Chicago II

One of the reasons I started this project, or thought of this project is that recently “someone” “gave” me 29 Chicago albums. It may be a surprise to hear there are 29 Chicago albums, I was certainly surprised, but I think there are probably like 5 or 6 greatest hits albums. Anyhow it occurred to me that I have never actually heard a Chicago album. I actually was not sure I could even name a Chicago song but then soon after I “received” the albums I saw an episode of Freaks and Geeks that mentioned that “25 Or 6 To 4” was a Chicago song. I will say I have seen plenty of Chicago albums. I must have seen Chicago V thousands of times in thrift stores and yard sales. It is kind of sad that 20 years from now there will be no music to buy at these places. I think CDs were already a real step backwards for the yard sale/thrift store/used record store experience. Granted a used CD plays much better than many used albums, but they really do remove the artwork from the equation more (especially since you can read the spines so easily). The used music buying experience to me was always about much more than the music. It was really insight into peoples lives, and into the past. I KNOW Chicago was super popular because of how many used copies of Chicago V I have seen, along with Leo Sayer, Chuck Mangione, Def Leppard (you need to scroll down a little on this link) and Journey (more scrolling but worth the trip!). I also know that a lot of people stopped listening to these albums and wanted to get rid of them. Whether I ever listened to a Leo Sayer album or not is beside the point.

Which brings me to Chicago II. Have you ever taken and hit of acid, and right after you have taken, even before the drugs start to kick in, you start to regret it? You regret taking it because you can already tell you are going to have a miserable trip, and there is no way to stop it until it is done. When the horns “Movin' In” track 1 on Chicago II started playing, that is exactly the way I felt. When the vocals kicked in, the singer started explaining why he was singing the song (something Chicago seems to do a lot of) I began to question this whole project. But unlike acid the whole thing was over in about an hour and I have yet to have any flashback. On a scale of 1-6 I give this album a II, unless you are a HUGE fans of rock and roll horns, then I think maybe a V.