Chicago V- an Underrated Masterpiece!!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Chicago gets a lot of discussion here, but I never hear a lot of love for Chicago V. The remastered version is a gem! The thing starts out with "A hit by Varese" which surely must be tongue in cheek! This is a very adventurous tune to start a transitional album with. I mean, it was the first of their records to be a single LP. There's just so much goodness on this thing, particularly the horn arrangements, which I don't think they ever surpassed. There's not as much Kath on this record, a shortcoming that's made up for on the bonus tracks, but the songwriting more than makes up for it! A 5-star outing as far as i'm concerned!

[JakeM]

I agree. This is one of my all-time favorite albums. Robert Lamm is really at the top of his game as a composer on this reecord. Chicago's finest hour.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Yeah, it's kind of strange since there's only one "hit" on it: "Saturday in the Park" and maybe "Dialog". The rest is stuff you didn't hear much of and the bonus tracks are great, too! Mississippi Delta City Blues is fantastic!

[Sean]

Maybe their strongest album from end to end. MUCH LOVE HERE!

[gpeccary]

I was never that much of a fan back in the day to investigate their album output, though their hits on the radio I always liked. I had a "friend" who was a major fan, and maybe that's why i didnt investigate them too far. But all the discussion on here has indeed sparked an interest in what may have been a gross oversight on my part to check them out. Another reason wy i love this site so much!

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Apparently this sucker was recorded before "Live at Carnegie Hall" was released, so they basically had recorded 14 sides of music between 1969 and 1971. Really just phenomenal as far as output is concerned. Plus they recorded the thing in just over a week's time. I guess it's somewhat different that the rest of their output since it's largely Lamm compositions. I can understand the tank being empty for everyone else after so much material being produced in so little time.

[the winter tree]

I understand their new album will feature many Lamm compositions!

[trurl]

As great as V is I think I like VII more. But I need to pull it out and listen to it, I've been burning out on VII.

[Digital_Man]

If this is the one with the wood cover I have it on vinyl(or should say had). Unfortunately I made the mistake of lending it to my dad(along with Steely Dan's "countdown to ecstasy,"Bruford's "master strokes" and a bunch of other albums) and never saw it again. I did play it once though and I remember liking it a lot and thinking it's not only very under rated but also very prog. Then again their first few albums were very prog imo.

As coincidence would have it I was just thinking about this last night for some reason. I was thinking how Chicago's first two albums were both recorded before KC's debut and yet(like Frank Zappa and the Nice in particular)they never seem to get credit for being an early prog band(no not proto you nut heads real f-ing prog.). But yeah there are those who claim Chicago weren't prog. No ten minute songs with horns and flutes and whole suites that take up an entire album side can't be prog(insert sarcastic vibe here). I think there's this notion that unless a US band is overtly influenced by the most well known English bands(ie Kansas)they can't be prog. Oh well. They were really good in their early days regardless of labels.

[Adrian]

Great, great album. I'd say it's Lamm's peak as a songwriter. I love the horn work and especially that chunky Hammond riff on "A Hit by Varese" -- that song is about the closest they ever veered toward prog-rock (not saying it actually is, though).

III will always be my favorite Chicago album, but I think this one is a close second. They were streamlining their sound on V, but they hadn't lost any of the creativity and fire that made the first three albums so amazing.

[Wisdomview]

I agree. This is one of my all-time favorite albums. Robert Lamm is really at the top of his game as a composer on this record.

^ These two things!

[profusion]

that song is about the closest they ever veered toward prog-rock

I'd say that about the entire album, actually. The first three albums were closer to an acid rock/jam thing, but V, VI and VII had a more progressive bent to them. More sophisticated writing and textures. V seems to show some influence from the English prog scene, at least to my ears.

Chicago V seems pretty well loved by most folks. For me, VI is the real underrated gem in the Chicago catalog. It gets a lot of slagging for whatever reason, but I had the CD in my car recently and had a hard time pushing the eject button even after several listens.

[Adrian]

I'd say that about the entire album, actually. The first three albums were closer to an acid rock/jam thing, but V, VI and VII had a more progressive bent to them. More sophisticated writing and textures. V seems to show some influence from the English prog scene, at least to my ears.

Chicago V seems pretty well loved by most folks. For me, VI is the real underrated gem in the Chicago catalog. It gets a lot of slagging for whatever reason, but I had the CD in my car recently and had a hard time pushing the eject button even after several listens.

Great points. And I think the main problem with VI isn't the album itself, but simply that it's overshadowed by such strong albums on either side.

[YESHEAD777]

V is great! picked up the rhino re-issue a while back. The live in japan disc draws heavilly from that. A Hit by Varese and State of the Union rock on it. And Terry really shines on it too. I thought I would like VII alot more cause of the free form jazz, but theres too much noodling, and not enough substance.

