THE CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

4.5 stars.The first time I remember hearing about CHICAGO was back in 1976, the song "If You Leave me Now" was all over the radio. My cousin Karen had purchased "Chicago X" and was trying to get us all into it. I had the same reaction to CHICAGO back then as I did toward disco which was then very popular. It would take a few years before I would realize that before the sappy ballads CHICAGO used to make great music. This is their debut from 1969 and it's a double album to boot. Lots of variety here as well. Those who know me know that I have allergic reactions to not only double albums but records that are all over the place. Yet this recording does nothing but impress me to no end.

According to James Pankow (trombone) "From it's inception, this was always a Rock 'n' Roll band with a horn section. But unlike other entities, our horn section was approached as a melodic voice with the vocals as another lead voice in and around the lead vocal lines." Robert Lamm (vocals, keyboards) said "We were judged to be a rather Avant-garde band at the time, especially if you saw us in live performance during the first year that we were touring.The nature of our performances was very spontaneous within the confines of each song". In talking about this album Pankow goes on to say "That music was and is to this day something that's hard to put your finger on in terms of a direction, it's just a culmination of the musical history of every guy in the band and what they brought to the dinner table in terms of making this sound. FM stations played whole albums without commercial interruption.This music was to become required listening on college campuses."

"Introduction" opens horns blasting as the bass throbs and drums beat. Vocals and organ join in. I like the drums before 2 minutes. It settles 2 1/2 minutes in. Organ and guitar after 4 minutes as the tempo picks up. Horns are back. Vocals too before 6 minutes. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is ?" opens with piano before the horns, drums and a full sound kick in before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals follow in this CHICAGO classic. Reminds me of summer. "Beginnings" opens with strummed guitar as drums, bass then horns come in. Vocals follow in this uplifting track. Everything seems to get more passionate half way through. Nice bass especially after 4 1/2 minutes. Percussion to end it. "Questions 67 And 68" again features prominant horns, bass and drums. The guitar comes in then vocals before a minute. Another well known track. Love when the tempo picks up before 3 minutes. "Listen" sounds amazing early on. So impressive as the guitar, bass and horns standout. Vocals join in before a minute. Cool track. Check out the guitar 2 minutes in. "Poem 58" is the last song on the first LP. I sound like a broken record but the bass, guitar and drums sound incredible here. And how awesome is the guitar ! It settles before 5 1/2 minutes as horns and vocals arrive. Kind of bluesy.

"Free Form Guitar" is like a page out of Jimi Hendrix's handbook. 6 1/2 minutes of guitar feedback and distortion (haha).This is CHICAGO ? Very experimental. "South California Purples" i'm sure is about acid as Sean Trane mentions in his review. I have a story about that in relation to CHICAGO that I might mention when reviewing their second album. Bluesy guitar to open as deep bass, drums, organ then vocals join in. Horns will come and go. Nice guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. A BEATLES reference before 4 1/2 minutes. "I'm A Man" is the cover of a Steve Winwood (SPENCER DAVIS GROUP) composition. How good is this version ?! The organ and guitar are fantastic. Love how heavy this gets at times. "Prologue (August 29,1968)" is basically an announcement and the crowd chanting. No music. "Someday (August 29,1968)" eventually kicks in with music, the chanting crowd can still be heard at times. Vocals, bass and piano lead. Horns come and go. "Liberation" is the almost 15 minute closer. Drums and bass impress as the tempo picks up. The guitar before 2 minutes proceeds to wail. This goes on and on and then it settles before 8 minutes. Check out the drumming a minute later as the guitar rips it up. It settles again and turns experimental including guitar distortion and dissonant horns. Odd metered drumming as well. Settles before 11 1/2 minutes in and builds until the tempo picks up before 13 1/2 minutes. A drum show late.

CHICAGO's finest hour right here. Very close to 5 stars.