V [Original recording reissued]

Chicago | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 28, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Chicago Records
• ASIN: B0000021RH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,700 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hit By Varese

2. All is Well

3. Now That You've Gone

4. Dialogue (Part One)

5. Dialogue (Part Two)

6. While the City Sleeps

7. Saturday in the Park

8. State of the Union

9. Goodbye

10. Alma Mater

11. A Song for Richard and His Friends

12. Mississippi Delta City Blues

13. Dialogue (Parts I & II)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very solid effort, February 10, 2000

By 

David J. Loftus (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: V (Audio CD)

PDIGUG3606 from Delaware is absolutely right: irresistable as "Saturday In the Park" may be, it is badly overplayed on radio these days, when there are at least four other cuts ("Varese," "Dialogue," "While the City Sleeps," and "State of the Union") on this album that sound just as good -- and rock harder -- never mind its many other virtues.

"A Hit By Varese" starts out with a little free-form feedback, then hits an urgent groove. In the instrumental break, the horns get brief comments before everyone gets to rocking ... and all in waltz time! "All Is Well" is sweet, although the lyrics don't scan very well. "Now That You've Gone" has the kind of nervous energy and portentous horn charts that typified the first three albums. "While the City Sleeps" manages to sound swaggering and desperate at the same time, "State of the Union" spoils for a fight with the kind of political punch that could get annoying on earlier albums but works here because it's not self-righteous. "Goodbye" is a breezy jazz tune that one could easily hear Al Jarreau doing, "Alma Mater" quietly anthemic.

I've saved the best for last: "Dialogue" parts 1 and 2 not only rocks infectiously but is a creepy masterpiece. I say "creepy" because if you study the lyrics, the earnest, politically concerned voice (Terry Kath) that exemplifies what Chicago stood for up to this time CONCEDES the argument to the dippy, casual airhead sung by Peter Cetera, who concludes "if you had my outlook, your feelings would be numb -- you'd always think that everything was fine." I have to believe Lamm meant this to be ironic, but the song seems uneasily to foreshadow what would become of the group musically in time. The music is nevertheless both charming and powerful, so its disjunction with the weird lyrics puts me in mind of Steely Dan.

If I don't give this disc the full five stars, it is because it doesn't have quite the adventuresome range and experimentation of some of the albums that precede and follow it (the first three and the seventh), but it is a compact package, and would be an excellent choice for the listener who is not familiar with the band and might have little patience with too much weirdness.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHICAGO'S MOST UNDERATED ALBUM, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: V (Audio CD)

WHEN YOU LISTEN TO CLASSIC ROCK RADIO, THE ONLY SONG THAT YOU EVER HERE OFF THIS ALBUM IS SATURDAY IN THE PARK. AND THAT'S A SHAME, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF CHICAGO'S MOST CONSISTENT ALBUM'S, MUSICALLY, AND LYRICALLY. IN FACT, I WOULD RANK THIS RIGHT BEHIND THE FIRST TWO CHICAGO ALBUMS. THE MUSIC IS DRIVING, ESPECIALLY THE HORN SECTION, WHICH REALLY MAKES THIS ALBUM SO GREAT. AFTER THIS ALBUM, THE HORNS BECAME LESS PROMINENT IN CHICAGO'S MUSIC, WHICH IS ONE REASON FOR THE BANDS SLOW DECLINE. DIALOGUE, PARTS I AND 2, IS IN MY OPINION ONE OF THE BANDS GREATEST SONGS. ONE OTHER REASON FOR CHICAGO'S DECLINE IS THE INACTIVITY OF ROBERT LAMM. ONE OF CHICAGO'S STRENGTH'S IN THE 7O'S WAS LAMM'S WRITING, AND SINGING, WHICH IS IN PRIME FORM ON THIS ALBUM. STATE OF THE NATION IS A POLITICAL WAKE-UP CALL FOR AMERICA IN THE NIXON ERA. THE REMASTERING IS SUPERB ON THIS ALBUM. IT'S JUST A SHAME THAT RADIO IGNORE'S THIS ALBUM.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars first #1, February 6, 2000

By 

John (LaGrange Park Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: V (Audio CD)

The first #1 album in the history of Chicago and most likely the best one ever in the history of Chicago. "Alma Mater", "Dialogue", and my favorite song in Chicago history "Saturday in the Park" are the reasons why this album is the best one in the bands history.