Customer Reviews

X

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

 

 

Chicago X provides ten examples of how the band can successfully play all styles of music.

"Once or Twice" and "You are On My Mind" were written by Terry Kath and Jimmy Pankow, two of the band's best. They provide good solid upbeat tempos to open the CD.

"Skin Tight" snazzes things up a bit laying a sharp ending which leads into the soothing ballad "If You Leave Me Now". It's interesting how the band chose this song as the release, not representative of the CD's different styles. "Together Again" represents an expectedly well written piece by Lee Loughnue, the band's trumpter. "A Rainy Day in New York City" is an upbeat almost Reggae sounding tune which demonstrates a flare of Robert Lamm's song writing originality -- while he still had it.

"Momma Momma" represents a smooth ballad which provides tranquility in any moment. "Scrapbook" provides a flashy driving summary of where the band's come from.

"Gently I Wake You" is a multi-climatic ballad, warming things up for the dancable "You Get it Up".

"Hope for Love" is a heart filled ballet which demonstrates Terry Kath's ability to compose great works of all paces.

There's something for everyone in Chicago X. It's unfortunate more of the band's later albums were not like this.

Due to the success of IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW,CHICAGO X has been accused of the album that started the "ballad era" for chicago.But in fact,IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW is one of the best ballads in rock history.ANOTHER RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK CITY and YOU ARE ON MY MIND were both minor hits that should have hit it big.ONCE OR TWICE is great horn driven song.SCRAPBOOK is one of Robert Lamm's finest moments.TOGETHER AGAIN features a very good Loughnane vocal.GENTLY I'LL WAKE YOU is a great part ballad,part rocker.MAMA MAMA is another great Cetera ballad that should have been released as a single.Terry Kath closes X out with the excellent heartfelt ballad HOPE FOR LOVE.

CHICAGO X surprised me so much when I first heard it. Starting with Terry Kath's "Once or Twice"-- one of their most exciting, hard-driving tunes ever (and what would have been my pick for a single) 9 out of its 11 songs are a continual thrill every time I put the record on. The catchy Latin-tempo of "Another Rainy Day In New York City" has long been another of my all-time favorite songs by the band-- how could this have NOT made a dent in the airwaves? Radio programmers were big into "ballads" at the time (when they weren't doing DISCO) and the follow-up, "If You Leave Me Now", became the band's BIGGEST-selling single EVER. I could always see that song as a nice, slow, melodic "break" between the rockers, but a SINGLE? I'm afraid though nice the song may be, it's on my short list of those songs that got TOO MUCH play on the radio. In any case, Chicago would not, in my view, do an album quite as exciting as this until 1995's NIGHT & DAY BIG BAND --19 years later!

Chicago X features some good music. I recommend it solely for the first half of the album--it's excellent. The second half is weaker, but still listenable. If you're new to Chicago's albums, get the first three albums before buying any of the later ones--you can't go wrong with them.

I was a fan of CTA through VIII. Then comes in the mid 70s, a different sound. Short, light rock songs that you'll forget in a day or so. I do like the hit, "If You Leave Me Now".
Maybe it was because I didn't grow up during this album but I find it and XI pretty boring. Hot Streets was a improvement probably because I like the glossier production better and the disco/funk. Their creative ways were behind them but thankfully this slump didn't last long.

On the one hand, the style of "Chicago X" was much closer to pop than the challenging music of Chicago's earliest music. Thus fans of the first Chicago albums often decry the slow transition to pop. On the other hand, "Chicago X" offers outstanding music and a number of important milestones for the group. Additionally, while there were many more pop elements in this album than in previous albums, there were still sufficient jazz and blues influences in this album to recognize it as Chicago.

The album opens with several traditionally styled Chicago songs. The first is a jazz horn-driven love song, "Once or Twice." This Terry Kath song is powerful, fast, and upbeat. The song sets the upbeat tone for the rest of the album. The second song is "You Are on My Mind," a song of separation and love that opens in a mellow blues style that adds jazz elements. However, there is a break where the song speeds up and adds funk elements to momentarily change the style of the song before transitioning back to a jazz flavored song with a Latin tempo. This song hit #49 on the pop singles chart. The next song, "Skin Tight," is yet another love song, this time in a funk-flavored jazz style. This song remains upbeat, keeping with the opening song.

