Customer Reviews

Chicago Xiii

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

 

 

"Chicago 13" is sometimes referred to as the band's "disco album".
True, the disc, originally released in 1979 at the height of the disco era finds Chicago dipping into the disco idiom. However, aside from the opener, "Street Player", none of the album's other tracks have anything resembling a disco groove.
"Street Player" is really a great tune and should not be boxed into the term, "disco". The track features some excellent percussion tracks (with jazz artist Airto guest starring) and a hot trumpet solo (with jazz artist Maynard Ferguson also guest starring). Trombonist Jimmy Pankow's horn chart on "Street Player" stands as one of his best works as well on this tune written by drummer Danny Seraphine.
There are some excellent songs on "Chicago 13" including Bobby Lamm's snappy "Reruns", the uptempo latin-styled "Life is What It Is" (written by percussionist Laudir De Oliveira) and Jimmy Pankow's "Runaway".
The only problem with this recording is the production value. Following in the footsteps of 1978's "Hot Streets" (the band's first album without guitarist and founding member Terry Kath), the approach of producer Phil Ramone to recording this American superband just doesn't click. Like he did on "Hot Streets", Ramone again uses a lot of reverb on the recorded tracks, making the overall sound very thin. Also, the vocals do not involve a lot of harmony arrangement, thus, the classic Chicago vocal sound, so beautifully evident in their first nine studio recordings (produced by James William Guercio) is sorely missing.
"Chicago 13" is still a good album with a great deal of melody permeating the songwriting as we had come to expect from the group over the years. The performances are solid and the horns are in fine form.
The bonus track on this 2003 re-issue is the club mix of "Street Player", which is pretty cool.
A worthwhile purchase.

I've had the 12inch single of Street Player since 1980 and when I saw that the song was remastered on this CD, I figured I just buy it just for that. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. This CD is actually really good. The standouts for me on this disk are Street Player. I'm hearing sounds that just weren't captured on the vinyl record and Closer to You, which is, simply put, one of those feel good kind of songs. Window Dreamin is another favorite of mine. It kind of reminds me of Tuff Enough by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. I get a real kick out of negative reviewers. I wonder what they are hearing that I'm not. Oh well......

'Chicago 13' is one of those albums that music critics love to hate.Like Rod Stewart's Blondes Have More Fun or the Rolling Stones Some Girls it is seen as a blatant attempt to jump onto the disco bandwagon.Well the opener "Street Player" isn't exactly disco either-it's a dancable latin-funk jam that was originally written and recorded by Rufus And Chaka Khan one year earlier on their album.....Street Player.And therin lies my only condemnation of the tune-it is not a Chicago original but it it still a great opener.Not disco but crossover and works in both world. That being said 'Chicago 13' actually contains more then handful of wonderful tunes.Sadly Donnie Dacus's 'Must've Been Crazy" isn't one of them-it's a yawn inducing rocker that's so pedestrian and unworthy of Chicago's normally funky jazz-rock style.If great rockers in their classic style is what you want then look no further then the driving "Window Dreamin'","Run Away",the almost arena worthy "Mama Take" and the equally impressive "Reruns",all sounding like vintage Chicago.On the softer side the gentle latin ballad "Life Is What It Is" is a sure fire should've been a hit-could've shared the same album with a song like "Just You N'Me".Same goes for the like-minded bonus cut "Closer To You".This album also has a couple jazzy funk tunes in "Paradise Alley" and the shuffling "Aloha Mama" for good measure. All this makes this 1979 release only inessencial in and of itself is it's lack of big Top 40 pop hits.So if all your favorite songs are only the ones you hear on the radio (which sadly seems to account for about 99.5 % of the music loving public) then 'Chicago 13' might not be for you.But if your traveling in your car and you want something good in the CD player,pick this one.It flows very well from beginning to end and if you tend to be an album listener rather then into only the hit singles this will do fine!

In an era when even the Rolling Stones went disco, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Chicago--in the search for fresh material--turned to Bee Gee territory themselves. The recently re-mastered Rhino re-release of CHICAGO 13 has given me a chance to re-evaluate one of Chicago's most unpopular collections, and I've found that it's the disco album that isn't.

