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DiscountDelight - Chicago XXX
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List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $10.99
Your Save: $ 7.99 ( 42% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0081227336226
Label: Rhino / Wea
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
Publisher: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: 2006-03-21
Studio: Rhino / Wea
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Rearrange the order, though.
Comment: I'm a huge Chicago fan, and have waited a long time for new material. I was disappointed with the first listen, since the first half of the album is ballad-heavy. But after a few listens, and some reordering of the songs, this is really a fantastic release. The horns sound better than ever. I agree that "Feel" (with the horns) is far better than the single version they released.
There are ballads, jazz, rock and a bit of funk mixed in here. And finally, the brass has returned with a vengeance! This reminds me a lot of Stone of Sisyphus (the unreleased album of 1992). Excellent stuff here. Well done, guys.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Comment: Great album. A few too many ballards, but overall a strong effort.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Chicago XXX - One man's opinion
Comment: So Chicago has finally released a new album after about 10 "greatest hits" kind of albums in a row. Let me tell you, I think this album is really good. Maybe not great, but it's friggin' Chicago, and it's original material. Hopefully there will be a good response and they'll continue doing new material. Right now, "90 Degrees and Freezing" is my favorite song on the album. Here's my take on the rest of the album:
Vocals - Scheff sounds great, Lamm sounds as good as ever, and Bill Champlin is still the man.
Instruments - I don't know why there is another mix of the single Feel called "Feel (with horns)." I mean, i know why, because you can't hear them in the regular single, but they obviously fit perfectly in the song, so why leave them out? I don't think horns are a "must" for every Chicago song, but listen to Feel (with horns) and you'll agree that is the way it should have been. That being said, the rest of the instrumentation is great.
People are all entitled to their own review/opinion, but I want to address the one I paid the most attention to, by Amir, because it discouraged me a little at first. He lists out the number of non-Chicago writers/musicians/vocalists on the album, and makes it out to be a huge detraction from the quality of the album. Despite a guest musician here or there on most songs, the band Chicago is still playing the music and singing the songs. If Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney and Gary LeVox sing a total of 14 bars on a song, then they get credits as guest vocalists. What's the problem? They are a singing group and the song is a collaboration between the two groups. Chicago is still awesome. If Keith Howland (incredible guitarist - check out Live at the baked Potato or the Howland/Imboden Project) doesn't play every single rhythm AND lead track, does that make it suck? OF COURSE NOT! How can dude have a problem with Bobby Kimball (lead singer for Toto) being brought in for backing vocals? The man is a fantastic vocalist, and has worked with members of the band MANY times in the past.
Bottom line for me is what's coming out of my speakers. Do I like it - YES! Do I recommend it to the people who constantly whine about missing cetera/kath - YES! Just buy the album, to support Chicago. Hopefully they will make more original music, and maybe next time it'll be something a little closer to what others are saying they are looking for.
Last thing...if you can possibly find a copy of the unreleased "Stone of Sisyphus," it's pretty awesome. Just thought I'd let you know. If you got htis far, thanks for hearing me out. Listen to the album clips and form your own opinion...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Complete drivel...
Comment: I was apprehensively awaiting the new release of studio material after 15 years. Apprehensive because I wasn't sure if we were going to get some more rehashed power ballads or something fresh and new. Unfortunately this is the same pap that dominated their late 80's and early 90's work. If anyone has heard the material from the never-released label-rejected "Stone of Sisyphus" (aka Chicago 22), you will know that this band is capable of exciting and fresh music. Those songs sound terrific even after 14 years. What a waste!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Middle of the Road pop music done well....
Comment: I will offer a disclaimer up front that I prefer the older sound of Chicago over the newer, but I took my time formulating this review after listening to the cd several times until I felt I could look at it as an individual album instead of comparing to earler Chicago albums with different band members.
The cd contains 12 new songs that are primarily ballads or pop tunes that would be at home on most easy listening radio stations out there. There are two versions of the song "Feel" presented, one to open the disc and a second to close it that contains some more horn work then the first version.
The vocals are clear, generally crisp and soulful. The band continues to be blessed with having three very capable singers that can share lead duties in Robert Lamn, Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin. The songs themselves are the equivilant of a nice spring day, pleasant and inoffensive without being too hot or cold. The songs have a very polished sound to them. While the songs are fine to listen to, I had a hard time finding anything to really latch onto and sink my teeth into that made me want to listen to it over and over again. The forementioned "Feel", along with "Caroline" and "90 Degrees And Freezing" are probably the songs that have the most potential for repeat listening.
How I view the music is I see the cd as being full of potential background music for a low key party. There's nothing that anyone would object to and pleasant enough to set a mood without any of the songs demanding your attention to pull you away from socializing.
It's not a bad cd, its well produced and easy to listen to. There's just nothing that demands your attention and sets it apart from anything else on the market anymore. That's a terrible shame, because this is one very talented group of musicians that created a style of music back in the late 60's and 70's that was different and unique unto themselves. That sound that set them apart from others has morphed into songs that as another reviewer remarked, are designed to 'play it safe'. They do play it safe and while there's nothing wrong with that, a person can't help but think about what kind of album they would put out if they made one strictly for their own pleasure instead of worrying about trying to please the masses.....
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Editorial Reviews:
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On their first studio album of the millennium, the horn rock progenitors continue to mine the pop ballad vein that's been their stock in trade since the '70s. The fiery, jazz-rooted brass arrangements that were their original signature continue to take a back seat to slick pop constructions (or disappear entirely on the opening single mix of the album's harmony 'n' electro-rhythm-driven "Feel"), even as they add a sense of familiar integrity throughout. Their continued focus on pop vocal riches is ably aided on the winning ballad "Love Will Come Back" by country stars Rascal Flatts and pushed in a more contemporary r&b vein via the sultry guest vocals of Shelly Fairchild on "Why Can't We." Yet Chicago still manages to conjure an impressive range of musical energy and dynamics throughout, from the spare, neo-classicism of "King of What Might Have Been" (featuring the deft harmonies of guest Joseph Williams) and pop-precious "Caroline" to the muscular energy of "90 Degrees and Freezing" and Caribbean flavored "Come to Me, Do." --Jerry McCulley
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