"If You Leave Me Now" was Chicago's first #1 song, on both the pop singles and adult contemporary charts. This beautiful pop ballad by Peter Cetera is stylistically different from Chicago's typical music, and the differences in musical direction would lead Peter to eventually leave the group. However, Peter's song revitalized Chicago's musical importance, generated new fans for the group, won two Grammys and likely helped the album to win a third, and instrumental in helping the album reach #3 on the pop charts. Further, the success of this song also influenced Chicago to head in a more pop oriented direction.

The previous song was but a temporary diversion, because "Together Again" by Lee Loughnane has a jazz influence. Yet again this song is a love song, which seems to be the theme for this album. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" by Robert Lamm follows. This song has steel drums and a reggae flavor. This song is the first song on this CD that is not a love or relationship song. This up tempo song has lyrics that should be at least a little sad, but the tempo keeps the song fun and relatively light. This song reached #2 on the adult contemporary charts and #32 on the pop singles chart.

Peter Cetera next sings "Mama Mama," a funky pop love song with horns. The musical accents betray the era of this above average Chicago song.

"Scrapbook" is an introspective song by Robert Lamm. The song is about the band, performing in various locations, hanging out with other groups, and recording at Caribou Ranch. The tempo continues upbeat even though the song talks about the stress of being on the road and the fights the group had. The instrumentals get very funky as the song closes out in a very mid-70s style. "Gently I'll Wake You" is another Robert Lamm song that has an opening that sounds heavily influenced by Harry Nilsson. The song breaks into funky portions, but returns again to the Nilsson-like sound; quite an interesting song that mixes two very different styles. The next track, "You Get It Up," yet another Robert Lamm song, has a fast jazz beat with a funk vocal style. I will let the listener figure out what this bawdy song is about.

The album closes with the mellow and beautiful Terry Kath song "Hope for Love." The only problems with this song are that it is a reminder of Chicago's earliest days and of the loss of Terry Kath. The mellotron touches and the vocal style provide a poignant end to contrast with the upbeat music leading to it. This song is a well-placed end to the original album.

There are at least three versions of this CD available. This version was released in 1995. There is also a 1990 release and a 2003 remaster that includes two bonus tracks. If you like Chicago's jazz influenced music you may prefer the version with the extra tracks. I think the extra tracks can be skipped unless you must have everything Chicago recorded. You may wish to survey the available versions to determine which version best meets your needs before buying.

This album has a stunning variety of music. The general tone is positive and enthusiastic. The album shows a lot of pop influence, both in the style and tone of the music and in the length of the songs, which are all under four minutes. There is a lot of jazz and blues influence, but the songs are generally pop. It is likely the pop style that caused this album to be the first Chicago album to be certified platinum, and Peter Cetera's beautiful ballad had to have been a critical part of the that success. While those of us who liked the early progressive rock-jazz Chicago albums may decry the transition of Chicago to a pop band, the album was a commercial and critical success well beyond any of those earlier albums, and further elevated the musical importance of Chicago in the mid-70s.

In some of my other reviews (Tower of Power & Crusaders) it sounded like I was dissing Chicago. They are a very good group and this album, in particular, proves it. On this album, they seem to be going for more of a pop-soul-rock hybrid which works very well. The funkiest song is "Skintight" (not the Ohio Players song) & the group really pulls it off. The ballad "Mama Mama" is nice. The Latin tinged "Another Rainy Day in New York City" is also very enjoyable. I remember it getting some airplay on the radio.

The monster hit "If You Leave Me Now" is one of the best light-rock songs of all time. When you listen closely, you can tell how well it was arranged. I believe it won a grammy for "Best Accompaniment for Vocals" and I can see why. I have a soft spot for a good light-rock song.

My very favorite song is "You Are On My Mind", a breezy, uptempo tune which should have been a major hit. It sure sounded better than a lot of the stuff that was coming out of the radio in early 1977. To me, the song a had a bit of a Motown feel to it.

What keeps this from being a 5 star album are a few uneven portions, but nothing is really bad. I also think that Chicago gets underrated as a blue eyed soul group. While not strictly blue eyed soul, many of their songs have that feel bubbling underneath.

