Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Great early Chicago!
Great
Tremenda obra maestra. Me sorprendió muchísimo que sea el primer disco de los Chicago. Esto es genialidad pura y me parece diametralmente opuesto al Chicago más tardío, el de los exitazos. Hasta parecen bandas distintas. Supongo que en algún momento fue necesario desviar el camino y se vale, pero lo que lograron aquí es oro puro.
Classic eternal beautiful music.
Horns. Hits. Heavenly.
Great debut album by one of the great bands of the 70s
If I ask someone for the time and they give me that nonsense I’m gonna bop em into last week
Classic
Classic that gets even better with time.
Hell yeah. How did this album stay off my radar for so fucking long?
Retail ruined a few of the more popular songs on this album for me but the deep cuts are really rockin. Good musicianship all around Best songs: Poem 58 I'm a Man
I love early Chicago. Also love later Chicago, actually, but boy this album just hits the spot.
Fantastic. Just fantastic.
A masterful blend of rock, jazzy, and pop make this an album anyone can enjoy thoroughly. Some of the best performances and musicianship I've heard on an album as well. Easy to get into with the radio hits, and easy to stay for the longer and more experimental tracks. A near-flawless album
I absolutely love this album! It hasn’t been far from my stereo since the day it was released.
No idea what's going on here, but its incredible. Audio quality is stunning, mixing too. Bangers
Love love love the horns on this album. Beginnings is an incredible song. I remember hearing the full extended instrumental outro blasted in the house speakers while eating at Moe's one time, which was awesome. This album is an amazing blend of brassy jazz and soulful rock that I need many more listens of to really digest it. But I will enjoy listening to this for a long time.
A jam
Awesomeawesomeawesome I LOVE old early wonderful funky sassy badass Chicago! pete cetera’s 80s cheesefest almost ruined them but man do I love their old stuff, the real deal - I have days where I ‘need’ to listen to them. So so good
One of the first albums I ever received as a gift. Loved it.
Perfect album! 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?' and 'Questions 67 And 68' are very nice. Free Form Guitar is perfect.
Great
Amazing horns!! I just loved their sound
I think it's worth remembering every now and then that Chicago (The Band) were, at one point, not just a soft rock cheese machine. Certainly, I've long been aware of that. I've played 'Rock Band 3'; I know all about "25 Or 6 To 4". Besides that, yeah, I've known about their debut for a while now. It's one album that I honestly did wanna give a shot way, way, **way** back when... But for one reason or another, I just never got around to it. Maybe its runtime scared me off, or... I'unno, me being me, I just got distracted and forgot about it. But either way, I think it's about time I went and gave Chicago (The Band) their due. 'Coz while I don't even **hate** their soft rock stuff (I got a space for "You're The Inspiration", after years of knowing them as one of Todd In The Shadows's mortal enemies... I should probably take a gander at what they **used** to be capable of, before Peter Cetera really mucked things up. And believe me: I'm gandering alright. I am damn admiring and appreciating this album. Goodness me, if you played me any cut from this album out of context (**especially** "Free Form Guitar"), I never would have guessed. This is the same band who went on to make all this MOR music? This is some **good shit**. Jazzy as hell! A whole lotta prog tones and stylings! Listen to those **horns**! The "I Am The Walrus" quote on "South California Purples"! Is it a bit **long**, at 76 minutes? Yes, but, oh... Oh. **Ooooh**, this shit **rules**. This shit rules **so hard**. It's over the top and I **love it**. And especially — especially! The guitar. Goodness me, Terry Kath's guitar work. Love or hate his show-off track "Free Form Guitar" (and let me say: the **TONE** on it), the man can absolutely play. I'm not surprised that Jimi Hendrix was as much of a fan as he was. I mean, I don't know if I'd say Kath was a better guitar player than Hendrix was, like Hendrix himself claimed, but goodness. I'm sure as hell impressed. And it just makes how he died even dumber! Like, I don't wanna kick a dead man for the way he died... But goodness me, Kath. You could have gone on to do so much more. But, like in all cases of death like this, it just makes it all the more worthwhile to appreciate what they were able to give the world. And this is sure as hell a gift. It's a tight as hell band working in complete, full sync, and I could not be any happier with the final result. And, like, damn — you really took a band like **this** and had 'em make soft rock cheese? Just incredible, goodness me. I'unno if this album would convince a Chicago (The Band) hater to change their mind, but as far as I'm concerned, for this kind of material at least... Yeah, I'm on board, right on back to that same ol' place: sweet home Chicago (The Place).
Terry Kath era Chicago is a damn treat for anyone experiencing it for the first time. Solid 5 Stars.
I’m at a 10. I’m just exhausted. What can you really say after listening to something like that? You want me to wax poetic about how blessed these guys were to have extremely proficient people at every position of the band in terms of their instruments & their voices before deaths shook their vision? You want me to praise every aspect of the production up & down, both in the mixing, structure, pacing & progression of the whole thing? You want me to say that “Free Form Guitar” is some “Tago Mago” by Can-esque insanity that’s super cool even though it barely fits on the album? Trust me, I want to. I want to write paragraphs up and down about this thing, but I’m just exhausted. I have not heard a band that in-sync on a debut project ever. I have not moved my head around that much to some ridiculous percussion work since… I dunno, maybe we got “Nevermind” by Nirvana? I have not lamented someone’s own stupidity this much in terms of Terry Kath killing himself like a complete moron, and I’ve literally never heard of or *heard* the guy until listening to this album. Jimi Hendrix apparently once said that Kath was even better than he was, and I’m almost inclined to believe it. I understand that the overly bombastic, flashy style of this album is not everyone’s cup of tea. Hell, it’s only got a 3.18 on the site for that reason. I, however, could not give less of a shit. This is the sort of album that is perfectly down my alley, and I loved every single one of the 76 minutes here. That does include “Free Form Guitar”, for the record. I’m literally just too spent from the revelation that this has been here the entire fucking time, and yet I only knew these guys from their 80s Peter Cetera-led soft rock ballad era, which I already have a guilty pleasure soft spot for. I have literally never heard any other Chicago besides that era. The fact that THIS was here, the entire time, and I just never ever bothered to listen… god, it’s like a guy selling Bitcoin a decade ago for pennies, you know? I’m just stunned. I’m literally too stunned to write anything further. Someone else can put it all together; they’ll capture the words that are floating around my brain and express them, because right now, I truly can’t. It’s a 10. It might be higher. Regardless, it’s one of the very best albums I’ve gotten to discover from this whole thing.
