Chicago - The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning
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Free Music Notes for The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning
Free Music Review: 1/2 Good
Hit: 3 Stars
I really enjoyed the first CD of this two CD set as it contained songs from the early years. However, the second CD contained newer songs with new band members from a time period I stopped enjoying Chicago's music. I would have much preferred two CDs filled with tunes from the early years. They certainly had enough songs in their repetoire to do so.Free Music Review: and 1/2 stars
Hit: 5 Stars
This is without a doubt Chicago's best greatest hits album with 39 of their most classic songs. This is the one to get for Chicago fans. It's got every song you could possibly want from "Just You N' Me" to "Hard Habit To Break". From "25 or 6 to 4" to my favorite "Saturday In The Park. This is a great 2 disc collection any music fan will want to buy this it truly is a must have.Free Music Review: Five Stars For First Disc. Three Stars For Scond Disc.
Hit: 4 Stars
Hence and average of four stars. Chicago is second only to the Beach Boys as America's most popular and prolific rock band. When I first heard one of their mediocre 80s ballads I did not understand this. However, my dad then played "25 or 6 to 4" and "Make Me Smile" for me and I thought to myself "are there two different bands called Chicago?". Only Genesis and Fleetwood Mac have gone under such dramatic changes because of the departure of one or more key members. The original Chicago was an amazing blend of big band (it was the only rock band to have a decent horn section), soul, jazz, hard rock, psychedelia, and prog-rock. Almost every single they released covered a different genre than the previous one. Sometimes they used two or more different genres in the same song! "Beginnings" starts out as a folk number before turning into swing jazz with its soulful vocals and ending with its tropical swing percussions.
Terry Kath was a very underrated guitarist who could come up with great solos on hits like "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4". He could also play beautiful acoustic guitar and even play funk on such tracks as "Free". Most bands either relied on pop hooks (Beach Boys) or they relied on texure (Pink Floyd) but Chicago could pull off both, often in the course of one song. The horn section at first glance seems like it should fall flat on its face but it helps add that 40s big band flavor to the music. In fact many of Chicago's songs are big band compositions on steroids. The effortless atmosphere is equally amazing. "Saturday In The Park" rivals Sly Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime" as the best summer anthem of all time. "Call On Me" is a beautiful lounge jazz and love ballad and even "If You Leave Now" has a nice calm but powerful atmoshpere.
Unfortunatly all good things must come to an end. Kath died in a unfortunate gun accident and their original producer left. The horn section just sorta vanished and the guitar and keyboards were replaced by bright shiny synths. The songwriting went in the toilet as bassist Peter Cetera took over. Cetera had written song great material for earlier Chicago so I don't know what got into him here. Things got progressively worse after he left. Finally by the 90s Chicago was just another classic rock band turned adult alternative rock band. Genesis and Fleetwood Mac made great changes that led to greater success but sadly Chicago did not.
The second disc is enough to lower this sets rating to a four star rating. Another thing that did not help was of course the edits but this is pretty much the only Chicago I know (their original albums aren't in heavy print anymore) so I didn't even notice the differences. When you buy this set, play the first disc to death. The second disc (the first's ugly step-sister) has its moments but it is ultimately a dissapointment. With that said this is still an excellent retrospective of a band that wasn't afraid to be different.
Free Music Review: The Very Best of Chicago Was The Beginning
Hit: 4 Stars
In the very late 1960s and 1970s, Chicago was one of the hottest musical groups in the world. A tight horn section, Lamm's piano, Kath's bass, Cetera's vocals - the whole cast was right on the mark with their albums and single releases. Like others, I had all their albums and played them until the phono needle screamed for mercy. Then Terry Kath died and, I believe, like other major groups that have had the untimely death of a key member, the music (and group dynamics) changed so that the Old Days couldn't be put back together again. After a couple more albums, I never bought another Chicago album - until this one. It has the great old songs on it, the ones that I went off to college with, and the newer ones that I never really could get into, although many were very popular in their time. I think that's why I would recommend this album: it would satisfy the fans of the old and new Chicago sounds, the old harder edge and the newer softer edge, but also give an insight of the songs that the old and new fans might not have, opposite the time that they enjoyed listening to the group. Free Music Review: Back to the Old Days
Hit: 5 Stars
Loved the CD. The music was woderful and it was great remembering the days when I first heard Chicago. Made very nice background music for a party that we recently had. Enjoy.