Anway, I'm sure Chicago fans already own this one. I would even hazard to say that if you are interested in checking out Chicago beyond a Greatest Hits album, you may want to check this one out. Good stuff!

Chicago X was the group's first grammy nominated album and it produced the group's first number one hit. For all its acclaim, Chicago X really doesn't measure up to the group's earlier albums. All in all, Chicago X is a good but not great album.

The album starts off with the powerful Kath composition, "Once or Twice". This is one of Kath's better compositions and, in my mind, it should've been released as a single.

"Scrapbook" and "Another Rainy Day in New York City" are solid Robert Lamm compositions. "Scrapbook" is an interesting piece that gives a condensed history of the group in a little over three minutes. ARDINYC is just another hit from the Robert Lamm song book. However, I think Cetera would've done well to can the West Indian patois as it sounds rather disingenuous.

Lee Loughnane's "Together Again" is another good song and it makes me wonder why Loughnane didn't do more singing on some of the group's previous albums. On the other hand, Pankow's vocal on "You Are On My Mind" is reedy and flat--just like the song itself!

"Skin Tight" has a sharp guitar solo by Kath and it's basically a good piece. My only criticism of this number is that it sounds too much like a bunch of white boys pretending they're black. It didn't work very well for the Stones and it doesn't work here either.

"Mama Mama" is pretty decent but it seems like it was written with the intent of being a Top-40 single instead of a meaningful ballad. Likewise, on "If You Leave Me Now" Cetera strays from the group's distincitve sound in favor of mass audience appeal. Perhaps this was the beginning of the end for Chicago.

The rest of the material on this album just plain sucks. However, I wouldn't let a few duds and lackluster pieces stop me from buying this album.

Chicago's 1976 gift to America's 200th birthday was a chunky-funky bad boy which included their 1st #1 single (Pete Cetera's Grammy winning IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW).

Armed with a rough & ready James William Guercio produced crop of tunes, the boys returned to their unconventional CHICAGO V format of spilling out what they felt. If a hit happened, it was by accident. Well, IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW may have been by design, but nothing else in this set was predetermined for airplay.

That's why I like CHICAGO X. Opening with Terry Kath's utterly unconventional ONCE OR TWICE, half Chuck Berry & half Tower of Power, Side One is anybody's guess as to what they'll try next. Jimmy Pankow's YOU ARE ON MY MIND follows, feeling like a jazzy ballad, but injecting enough of JP's own dirty, street-wise trombone to make it feel illicit. The filthy funk of Pankow's SKIN TIGHT follows, with Fender Rhodes Zappa would lust after, and horns that rip into your gut. After Cetera's orchestra accompanied single, Lee Loughnane's friendly yet dangerous TOGETHER AGAIN adds another dimension. ANOTHER RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK CITY by Bobby Lamm comes in from left field with a Latino groove that refines what the boys introduced on CHICAGO VII.

Side Two begins weakly with Cetera's sleepy MAMA MAMA, but Lamm's SCRAPBOOK wakes you up with an absolutely blistering funk-groove. Check out the balls-y bass work of Cetera complementing the jackhammer drumming of Danny Seraphine for a rythym section clinic. Lamm's GENTLY I'LL WAKE YOU doesn't, but his group-sung ripper, YOU GET IT UP, approaches Focus's HOCUS POCUS for sheer instrumental pleasure. Kath's ballad HOPE FOR LOVE closes things out as a strange but instrumentally interesting mood piece.

CHICAGO X illustrates what their fifth album did 4 years prior--that when their once-priciple songwriter Bobby Lamm is on, with the support of his horn players pens, all is right in Chicago.

This recording has good rockers, ballads, and some funky stylings that can't be beat. Probably the most underatted cut is the funky You Get It Up which features a group lead vocal and some funky guitar playing and strong horn support. The latin flavored Another Rainy Day In New York City is another gem that should have gotten alot more airplay. Once Or Twice and Scrapbook are cool rockers with some intense guitar solos by the late great Terry Kath. The ballads work as well as If You Leave Me Now, Hope For Love, and Gently I'll Wake You are all performed with much emotion. Not quite a perfect five as music this poppy is not always my style. However consistent this recording is and most mainstream music fans will enjoy it.