I think "13" is a better set than the previous year's HOT STREETS, but I also think that--as an attempt to update their classic jazz-rock sound--it suffers from the too-many-cooks syndrome. As with HOT STREETS, much of the blame has traditionally fallen on guitarist/vocalist Donnie Dacus. The single, "Must Have Been Crazy," is a Dacus tune, featuring his strained vocals and rhymes, and it's as bad a song as any Chicago's been associated with. Perhaps not coincidentally, CHICAGO 13 marks his departure from the group. But Dacus wasn't really as bad as many (including me) have said, and "13" doesn't sink or swim on his strengths and weaknesses.

"Street Player" is the opener. As the only overtly disco tune, it *is* famously lame, and even some monster horn lines and a guest appearance by famed trumpet master Maynard Ferguson can't save it. Still, one song with a disco-influence does not a disco album make, and "13" should not be unfairly categorized on the basis of "Street Player" alone.

Sadly lame, too, however, are Pete Cetera's "Mama Take," Bobby Lamm's "Paradise Alley," and Jimmy Pankow's "Runaway" (my vote for Jimmy's worst song--not something I write with joy, either).

There are some bright spots. Cetera groans convincingly on the bluesy "Aloha Mama." Lee Loughnane and Walt Parazaider contribute "Window Dreaming," the best tune on the CD by far (it even showcases a great Dacus guitar solo). "Loser With a Broken Heart" proves that not ALL Cetera ballads are bad. And percussionist Laudir de Oliveira makes his writing debut with the latin-influenced "Life Is What It Is," a nice surprise (though it features a surprisingly sub-par Pankow trombone solo--again, not written with any glee).

The Rhino remaster features two bonus tracks: the single edit of "Street Player," and a Dacus tune called "Closer to You" which blows "Must've Been Crazy" away (why wasn't THIS ONE picked instead?). The liner notes are briefer here than on previous Rhino re-releases; perhaps the band really had little to say.

All things considered, CHICAGO 13 undoubtedly documents a struggling group. While its reputation as a disco set is very much unwarrented, fans of the very early Chicago sound will likely be disappointed even today.

Anyone with CTA, II, III, V, VI, VII must have wondered what on earth this disco dross was ? 30 years on it remains a stinker, BUT the band followed this AOR/ballad route so I left them. Much like Robert Lamm, who ceased writing songs by this time for the band.

Every time I read about Chicago, it seems that they grossly undervalue Terry Kath's death. But this record makes his loss really sting. The band wanted to avoid comparisons to Kath, so they went in a very different direction by hiring "pretty boy" Donnie Dacus, who's guitar playing was nowhere near as big, beefy and psychedelic as Kath's. Dacus was good at what he did, but he was really an early " hair metal" style player. Further, Dacus had a great voice, but again, it was totally removed from Kath's bluesy moan. I knew a girl who was a cousin of his. She said that not only was he totally wrong for Chicago, she said he was miserable from day one, and it wasn't long before the rest of the band knew they'd blown it.

The "music" here is pretty sad. Rufus recorded "Street Player" three years earlier, and made it soulful and swingin'. Chicago, with Rufus keyboardist Hawk Wolinski in tow, turned this into a weak, white-as-milk
disco track that was as stiff as a 2x4. That is exactly what should have been taken to whomever let this abomination in the studio.

The rest of the songs range from OK to "you did what ?" I worked as a record store manager when this came out and loving this band as I did, I tried as hard as I could to sell it but my heart wasn't it. I had never felt this way about any Chicago record. I liked "Hot Streets" more than most Chicago fans, but "13" just didn't cut it.

Kath was dead for almost two years, and the band was headed into three years of oblivion. Most of the fans who adored them through Xll records were disillusioned. 30 years later, I still am. But while Terry was here, no band was more dynamic, creative or durable.

Terry, we hardly knew ye...sigh.....

