[.ca] Chicago (DVD Audio) [DTS SURROUND SOUND]

Complex and varried -- One of Chicago's Best:
On the inside liner notes to the album, the band writes, "With this album, we dedicate ourselves, our futures and our energies to the people of the revolution ... And the revolution in all its forms." (I think the band changed its name because the real Chicago Transit Authority, which actually operated trains and busses, didn't want their name attached to such a radical band!) From there on out, Chicago slowly drifted into assaulting us with lighter pop music. Such is life! But Chicago I (actually "Chicago Transit Authority") and Chicago II (actually named just "Chicago") are both rock masterpieces, blending rock and horn driven jazz into a perfect union. "CTA" is a pure rock album, with a dominating base line, somewhat distorted guitar, some really great drum work, with the horns being used for ambience like a synthesizer or for punctuation. With Chicago II, the band shows amazing growth as composers and musicians. The horns and woodwinds are allowed to take the lead, the music is easier listening, and the band braves soft rock classis such as "Colour My World" and "Wake Up Sunshine," and the jazzy "Fancy Colours." But, the album also contains some great rock, including the FM/AOR staple "25 Or 6 To 4." Unlike many albums, this album is not simply a collection of singles, and contains three extended suites, including two with titles, "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" and "It Better End Soon," and one group of songs including "Prelude," "AM Mourning," "PM Mourning," and Memories of Love." Each is in a very different style. The "Ballet" is the best known section, containing mostly soft rock ballads of the type which would become Chicago's forte in later albums. "It Better End Soon" contains some hard core jazz, while the "Mourning" suite is virtually a classical piece of music. It does take an eclectic and varied taste in music to enjoy the entire album. Why Buy the DVD-Audio? When the CD format was released, it was marketed as being perfectly true to the original master tapes. No skips, no record noise, no wow and flutter, and perfectly flat from the lowest notes to the highest notes a human can hear. What we got was 20 years of music which was synthesized, mechanical, cold, brittle, dry and fatigue inducing. CDs simply don't contain enough data to get the sound right. DVD-Audio (and SACDs which go back to the master tape) fix this problem. In addition, instead of two tracks, this DVD contains 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital music which can be played on all DVD players as well as higher resolution stereo and surround tracks for a DVD Audio player. You get to sit in the middle of the band. And the sound is marvelous. An A/B comparison with the CD reveals a midrange which is cleaned up immeasurably. This album contains real live horns and woodwinds. The brass sounds like brass instead of tin, and the vocals sound human instead of like a clock radio. Well worth the price of admission.

Sounds as fresh as the day it was released!:
My 19-year-old son came into the house the other day and heard Chicago II and said, "Dad, this is cool. What is this?" "It's like nothing you've ever heard before," I said. And it is. Even today. The horns blast. The vocals sizzle - oh wow, who can blaze away like Kath? I listen to this CD over and over again - and can't think of anything that matches its innovation, experimentation and sheer musicality - except maybe the group's first album - Chigago Transit Authority. After this album - well, we won't go there. I would say this stands up to the best of the Beatles. These guys are the equals of the Fab 4 - in their early days.

Ho Hummmmm....:
I saw Chicago on TV the other day. They were playing on Entertainment tonight at Hugh Hefner's 50th or 60th anniversary (Who cares anyway) and they looked and sounded more like a bunch of honkies. These people and the music they produced had nothing to do with alternative music or progressive rock. It was just an updated rehash of the death culture that brought us napalm, agent orange, wall street and legions of attorneys to litigate our rights away. If you don't like hearing about it, here's proof: You can hear probably every song on this CD being pumped into elevators by MUZAK on an hourly basis. So, why bother? Kick out the Jams and stay alive witht the MC5...

