CHICAGO VII

I think this is the best Chicago album. I know Guercio and Cetera weren't having fun, but I actually like the mixture. Side 1 is great. "Aire", especially, because it's one of Terry Kath's best guitar solos - it's too bad he didn't have more jazzier solos. Side 2 goes from prog to a bit of fusion, and on to the funky "Lifesaver" before ending on "Happy Man" (check out the Extended version on YouTube - very funny improv by Cetera).

Side 3 and 4 are my favorites. I don't see the problem with ballads, especially this one about self-discovery, with parts, and musically excellent. I'll always harbor resentment for Lee Loughnane (for being a horrible live player) but also for singing Terry's song. It's great, but his vocals never do it, even back-up. Maybe someone will find a missing demo? Great song anyway. The guitar work is a heck of a jam. "Byblos" - like every other Terry Kath song - is pure truth, since he added in an interview, "I can't write fantasy songs. Maybe one day". Of course, it never came, but even more reason to read his lyrics. There's a rehearsal version of this song which is more traditional, the drums and such, but it seems to have had the "Happy Man" effect, of more percussion, and some nice synthesizer, usually doubling up on Terry's bass playing (he plays bass on at least 4 songs). Peter was the "real good friend of mine" who somehow landed with Terry's girl in Japan. Check out the lyrics.

Side 4 is excellent. Beautiful start with the waves, and those eerie shapes of D on the acoustic, what I consider Cetera's best song. Luckily, he wrote it in LA and by the time they got to Carribou, he couldn't sing the verses that low, and so Terry Kath sings it, and it's much better for it. Great bridge. Very tender vocals by Terry Kath. Both guys were huge fans of The Beach Boys (calling them and The Beatles their favorite bands). "Call On Me" might have been Lee's first song, but here's a clipping from the box set.

According to Cetera, though, he needed some help. "I tried to help Lee Loughnane with a song," Cetera says, "and that song turned out to be 'Call On Me.' Lee had written a song. It wasn't called, 'Call On Me,' it was called something else, and it in fact was terrible. I talked to him at the ranch one day, and he was all bent out of shape. He said that he had played the song for the guys, and they had told him in fact to get the heck out of there with the song. I said, 'Well, come on, let's have a go.' So Lee and I went and re-wrote the lyrics and re-wrote the melody and came up with the song called, 'Call On Me,' which was a big hit for him." Loughnane remembers it a little differently. "Peter changed a couple of the words and the way he sang the melody in order for him to be able to play the bass and sing the melody at the same time because that's the way he felt it." Loughnane added, "I appreciate his efforts, and we did make the song a hit."..... Had Lee sang this, it would not have been as good.

Robert Lamm, like usual, seemed to give his best stuff for others to sing, always the encouraging, diplomatic, and thoughtful member of the band. "Women Don't Want To Love Me" is so funky, and the rhythm reverse is very cool on record, although I would have loved to have heard it played "straight" live, and a little faster, to better a live performance.

Definitely an album to listen to from start to finish, no interruptions. Sometimes an album like this can take a few listens before you fully appreciate it.

4.5/5