I bought this back in the cassette days in the "cut out" bin. There was something familiar about the screeching trumpet on Street Player and behold it was the late great Maynard Ferguson. This was probably the last album of theirs most brass players can appreciate.

I gave this album three stars because there are only three good songs to be found here for me anyway. I will get to what they are a little later Chicago's roughest period of their career was 1978-1981. Music was changing in those years and not for the better you had the emergance of Disco, Punk and New Wave three genre's of music that dont offer much depth or talent. It just doesent seem to matter what crappy music comes along there are always some fools that jump on it. Now this album is known as Chicago's Disco album where that title came from i dont know. The opening song Street Player has a slight disco vibe its a mix of Dance and Latin. Street Player is a good opening tune its a guilty pleasure song for sure but it's catchy and features a great horn arrangement from James Pankow. The song should have been trimmed down to around the 5 minute mark it clocks in at 9 minutes and has a boring jammy middle section. Aloha Mama is ok for the first 3 minutes the ending is terrible. I give props to Peter Cetera for singing in a lower key he does an alright job. I laugh when i read the Donnie Dacus bashing if Chicago's goal was to find a Terry Kath clone they failed if there goal was to find a good singer guitar player they succeeded. Donnie has a good voice and is a fine guitarist but his voice and guitar style is nowhere close to Terry Kath that isnt an insult they are two different people they shouldnt sound exactly the same. Life Is What It Is is the second best song here it's a nice bouncy tune with good vocals from Peter Cetera and it isnt cheesy. Last but not least Donnie Dacus's song Closer To You is a bonus track on the great sounding Rhino Remaster why it was left off the album is beyond me because its way better than the majority of the album. Notice Donnie sings Closer To You in a lower register than his other stuff i was impressed. All in all this album gets bad reviews for a reason it just is so far removed from how great Chicago was not to mention the sound is different not for the better. I realize music changes like i mentioned before but just because there is a new fad of music doesent mean every band has to jump on the bandwagon. Look at Ac/Dc as one dimensional as they are i respect them so much for not changing their style with each stupid trend of music at the time. They had the guts to make every album a hard rock album reguardless. I wish Chicago could have done the same unfortunately we all know about their cheesy ballad bonanza of the 1980's. Chicago's best output was 1969-1978. When Terry died a part of the band died with him Terry was a huge part of the bands sound. I wanna throw something out there to all of the true Chicago fans after serious thought i came up with two people that would honestly have been a good replacement for Terry Kath. Al Decarlo from the Chicago band Madura his voice is similar to Terry's in terms of tone and gruffness it wasnt as deep but still similar Al has more range check out the song Drinkin No Wine by Madura to get an indictaion. Second guy Kal David from another Chicago band The Illinois Speed Press Kal's voice is as deep as Terry's but not as gruff and they have a similar guitar tone. Check out these three songs from The Illinois Speed Press 1. Hard Luck Story 2. Free Ride 3. The Visit to get an indication. Id love to hear some feedback on this

I have never understood the criticism of this album. Nor have I understood its "disco" labelling for that matter. As a long-time Chicago fan - spanning their entire era from the early experimental stuff to the later power ballad era - it still sits as one of my favourite albums of theirs and I don't find it that far removed from their earlier recent work to warrant the criticism (eg there is still plenty of the trademark Chicago brass section in play, which sadly disappeared to a large extent in the 80s). I find it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and consistent listen from start to finish, with my favourite tracks being Mama Take, Street Player, Reruns, Run Away and the precursor to the power ballad era - Loser With A Broken Heart. But the remaining tracks sit nicely with me as well, with the bonus track (Closer To You) an excellent addition. Ironically, probably the song I like least on the album was the one which was released as the lead single - Must Have Been Crazy. Why this was chosen is still beyond me to this day (there were other tracks which could have been better options, eg Run Away) and maybe it turned people off from buying the album in the first place.

I had this album when it first came out and listened to it quite a bit. Despite the mediocrity of many of the tunes, the album nevertheless still shows what excellent musicians and vocalists Chicago was back then (and still today). The main thing missing between back then and now is Peter Cetera's excellent vocals and Danny Seraphine's excellent drumming.