Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Chicago
Chicago tabs Chicago discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Chicago guitar tabs

CD reviews

Chicago III

Chicago - Chicago III Audio CD

A fair review of the Chicago "Chicago III" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Chicago reviews here, or go back to the Chicago tabs.

Band: Chicago
Title: Chicago III
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-07-16
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Sing A Mean Tune Kid 2: Loneliness Is Just A Word 3: What Else Can I Say 4: I Don't Want Yur Money 5: Flight 602 6: Motorboat To Mars 7: Free 8: Free Country 9: At The Sunrise 10: Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home 11: Mother 12: Lowdown 13: A Hard Risin' Mornin Without Breakfast 14: Off To Work 15: Fallin' Out 16: Dreamin' Home 17: Morning Blues Again 18: When All The Laughter Dies In Sorrow 19: Canon 20: Once Upon A Time... 21: Progress? 22: The Approaching Storm 23: Man Vs. Man: The End

Suites From A Band Chicago
So they decided after having three smash hit singles already they wanted to cut something they wanted to. Three years into their stellar career after the huge success of their first two albums Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago II (Repackaged) Chicago apparently decided that they didn't want to be too commercial. Pretty typical story from the early 70's right? Well maybe but there is always twists. In this case Chicago already had a commercial sound to begin with so,if an arty album is what there was going for there would still be memorable aspects. Basically this is an album divided into suits:there are 3 of them where all the songs run together. At the same time,for the purpose of CD presentation they are seperated out into 23 seperate cuts. All of these song,regardless of how they are presented with a very "live in the studio" flavor;it's almost as if Chicago just all got beind the microphone and played,with little extra stuff added. That being so it says a lot for this band's talents because this is some of the most verile,energetic and creative music Chicago created during. . . well a period of heavy creativity for them. Fact is only the first four songs stand alone. "Sing A Mean Tune Kid" has a perfect Sly Stone riff and is one of Chicago's funkiest jams;it runs on awhile and ends up in a Terry Kath solo but it's great regardless. The "suite" that Terry does on the album is one of the best here-he called it "An Hour In The Shower". Terry was always represented the gruffer voiced, rockier aspect of Chicago's sound and the five tunes he presents,in very ragged glory are consistant and hang very well together. Robert Lamm's "travel suite" is more musically erratic but includes some excellent tunes;the jazzy funk jam "Free" is short but the closest thing this album had to a hit. "Mother" is another nice R&B rocker with some rich sonic power while the folksy charm of "Flight 602" and the light pop balladry of "Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home" are also okay but not fantastic. The final suite,called "elegy" is the most impressive;the album cover features the familiar Chicago logo sewn into a very faded and weather damaged American flag. And the spoken word poem "When All The Laughter Dies In Sorry",as morbid as it is make it clear the early 70's was filled with seemingly unresolvable issues. One tune that makes the same point even more clearly is "Progress?",an instrumental starting with gentle horns which get "progressively" louder and more chaotic,to the point of playing along with the inner city sound of drills and car horns:it takes a very impressionistic and implicit "united funk" era message song flavor. On "The Approching Storm" and "Man Vs Man:The End" we're treated to two very intense horn based jams that are equally chaotic. Upon a brief inspection this album follows the same basic conceptual formula as the first two Chicago recordings but at the same time the rough n' funky sound of the production as well as the virtual lack of singles potential make this a definate AOR delight. The bands floutist Walter Parazaider said of in the liner notes to this album that Chicago never made "cookie cutter" music. Lucky for them Chicago were able to reach out to their audience with their journey of musical creativity rather then alienate them with a lot of self indulgent tricks. That's why it's important to acknowledge the presense of funk in their music;funk,and jazz by degrees are music's that are able to be ambitious AND reach out and touch the human heart and pulse in different ways. The fact that Chicago were able to integrate both genre's so successfully into their sound is a testement to how they truly understood what they were doing.

Sing a mean tune kid
Bringing together aspects of jazz rock, progressive rock (as it existed in 1971), acid rock, and avant-garde influences, this also may be their most experimental album - unlike the first two albums, there were no smash hits on Chicago III. This thrilling 1971 album by Chicago is the last to feature the lengthy song-cycle suites that characterized their 1969-1971 output.

All of the guys in Chicago were excellent musicians and the ensemble work on the album is fantastic. Counterpoint, melodies, harmonies, and the use of sophisticated meters are all used very well and make this album an extremely interesting listening experience. The guys were great vocalists too and they used the differences in the texture of their voices very well - for example, Terry sang the heavier pieces, while Peter sang the "sweeter", more melodic songs etc. Then there is the use of instrumentation: great big-band type horn arrangements, searing electric guitar, Danny Seraphines great drumming, Peter's fantastic bass playing (he is criminally underrated). . . whew, this is great stuff. Speaking of Peter, he is one of the few rock bassists that can play a convincing walking bass line and really drives each tune along.

Although the overall sound on III is pretty much in keeping with what you might expect from Chicago around this time (full throttle acid jazz rock with some great jamming), there is a tiny dash of avant-garde tendencies that set it apart; evidently a few of the guys were interested in Edgar Varese, Stockhausen and other similarly "serious" composers. The essentially structureless Free Country is the best example of this and features a pastoral blend of piano, flute and other quiet instruments - the closest comparison I can think of is the track Moonchild (In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson, 1969). Other "avant-garde" tendencies include the use of found sounds (jackhammers, car horns, and a flushing toilet) and spoken word passages (from the ominous Elegy suite).

This remastered effort by Rhino is pretty good and attempts to duplicate the old "double" LP (well, based upon what I remember of my old record from a billion years ago). The remastered CD even features the poster originally included with the record that depicts very grim looking band members dressed in military uniforms from various time periods. Set against the backdrop of the Arlington Cemetery, this is very serious stuff. The sound quality is very good and the CD booklet features various pictures of the group and other tidbits.

All in all, this is another excellent album of wild, acid jazz rock released by the group during a creative and artistic peak (1969-1972). Very highly recommended along with Chicago Transit Authority (1969), Chicago (a. k. a. Chicago II) (1970), and the superb Chicago V (1972).

the best
La primera es por definir una epoca, un lugar, por ser algo asi como un icono. De que manera puede considerarse a una grabacion como un clasico?. La segunda, para mi mucho mas valedera, es cuando puede escucharse una y otra vez a traves de los a�os sin deterioro alguno. Puedo dar mis (subjetivos) ejemplos: hablando de dos grupos que en un mismo tiempo fueron revolucionarios. Yes es el primero, Hoy me resulta insoportable. ELP el segundo. Todavia suena fresco y vital.
Chicago 3, a diferencia de los dos primeros discos de este grupo (y hablo en terminos generales) marca la misma diferencia.
SIn inhibiciones en las variantes musicales a recorrer, con arreglos, en algun caso francamente excepcionales (free es un gran ejemplo) y con un sonido que aun hoy es absolutamente fantastico, dificil de encontrar hoy, treinta a�os despues.
Interesante en este punto es una anecdota de santana. el segundo y tercer disco de este grupo tambien tiene esa gran calidad de sonido. Por que? Por que santana escucho chicago 3 y pidio al mismo ingeniero de grabacion. .
Clasico de primera linea, el mejor disco de este grupo bajo mi subjetiva mirada. Increible en que termino Chicago varios discos despues. en musica tan comercial y opuesta a estos origenes.
.

Chicago Rocks!
The music on Chicago 3 is entirely new to me because there are no major hits on this album that laymen know. I have become quite a fan of Chicago as well as new music that you do not hear of FM radio formats nowadays. Their use of horns is as always supreb and having live recordings in the Cd (evident because can hear Terry Kath talking in the backgroud before some of the songs) gives this album a somewhat raw feel while at the same time soundinging the polished finished product. Did i mention that this album has 23 songs on it, much more that many CDs of current day bands!.

THE BEST...but I agree it could have been more accessible
As a producer of jazz in this lifetime, now, I can understand Bill Fleck's point. Listening to this after 37 years was a real gas! My favorite tunes still are "The Approaching Storm" - a killer jazz/funk tune - and "Happy Cause I'm Going Home" - a masterpiece of period writing. Yes, "Sing A Mean Tune, Kid", a great song, goes on FAR too long even if you love (as I do) Terry Kath. "I Don't Want Your Money" is just about right time and solo-wise. I actually like "Hour In The Shower" and enjoy Kath's humor in it. He says 'spam' so then he can access 'hash' and get away with it. I saw this band, at Bucknell University's gymnasium in February of 1971. It was awesome, though much of the audience was not hip to the stuff from the third LP. I was, however. The Carnegie Hall Concerts were recorded less than 60 days later and are close (but not as freewheeling) to what I saw.
My first night as an FM DJ, in the early 1970s, I played "The Approaching Storm" and was showered with calls asking who it was. . . that should tell you how underlistened to this "#2" Pop Album REALLY was at the time. For me, Chicago I-IV was all she wrote, and this is my favorite of them all. A true GEM, even with its flaws. What a band this was. .

You can see a complete list of all Chicago discography, or go back to the Chicago tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.