Chicago in its prime... and when they mattered.:
This is Chicago's second album, released in 1970, originally a double (vinyl) album, and released now with historical perspective by the fine folks at Rhino (is there a better re-issue label around? and no, they didn't pay me to say that!). "Chicago" (25 tracks, 73 min.) is best known for its 3 hit singles "Make Me SMile", "Colour My World" (never understood why the British spelling was used) and "25 or 6 to 4", but I enjoy some of the lesser-know tracks just as much, if not more. Take "Poem for the People" for example, with exquisite interplay by the horns, which in 1970 was still pretty novel for a rock band. The "It Better End Soon" suite (tracks 19-23, side D of the original album) is Chicago at its non-commercial, progressive best. This reissue comes with great liner notes (but not the lyrics) and the bonus single versions of "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4", which isn't really necessary but hey, it's a nice way to round out the 79 min. capacity of a single CD. I have never seen Chicago in concert, and for a fleeting moment I was tempted to go see them recently here in Cincinnati on the double-header with Earth Wind & Fire. Couldn't do it, for fear of disappointment. "Live in Japan 1972" is such an incredible live recording that I knew I would be disappointed.

4.5 stars - An excellent album:
Chicago (AKA Chicago II.) Chicago's second album, and the first to be released under the name Chicago. In 1969, the Chicago Transit Authority released their self-titled debut album, which was one of the greatest progressive pop-rock releases of its time. The band gained almost instantaneous fame from its release. Unfortunately, following its release, the actual Chicago Transit Authority (the real life organization that bares that name) threatened legal action if the band didn't change its name. Not wanting to face such heat, the band shortened its name to Chicago. After a good deal of time recording in late 1969, the band released its second, self-titled LP in 1970. Read on for my review of it. This album can really be divided into four different sections (I'm using the original LP designations for ease of reference.) They are Sides A, B, C, and D. Sides A and C are sets of tracks that follow similar stylings but aren't really related, while sides B and D are medleys. Side A, which is mostly blues-inspired pop rock, starts the album off. I had often wondered how blues rock that implemented horns would sound, and here Chicago answers that question - it sounds damn good! These first few tracks are, for the most part, severely underrated. Side B is the first of the two medleys present on the album. The medley as a whole is known as Ballet For A Girl In Buchanan. Tracks six through twelve make up this medley, and each one fades right into the next. This medley is nothing short of excellent. It includes Make Me Smile, which the band also released as a single. Side C is another set of tracks that aren't really related to one another, but they follow similar stylings. Inside this set of tracks is 25 Or 6 To 4, by far the most popular song to emerge from this LP. Robert Lamm wrote this song about being awake in the studio all night, and Peter Cetera's amazing vocals more than do it justice. It too was released as a single. The mini-suite, consisting of the three instrumentals Prelude, A.M. Mourning, P.M. Mourning, is also excellent. All of the tracks in the Side C set tend to lean more toward an orchestral theme than rock and roll (with the obvious exception of 25 Or 6 To 4, which is probably the hardest rocking song Chicago ever recorded.) And, of course, Side D finishes the album off. This medley is known as It Better End Soon, and it consists of the Movement tracks, tracks that while quite different seem to go together very well. It closes out with Where Do We Go From Here, which was the B Side to one of the album's singles. All in all, Chicago's self-titled sophomore effort is an excellent album that doesn't fall victim to the dreaded sophomore jinx. In edition to expanded liner notes, this new reissue of the album features two bonus tracks - the single versions of Make Me Smile and 25 Or 6 To 4. These weren't really necessary inclusions since their full-length counterparts were on the original LP, but they're great for Chicago fans who will want to compare the different versions of the songs. Also, the album combines what was originally a dual LP set onto a single compact disc, so that's a huge convenience. Overall, this was a great release for one of the soon-to-be greatest progressive pop-rock acts in the world. I personally liked the band's debut album released under the Chicago Transit Authority name better than I do this album, but my opinion is, rather obviously, in the minority - many fans of the band call this their finest hour. If you want progressive pop-rock that won't fail to please, purchase this album.

• Movin' On
• Road
• Poem for the People
• In the Country
• Wake Up Sunshine
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Make Me Smile
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: So Much to Say, So Much to Give
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Anxiety's Moment
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: West Virginia Fantasies
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Colour My World
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: To Be Free
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Now More Than Ever
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Fancy Colours
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: 25 or 6 to 4
• Prelude
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: A.M. Mourning
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: P.M. Mourning
• Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon: Memories of Love
• It Better End Soon: 1st Movement
• It Better End Soon: 2nd Movement
• It Better End Soon: 3rd Movement
• It Better End Soon: 4th Movement
• It Better End Soon: Where Do We Go from Here