cold and sterile. OK, the songs are all very musical, chock full of melodies (Chicago's trademark since '69), which is why this album was a huge hit, but the drum machines and synth bass and layers of everything make 17 sound like a dated affair. Go back to their 70's catalogue and the classics CTA through XI sound warm, inviting and timeless, like old friends to your ears you never tire of. 17 sits in my CD rack like forgotten leftovers in the freezer, at one time delicious, but now too cold to taste.

The death of Terry Kath after Chicago X must have hit the group pretty hard. A couple of singles off of "Hot Streets" and the "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Love Me Tomorrow" duo off of XVI were pretty much all they had to show for in this period. Along comes XVII, and suddenly they're back on the charts with four singles (and matching MTV videos) such as "Hard Habit to Break", and "You're the Inspiration". They had found their roots again, and it paid off for them. Sadly, Peter Cetera was not staying long afterward, but this album is a good representation of his later Chicago offerings.

Chicago released their Warner Bros. debut in 1982 and found more success with this 1984 release. These Columbia alumni spawned four Top 10 hits from this album:STAY THE NIGHT,YOU'RE THE INSPIRATION,HARD HABIT TO BREAK and ALONG COMES A WOMAN. Despite the success of this album,lead vocalist-guitarist Peter Cetera left the band after its release and following tour to continue his solo career. Cetera's solo post-Chicago hits include THE GLORY OF LOVE,THE NEXT TIME I FALL with Amy Grant,ONE GOOD WOMAN,RESTLESS HEART and ONLY A FOOL CAN SEE. Cetera had more hits after leaving WB in 1992 with ONE CLEAR VOICE and a re-recording of YTI.

Chicago 17 was really the last Chicago album. After 17, Peter Cetera left the band. Terry Kath, a great guitarist/vocalist, had died about 7 years before and now with the loss of Cetera, it was just too much for this band. By the way, I consider Kath the greatest guitarist of the 1970',s. Anyway, Chicago 17 brought Chicago into the limelight one more time and had several great songs. These songs include, Stay the Night, You're the Inspiration, and Hard Habit to Break. Stay the Night was a rocker and the other two are great ballads. The non-singles are fairly strong as well. This is a must buy for any Chicago fan.