Chicago VI (1973)Peter Cetera - Bass, Vocals, Harmonica (?)
Terry Kath - Guitar, Vocals
Robert Lamm - Keyboards, Vocals
Lee Loughnane - Trumpet, Background Vocals, Percussion
James Pankow - Trombone, Percussion
Walt Parazaider - Woodwinds, Percussion
Danny Seraphine - Drums, Percussion
Additional Musicians:
Loudir Soares De Oliveira - Congas
Joe Lala - Congas
J.G. O'Rafferty - Pedal Steel Guitar
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Critic's Choice
2:49Just You 'N' Me
3:42Darlin' Dear
2:56Jenny
3:31What's This World Comin' To
4:58Something in This City Changes People
3:42Hollywood
3:52In Terms of Two
3:29Rediscovery
4:47Feelin' Stronger Every Day
4:15----------
Chicago VI was, in many ways, a turning point for the band. With the huge success of
Chicago V, their first album to reach #1, there was perhaps some temptation to take the formula further. The songs continued to get shorter, less adventurous, more pop and less prog. This would have been fine, except that fans and band members alike generally agree that the material on this album was not as strong as on
Chicago V, or any previous album for that matter. This is Chicago's shortest album, clocking in at just under 38 minutes total time, with ten songs total.
It is a mellow, introspective album, much like Pink Floyd's
Wish You Were Here or Genesis'
Wind & Wuthering, which also followed huge, breakthrough albums (
Dark Side of the Moon and
A Trick of the Tail, respectively). Robert Lamm wrote five of the ten songs, and each of them is basically voice and piano, although most have at least some embellishment (that is to say, some do not). Four of the ten songs have no horns at all, and two have the horns in a supporting role only (no true horn break). This left a lot of listeners wondering what happened, especially since the horns were all over the previous album.
To be fair, this isn't a bad album; it just had a very high standard to live up to.
Chicago VI did go to #1, buoyed by two Top Ten hits and probably the strength of the previous album as well. It was Gold within a month of release and eventually went Double Platinum.
"Critic's Choice" is a Robert Lamm solo piece, just voice and piano. It is addressed to all the professional rock critics who, despite Chicago's continued success, including a #1 album, continued to find bad things to say about them. It ends with a "Big C" on the piano.
"Just You 'N' Me" is a James Pankow composition sung by Peter Cetera. It eventually reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. It's a step up from the opening piece, but still pretty mellow, though it does feature a great horn break and a fine Soprano Sax solo by Walt Parazaider.
"Darlin' Dear" is the first real rocker on the album, with Lamm's piano grabbing you from the start, leading into a blues-shuffle. The horns come swaggering in, countering the melody and providing the backdrop for Terry Kath's smoldering guitar solo. At only three minutes, however, you're just getting into it when the song is suddenly over.
"Jenny" is Terry Kath's contribution, another mellow song with no horns. The guitar work, including the clean electric solo, is all excellent. Danny Seraphine's drum work is masterful, explosive yet understated.
"What's This World Comin' To" is another James Pankow song, a great uptempo rocker featuring round-robin vocals by the three lead singers. Robert and Peter split the first verse, Terry and Robert split the second, and Terry and Peter split the third. The chorus each time has Terry and Peter alternating lines. At just under five minutes, it is the longest song on the album, and a full minute and a half of that is the jam at the end featuring a rare Lamm organ solo over the horns and guitar.
Robert Lamm's "Something in This City Changes People" originally opened Side Two, once again starting things mellow with just voice and piano. The bass, drums, and guitar come in during the verse, which is sung in three-part harmony. Actually, the entire song is sung in three-part harmony, save for a descant line by Lamm. The break is a wistful scat by Peter, reprised at the end by an Alto Flute solo. A very nice though slightly unusual song.
"Hollywood" is another introspective Lamm song. It picks up a bit in the middle and continues to build, and there's some nice horn work throughout.
Peter Cetera's country-flavored "In Terms of Two" is next, starting off with a harmonica hook and featuring some tasty steel guitar work by session man J.G. O'Rafferty.
"Rediscovery" is the final Robert Lamm song on the album, once again primarily a voice and piano piece although technically it's performed by the full band. It speaks of the need to regroup, get away from things, and rediscover what's really important.
"Feelin' Stronger Every Day" was the other hit, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. It was co-written by James Pankow and Peter Cetera, and sung by Peter Cetera. The album finishes on a high note, an uptempo song.
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In case you couldn't tell, I had some trouble finding positive things to say about this album and the individual songs on it. And that's just plain unfortunate. This isn't a bad album; I actually like it a lot, and most of the songs are really good. It's just that it's so mellow overall, especially following the blazing hot
Chicago V, that it feels weaker than it really is.
A good album has some variety to it. There are the heavy/upbeat songs, a mellow one here or there, and most somewhere in between. Once a band has several albums out, and you look at their catalogue and the albums within it, you can usually see a similar breakdown. Each album has its own character, some are heavier overall and some are lighter. This is the mellow one in the Chicago early catalogue, the breather between the breakthrough
Chicago V and the epic
Chicago VII.
Chicago VI was the first album with a picture of the band on the cover, though it was worked into the overall design which featured, as always, the Chicago logo. It was also the first album to have additional players on it. J.G. O'Rafferty's steel guitar is perfect for Peter's song, but the decision to add outside percussionists was an interesting one, especially since the horn players had always played Latin percussion in the past, and this album had the least amount of horn work of any so far. As it turns out, Laudir De Oliveira would appear on
Chicago VII as well, and finally become the eighth member of the band on
Chicago VIII.