[the winter tree]

[QUOTE=Digital_Man;232356. I think there's this notion that unless a US band is overtly influenced by the most well known English bands(ie Kansas)they can't be prog. Oh well. They were really good in their early days regardless of labels.[/QUOTE]

Another good example of an American prog band not influenced very much by the UK: Todd Rundgren's UTOPIA (the first Utopia album from 1974)
Although the later UTOPIA albums seem to have varying degrees of British influence, on the debut they managed to avoid that and still be "progressive rock". Not an easy feat.

[Vic2012]

I love V. It's really their last great album (imo). Favorite track is "Goodbye."

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

the closest they ever veered toward prog-rock (not saying it actually is, though)

uhh... can you actually name any Rock band that was more capital P Progressive than Chicago from 1969-1972???

There are plenty who were *equally* Progressive with a different take on Prog (Brits, Italians and Germans), but none *more* Progressive

[Garden Dreamer]

I was never that much of a fan back in the day to investigate their album output, though their hits on the radio I always liked. I had a "friend" who was a major fan, and maybe that's why i didnt investigate them too far. But all the discussion on here has indeed sparked an interest in what may have been a gross oversight on my part to check them out.

You certainly have some catching up to do! You will not be disappointed!

I echo the love for this album. It's concise, the arrangements are tight and punchy and the production is stellar. This is probably as good as it gets with Robert Lamm for me - I'm not crazy about his songs on VII, otherwise it's a great album.

[N_Singh]

Seriously. WTF happened to this band? As someone who was too young to be around for their early albums. can someone explain the history of why this band turned from inventive, boundary less music to absolute dregs of the Earth godforsaken schlock. AOR/MOR A&R hacks took control? I mean, their early stuff was great! Their later stuff was an abomination.

Someone mentioned that a key member died. Did that have a big effect?

[Adrian]

Seriously. WTF happened to this band? As someone who was too young to be around for their early albums. can someone explain the history of why this band turned from inventive, boundary less music to absolute dregs of the Earth godforsaken schlock. AOR/MOR A&R hacks took control? I mean, their early stuff was great! Their later stuff was an abomination.

Someone mentioned that a key member died. Did that have a big effect?

It did. Terry Kath (guitars, vocals) left an enormous void that the band never really managed to fill. They kind of flailed around for a direction for a few years and got dropped by their label in the process. In some ways, their transformation into a ballad band was a natural process, as Peter Cetera was already moving in that direction. When David Foster came on board as producer and co-writer, he helped "reinvent" the band into what a lot of people remember/revile them for in the '80s.

That's a very cursory summary, but that's more or less how it went down.

[Adrian]

uhh... can you actually name any Rock band that was more capital P Progressive than Chicago from 1969-1972???

There are plenty who were *equally* Progressive with a different take on Prog (Brits, Italians and Germans), but none *more* Progressive

I don't want to dwell on labeling the music, but I don't really think of them or their music as ever having fit into the prog scene. That's not to denigrate the music at all. I love the first seven albums, and they were doing incredibly creative things. But so did the Beatles, and I don't really think of them as prog, either. But if others consider what they were doing to be progressive, that's fine with me. It's all good.

[Vic2012]

Seriously. WTF happened to this band?

That was my reaction when the sixth album came out. For me they lost the plot long before Terry Kath's death (and I was just moving on to other types of music at the time). The vibe just wasn't the same after album 5. That's why to me the first 4 studio albums are gems, and worthy of all the praise they get. For people who ever wonder about this band but aren't sure about their history I always recommend albums 1,2,3 & 5. That's really all you need (imo). I never cared for the Carnegie Hall (IV) album much. It was just too sprawling and bloated a mess. I ended up getting rid of it.

I'm actually kind of curious to hear VI though, since it seems to be a favorite here. To be fair I really haven't heard that album in probably 40 years. All I remember was being really disappointed with it. I remember reading the credits/liner notes of VI where they talk about leaving the big, grimey city and recording at "Caribou Ranch" (or whatever the damn thing was called) in Colorado. They just lost their edge and started moving toward schlock. To me Chicago lost it long before Terry died.

[Trane]

I may have to revisit V someday (oànce I think about it at my library system), but I thought it was a lesser output than CTA, 2, 3 and 7...

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I thought VI was a little poppy and too radio friendly, but then they came back with VII, one of their better albums. Carnegie Hall is essential mainly for Kath who gets a lot of solos and he plays waaay more than just the album versions and shows what a great improviser hew was. Cetera's bass playing is great, too. If you don't want to go with the sprawling Carnegie Hall, the forthcoming Live in Japan might be a more digestible slice of Chicago. I stopped buying their records after VIII, which isn't bad, it's just more of a pop direction a la VI.

[beano]

SO sad that Chicago isn't in the RRHOF but yet, KISS is being inducted...They are touring this summer w/ REO Speedwagon..Wouldn't mind seeing them..