CHICAGO 17

Well, OK... 'Chicago 17' is only a perfect AOR album with perfect ballads and good 80's feelings. But this album was part of my childhood and for these reason please me also today. Since Journey and Toto please me overly I think that is clear that this album please me. But I do not have a rational justification as to why this occurs.

'Chicago 17' is the last Chicago album with vocalist/bass player Peter Cetera and, as i noted in previous paragraph is a perfect AOR album. The music, in general, is similar to Toto and Journey or Supertramp (post 'Breakfast...') but with more POP Jazz flavour. Not for arrangements (in general Rock) but only for construction. A good albums for comparison may know (despite the obvious differences of style) 'Toto IV' (Toto) or Journey's 'Raised On Radio' also if Magnum or Asia could approach it without causing major popular uprisings. Certainly if you use as term of paragon a song as 'We Can Stop The Hurtin'' you would not be able to give me reason because this song is an interesting Funky Disco POP interesting brasses. 'Hard Habit to Break', 'Remember The Feeling' and 'You're the Inspiration' are three great ballads that remember me Journey's ballads, from which they derive in every way (forgive me but I see it like this ... What's wrong with having this vision?).

In general 'Chicago 17' is an 80's AOR album, I repeat. And the production (by David Foster) is perfect in this sense. In fact the POP part of music emerge without stifling the other components of the music. Unfortunately, this type of production makes it too Funky POP songs like 'Only You' or 'We Can Stop The Hurtin''. And I do not like it sends down the drain the black component of Funky. Clearly this fact not affect the final result of this album, a good album, in general.

Clearly we must use great caution in approaching this version of Chicago with Toto, Journey, ELO, Asia, Magnum, Ten or Supertramp but these are the bands that I advise you to pull over if you like an album as 'Chicago 17'.

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