Chicago - Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII)
List Price:
Our Price: $5.57
You Save: $13.41 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.66 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: ChicagoEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2008-06-17
Music Label: Rhino Records
Product features:
- CHICAGO STONE OF SISYPHUS
- Stone Of Sisyphus
- Bigger Than Elvis
- All The Years
- Mah-Jong
- Sleeping In The Middle Of
- The Bed
- Let s Take A Lifetime
- The Pull
- Here With Me (A Candle For The Da
- Plaid
- Cry For The Lost
- The Show Must Go On
- Love Is Forever (Demo)
- Mah-Jong (Demo)
- Let s Take A Lifetime (Demo)
- Stone Of Sisyphus
Free Music Notes for Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII)
Free Music Review: SOS - The Return of the Rock Band with Horns
Hit: 5 Stars
When the seven guys formed the band that became Chicago, they had a mandate: create a sound that was a rock band with horns. And they did. Brilliantly. Chicago walked the tightrope between longer pieces and radio-friendly shorter songs. As the hits kept piling up, so, too, did the pressure from the record labels to write singles. When they had their first #1 hit, wouldn't you know it was a ballad. From then on, for better or worse, Chicago became a ballad band. Sure, the fans knew the truth, but the casual radio audience (and the record executives) knew only one thing.
This kind of pressure had side effects. Outside writers were brought in to write a "Chicago ballad." The horns became less of the fourth vocal component of the band's sound and was relegated to the background. The composition of the band changed, whether through death or departure. Through it all, Chicago adapted. They made disco records that sounded pretty good. They incorporated the 1980s synth sound. And, as good as those 1980s records were, some folks got the impression that their heart was not in it.
Until 1993. After Twenty-1 (1991), Chicago had had enough. They wanted to make a record that *they* wanted to make. And they found a producer, Peter Wolf, who shared their vision. Walt Parazaider recalled that Wolf told him to bring all his woodwinds: all his saxes, flutes, clarinets. In that interview, Walt's grin was huge. What was also huge was the enthusiasm within the band. You don't believe me? Just listen.
The album that emerged was to be Chicago 22. It had heart and it had soul. And it had a lot of things unexpected. The song "Stone of Sisyphus" kicks the socks off a lot of the material from the 1980s. Sappy love songs have fake emotions but I dare anyone to listen to the song "Bigger Than Elvis" and not get a lump in their throat. You see, Jason Scheff's dad, Jerry, was the bass player for Elvis. The song is about a young Jason watching TV, seeing his dad, and thinking it was his show.
Rock songs: check. Emotional ballads: check. How about funk? Check, with "Mah-Jong" given voice by the blue-eyed soul crooner Bill Champlin. How about rap? That's right, rap with "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bet Again." Granted, it ain't Eminem but it doesn't sound wrong. It sounds good to say nothing about the lyrics.
Lyrics. Remember back in the day when Chicago wrote songs wishing Richard Nixon would quit, the plight of pollution, the burden of war, or the general dilapidated state of America? Well, that's okay. No one else does, either. They stopped recording those kinds of songs by the mid 70s. Not on SOS. Those kinds of songs came roaring back, with "Cry for the Lost" and "All the Years." The latter song has a bit of Chicago's own history throughout the lyrics and, in a bridge section late in the song, a direct link back to their first record.
So happy were the guys of Chicago to be making a record they liked that they even penned a song lambasting the modern recording industry. "Plaid" told it like it was for all of us who didn't know. It was like a shot across the bow that culminated with the iPod and downloadable music. Remember when I wrote that Walt was asked to bring in all his woodwind instruments? You got bass clarinet on this tune. Bass clarinet in a rock song! Can someone say Miles Davis and "[...] Brew"?
When it was all said and done, all recorded and put on tape, the album that was to have been Chicago 22 had it all. They loved it, they were proud of it. They even decided to name the album "Stone of Sisyphus" instead of Chicago 22. It was to have been something different, something special. They were ready to redefine themselves as a rock band.
Give you one guess what the suits thought. Upon listening to this CD, the suits knocked Chicago to its knees. The suits shelved the CD because "it didn't sound like Chicago." I bet these were the suits who thought 16 was Chicago's first album. When the suits locked the demo tapes in a vault, never to be heard by anyone, some of Chicago's heart and soul stayed in that vault. The band's reaction was where we are now. In effect, Chicago ceased to be a *rock* band with horns.
The bootlegs began filtering out in the mid 1990s. I'll admit that I acquired one. And I took tremendous joy in playing certain cuts of the album and asking people to guess who was singing. They rarely guessed right. You see, SOS is a unique album. It was an album by eight guys plus their producer making music that they liked. Not the suits. Not even their more recent fans. This was an album that lived and breathed freedom, the freedom they used to have back in the early days.
I still consider Chicago's first two records to be their best. I put SOS at #3. It's that good. And, with it being a bootleg, I could rarely share it with anyone other than to play songs in the car or at home. I never ever thought I'd get a chance to go to Target and buy an official copy of this monumental album.
Next week I can. And I will. And I hope you do, too. Let's show all those suits that they made a mistake back in 1993. Chicago 22 was the return of the Rock Band With Horns mentality. Chicago 22 may not have burned up the charts but the music was real. It was honest. It had heart. It had soul.
Isn't that what we want from our music anyway?
Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII) Poster
"Sisyphus has attained legendary status among rock critics, Chicago fans, those who?ve heard parts of it and those who have only read about it." ?from liner notes by Bill DeYoungFormed in its namesake city in 1967, Chicago is the first American band ever to propel albums into BillboardŽ?s pop Top 40 for five consecutive decades, and is among the most successfully charting U.S.-grown acts of all time. Now, another page in the band?s history is revealed with the long-awaited release of Stone Of Sisyphus, the once shelved album that has attained legendary status among fans and critics alike. Recorded in 1993 and originally intended as Chicago XXII, the disc marked a return to the genre-transcending, adventurous fusion of sounds that defined the group?s 1970s-era heyday. Three tracks from it surfaced on Rhino?s 2003 Chicago box, but the album itself is previously unissued?now, this momentous release also features four incredibly rare bonus tracks.
Pop Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Pop Music CDs
Yvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $20.02
Price in other shops:
Twin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CDTWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Bernadette Peters in ConcertDVD
Best price: $129.99
Everything Must Go/ Two Against Natureby Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashesby Ihsahn / Emperor
Candlelight Records/Emi; Published: 2009-07-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $9.75
Price in other shops:
![Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] Image](/images/Christmas-at-the-Biltmore-Estate-VHS-076700437X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $15.83
Price in other shops:
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissanceby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio ShowRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops:
The Serenaders - My One and Only YouRelease date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops: