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Chicago VIII

Chicago - Chicago VIII Audio CD

A fair review of the Chicago "Chicago VIII" 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 VIII
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-11-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Anyway You Want 2: Brand New Love Affair - Part I & II 3: Never Been In Love Before 4: Hideaway 5: Till We Meet Again 6: Harry Truman 7: Oh, Thank You Great Spirit 8: Long Time No See 9: Ain't It Blue? 10: Old Days 11: Sixth Sense (Rehearsal) 12: Bright Eyes (Rehearsal) 13: Satin Doll (Live, 1974)

To Buy It 3 Times ...It Must Be Good ! ! !
Then as I have tried to collect CD's I bought a copy in CD. Well I have owned the vinyl since the album came out in the mid 70's, complete with the unused iron on T-shirt transfer. Now ,as the years have lost that copy, I just replaced it. As always, it is Chicago at their best, with all the trimmings. You can see by my other reviews, I am a Chicago fan. What else can I say, this is a very good album. I can't say enough about it, the song selection includes some real "classic" Chicago hits like "Old Days" and some off the wall non-mainstream
"sleepers". That you will love. This version of the CD is remastered to include a couple of extra rehersal tracks.

Old Days And New Directions For CTA!!!!
So this recording is a very direct set,where everything musically is very centered. After a band does an albums as musically ambitious as Chicago VII it's pretty clear that they needed to take a different direction and one that was more focused. Not only that but after the heavy jazz-funk fusion of the previous album there was a surprising rock oriented sound to the material here. The songwriting is also not seemingly as important as some of the solos. And a lot of this has to do with Peter Cetera surprizingly. "Anyway You Want" actually has a very 50's rock rhythm to it and a pretty gutsy style,from the piano to the lyrics. This album tends to be something of a black sheep in Chicago's 70's catalog;along with Hot Streets it finds them in a transitional period and Chicago went through at least three of them during this decade. The rocky riff-o-rama of "Hideaway",another Cetera tune does give Kath a great opportunity to strech out with tones of heavy steel,fuzz tone and other Hendrix derived effects (Jimi was apparently a Chicago fan in his final years) and the fact the bands famous horn section is absent from that and some of the other songs do take a little of their originality away at times. But there are some great moments;the nice R&B-ish ballad "Brand New Love Affair" was sadly one of Chicago's lowest charting hits up to this point. Kath's "Oh,Thank You Great Spirit" and "Til We Meet Again" both make excellent use of echoplexes and the juxtaposition of ballad/rocker. Lamm's satirical "Harry Truman" is a real highlight,a nice little jazzy pop tune with this kind of hammy 30's style horn solo-it
s one of the more upbeat and poppy tunes here and a personal highlite. The ballad "Never Been In Life Before" is a nice change of pace and "Long Time No See" has nice pop feeling too,though not the greatest thing here. The rocked up funk of "Ain't It Blue" is a cool reminder of what the band had been doing best beforehand. The final track is "Old Days",a quintessential Chicago hit,oddly placed as the final song even if it's the tune most people came into this album for. The bonus cuts are sketches of tunes that sound more like classic Chicago then some of what made the final cut on this:everything from the quiet "Sixth Sense" to the jazzy "Bright Eyes" to the brassy cover of "Satin Doll". This particular album definately marks the conclusion to the early phase of Chicago's recording career. It doesn't sound much like earlier Chicago albums put in many ways points to some of their music to come.

"Chicago VIII" A Wonderful Surprise
e. As I continue to make my way through the classic old Chicago studio albums, I wasn't expecting much from "Chicago VIII," as I hadn't heard too many positive things about it, i. the band were worn out from touring at the time they made it, that they sound less inspired, that Chicago fans in general don't rate the album all that high, and so forth. Well, guess what: "Chicago VIII" turned out to be a wonderful surprise for me. If the band were "tired" at the time, they sure don't sound it. I think the music on "Chicago VIII" is marvelous, with the band having lost nothing in musical power (at least not yet---the 80's hadn't happened yet). "Chicago VIII" is chock-full of great songs, performances, and the band show amazing musicianship throughout. Even future cheesemaster Peter Cetera is still a bassist, singer, & songwriter to be reckoned with on this album. Cetera's "Any Way You Want" is a fun, bopping tune, and his all-out rocker, "Hideaway". . . . wow, who knew the guy had it in him to just plain *rock out*? Impressive, Peter! Robert Lamm's "Never Been In Love Before" is an absolutely gorgeous song (and I'm astounded Chicago never released it as a single) while his Randy Newman-esque "Harry Truman" is great fun, and "Ain't It Blue," sung by Cetera and Terry Kath, is a great groover, as is "Long Time No See. " And speaking of the late, great Terry Kath, his work on "Chicago VIII" is tremendous---"Brand New Love Affair," the short-but-sweet "Till We Meet Again," and the god-rock of "Oh, Thank You Great Spirit". . . . fabulous. And finally, there's the big hit from the album, "Old Days," courtesy of James Pankow, and it's a Chicago classic (just one thing---doesn't that opening guitar riff sound uncannily like Pink Floyd's "The Thin Ice," which came later in 1979? Hmmmm. . . . calling Roger Waters. . . . ) Finally, this remastered edition of the album gives you three amazing bonus tracks: the smokin' hot jams "Sixth Sense" and "Bright Eyes," and a fine live performance of "Satin Doll. " For me, "Chicago VIII" is a total package. Chicago themselves may have been under a bit of stress at the time, but they don't sound it at all. "Chicago VIII" is a classic Chicago album, and it may even be my favorite album by the group. Time---and some more spins of their old stuff---will tell!.

Under rated?
I was ten when it came out and at 44, I still like it. People were pretty hard on this record. My favorite tune is one that I am not sure anyone else really thought to like, "Oh Thank You Great Spirit". Terry Kath dies in his sleep and notices himself wandering the room looking back at his body. When his spirit "departs", the music transforms from a dream like sequence to a hard heavy "I am a run away freight train" pace. It's just a long, long guitar jam that gets faster and faster until it goes out cold in the end, as in "I just left your world- goodbye". It will make any modern day metal head or 70's prog rocker take notice, even Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) too I bet. Hopefully, Terry is still feeling that way after his accident too. .

Chicago Rock Album
Chicago 7 was a jazz album. This album rocks! Chicago can perform many different styles of music. On 8, they went for a hard rock sound on most of the tracks. This album contains some great guitar work by the late Terry Kath. The only Chicago album that rocks harder is the first one, the Chicago Transit Authority album. Kath got to cut loose in a big way on that first album. Chicago 8 was a single LP. It's biggest hit was "Old Days". The best of the album tracks include "Anyway You Want", "Hideway", "Ain't it Blue", and "Long Time No See". The music is hard driving and not as commercial as some of their other efforts. Overall, Chicago 8 should be considered in the top 5 of the Chicago albums. .

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.