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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chicago "evolved" into a different band, May 18, 2005
There are many bands that basically have spanned my entire lifetime and continue to produce music - but Chicago is one of those bands. At the writing of this review, Chicago has been a band for 37 years. During this period Chicago changed its musical style a great deal - they started out as one of the first bands of the rock era to incorporate a horns section as a regular part of the music. They then went through some transitions and wound up being a very successful Adult Contemporary band. Many will criticize the changes, but one way to think about it is that the band basically was successful within two genres of Rock. In addition, how many bands can claim to have a their most successful album 17 albums into their career. Better yet, how many bands make it to a 17th studio album? "Chicago 17" is that album. While some say Chicago abandoned their roots with "Chicago 17", I tend to disagree. I think Chicago just evolved - and there are still some places where they stayed true to their roots.
When I look at Chicago, I can break the history of the band into four eras. These eras are closely tied to the producers that Chicago worked with. The first era is the 'James William Guercio Era'. This covers 1967 - 1977 (Albums "Chicago Transit Authority through "Chicago XI"). This is the classic era of Chicago in which the horn sound was very much at the forefront of most of the music. The second era is the 'Transition Era'. This covers 1978-1981 (Albums "Hot Streets" [Chicago 12] through "Greatest Hits Volume 2 [Chicago 15]". During this period the band did two albums with legendary producer Phil Ramone and one with Tom Dowd. It was during this period that the band picked up the pieces after the tragic death of Terry Kath and began to explore different avenues - such as incorporating a disco sound into their music. While the Guercio Era had commercial success, the Transition Era was more of a struggle both commercially and critically. Thus the third Era brought in producer David Foster for the 'David Foster Era'. This era covered 1982-1987 (Albums Chicago 16 through Chicago 18). It was here where the band began to move toward an Adult Contemporary Sound. Many criticized this change, but Foster got the band back on track commercially and still respected Chicago's brass horn roots. In the Fourth Era covering 1989 to the Present ("Chicago 19" to present), this the 'Modern Era'. Chicago worked with producers Chris Sandford, Ron Nevison, Bruce Fairbairn, and Roy Bittan. This was the era where Chicago completely transformed into an Adult Contemporary Band, moved away from its brass horn roots, and for the first time - had a dependence on third party songwriters. "Chicago 17" falls in the heart of the "David Foster" era. This is an album that clearly has Foster's footprint on it - and is a reason why it was successful.
One thing that is most noticeable about Foster's music is that it has a certain style. His keyboard arrangements have a distinct style that makes it easily recognizable to be "David Foster" music. I can't say this is style is something very tangible, but it does become obvious when you listen to his music. This is especially true when you compare this style to the work that Foster did as a solo artist and producing/writing other artists such Lionel Richie (Foster wrote "The Only One" from Richie's "Can't Slow Down" album). In Foster's music, the keyboards are the dominant instrument, but often there is a wide variety of instrumentation - especially an infusion of horns and guitars. Thus, the "marriage" between Foster and Chicago is a natural fit. Make no bones about it - "Chicago 17" isn't old Chicago. The horns and brass section are in a secondary role, but they still play an important role.
The two most popular songs are the adult-contemporary ballads "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration". These are two songs that have Peter Cetera on lead vocals and he doesn't a solid job on lead vocals. There were also two other singles released, "Along Comes a Woman" and "Stay the Night" - also featuring Cetera on lead vocals. Of all the songs released as singles from this collection, I think "Along Comes a Woman" was the best. Not only does it have some great horns (some of the best on the album), but all of the instruments sound real crisp. Cetera's vocals are right on the money as well. While "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration" have more of a David Foster-feel, this song seems to break away from the mold. On the other end, I have never been a fan of "Stay the Night". This song doesn't have a "Foster-feel" either. This song contains no horns, but this is not the problem - this just isn't a very good song.
The strongest song on the album is the second track, "We Can Stop the Hurtin'", This song has more of an R&B feel and doesn't sound like the trademark David Foster tune. This song has some of the best harmonies of any of the tracks on the collection. It also contains some great horns. Other very good songs include: "Prima Donna" (this song is from the movie "Two of a Kind"); the R&B and jazzy "Please Hold On" (featuring Lionel Richie helping out David Foster with songwriting), "Only You" (more terrific harmonies), and "Once in a Lifetime" (this song takes a little to get into, but once you do - it's terrific". These lesser-known songs are actually the collection's strength.
Overall, this might not be the old Chicago and might not have the old-style horns of the early days - but this album does show that Chicago evolved into something special. Big selling album or not, there is still some good music. I'd recommend this collection
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Chicago Fan's Favorite, March 14, 2000
By A Customer
This was the second album that I ever heard by Chicago, and after having listened to all of theire others over the years, this remains to this day my favorite. All of the songs on this album click in a way that sends shivers down my spine. "Along Comes a Woman" is the best of the hits, but the others, "Stay The Night", "Hard Habit To Break" and "You're The Inspiration" still carry over well. The non-hits carry quite a bit of weight behind them, too, with "We Can Stop The Hurtin'" and "Please Hold On" rocking. For a good heart-felt ballad "I Remember The Feeling" is a good song to listen to. The other songs show great song writing ability including tunes by Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera. David Foster's ability to produce a great album is very evident here. A must have for any type of fan of Chicago to have. As an added bonus, if you have this on cassette, two tracks, "Prima Donna" and "Please Hold On" have different variations of them, making them even greater songs.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chicago was still kicking in its mid-stride, September 29, 2002
This late-80's release features some of the band's best and dynamic love ballads. While some "purists" might scoff at the MOR sound, under lead Peter Cetera, this listener finds the group to be in great form.A combination of excellent instrumentation, enjoyable vocals, and captivating lyrics makes this a welcome entry in any one's musical library.
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