The sixth album from this US band.
The band was a seven piece big band here with a lineup of woodwinds, bass, drums, guitars, keyboards, mellotron, minimoog, synth, piano, clavinet, fender rhodes, percussion and vocals.
The band also had help from ten guest musicians who provided keyboards, bass, woodwinds and vocals.
Their VI album was a pop album and I had given them up after that. But I still have some Chicago albums to review and I am continuing this task, no matter how bad they would be.
My hope for this album was nill. My surprise was big when when heard this album for the first time.
The album, a double-album, starts out very funky with a lot of jazz. No pop in sight..... for a while. And the opening minutes does not lie either.
There are some pop here. But the pop is better than the pop on their VI album. A couple of ballads like pop songs are actually rather good and gets my approval.
The main music is tropical, funky and jazzy brass rock. The brass is here, yes. And it is the best woodwinds album from Chicago since their debut album. There is also a lot of keyboards and piano here. Just to top it off; Terry Kath's guitars and guitar solos is very good on this album.
This gives us seventy odd minutes worth of music and I have to say I am pretty impressed. Those who want to check out this band can do a lot worse than starting with this album. It is a good album in it's own right too.
3 points
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