Peter Cetera used to be cool
Wow Introduction really was quite the introduction. That went hard. This is not the Chicago that I have ever known. This is like really good psych rock. It feels kinda proggy and the instrumentation is so good. I'm way stoked on this record.
When I was in 6th or 7th grade, my Mom would listen to Chicago when I was in the car with her. She had one of the Greatest Hits, and it might not have been one of the main albums she listened to, but it was definitely in the rotation between ABBA, Queen and Journey. So naturally, I hated it. Maybe it was the horns? Maybe it was my mom saying "Jake, is this good guitar? These guys are really good." And me being "No Mom. Nothing you like is cool." Anyway, here we are 20 years later and she dropped by my house this morning to pick up my daughter for a few hours today and she says "Is this Chicago? I LOVE Chicago." And honestly, I'm really confused. This doesn't seem like anything that she would like. It's pretty heavy. It has tons of crazy cool psych and experimental elements, and frankly, I really like this shit. So I'm confused. The truth is, this is really cool music. It's so full. The percussion is so dialed, and unique and experimental. The bass is all over the place, he's walking up and down that thing. The guitars are incredible. And then to add jazz horns to it?? And pull it off?? This is sick. Sometimes it feels like a pop song, other times its blues, then it jumps to a Miles Davis inspired 14 minute journeys. Then its free form guitar sounds?? Honestly, I just want to get stoned and listen to this shit. Even the more pop songs like Beginnings or I'm a Man have really cool movements and sections that take the song into weird directions. I'm kind of blown away by this. I don't know what later Chicago is really like. I don't know if they mellowed out for the Greatest Hits or sold their souls for money. I really don't know. I obviously haven't spent a lot of time with this band, but this record on its own is incredible.
9.7/10.
Amazing album
Track 7 weirdness and that track 8 guitar tone
A pretty epic album overall, though a bit too show-offy in some places. I'll likely skip Free Form Guitar entirely when I listen again.
WE LOVE CHICAGO
Free form guitar is just them trying to find the dire straights microwave intro settings lmao Beginnings is such a jam. I want to play it on a street corner. I'm a Man drums are nasty gotdayum
i love this album, even Free Form Guitar, which is so unapologetically absurd that i can't help but find it charming. it's such a fun album. makes me feel like a big man traveling in a big city, chicago perhaps. + Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?
So many greatest hits songs on this album I can forgive “Free Form Guitar.” Amazing horns!
Excellent Album!
Amé el album, los espacios instrumentales, el como cada instrumento resalta y tiene su tiempo.
more psychadelic than i remember
1969. US. Debut album. Jazz rock, progressive rock, blues rock. !!!
Except for 1 song that really felt both too long and too chaotic, this was a fun album. I noticed there weren't any of the hits I know them for. Still, I enjoyed listening! Great instrumentals and vocal work. 'Questions 67 and 68' was my fave from the lot.
Jazz, funk, soul. Horns. Terry Kath's guitar. Standout playing across all the instruments and high energy extended jams. Man I love these horns.
Gimme gimme gimme. I am apparently a goober for bluesy rock.
This was a perfect album until they let Throbbing Gristle sit in for a track. Fuck it, 5 stars anyway
What a lovely surprise
Katy is king!
That a band would have the balls to make their debut a double-album and that the record company would allow it says a lot before you even hear a single song. The musicianship is stellar. Three lead vocalists! The horn section is tight and killer. Peter Cetera crushes it on the bass and deserves to be more recognized as a great bassist. Terry Kath is outstanding on guitar. Robert Lamm was the chief songwriter and wrote the multiple hits. Danny Seraphine is a formidable and superlative drummer. That all adds up to an awesome debut worthy of a double-album! I can't say that I liked or appreciated "Free Form Guitar" and I don't think that it belonged on the album. It was way too self-indulgent and seemed more like a noodling exercise catering to guitar geeks. That song aside, I love early Chicago (CTA-III, V-VI) and I loved this album! 4.5/5
Great
Fun brass and rock roll album soulful and energetic
Quite enjoyable. I felt this was a refreshing window into a better America and a better musical world. Delightful. A re-listen album find for me.
bear witness to one of the most well-oiled machines in rock music history. these songs are often thorny and complicated, but they always feel good. keyboardist Robert Lamm dominates the songwriting and lead vocal duties on this album, so his contributions stick out the most clearly. "Beginnings", "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Questions 67 and 68" are all masterstrokes that perfectly showcase Chicago's ability to balance tight playing of some difficult compositions (and some amazing work from the horn section, arranged by trombonist James Pankow) with free-wheeling exuberance; the latter really comes through when they kick out the jams on "Poem 58" and "Liberation"! Terry Kath is one of the electric guitar's most unsung heroes; his rhythm playing fits right inside Danny Seraphine and Peter Cetera's pocket, and his leads are mind-blowing. that's not to mention the strength of his pen and his lead vocals, showcased in the jaw-dropping "Introduction" to this entire double-LP! he also gets some time to drop some legitimately avant-garde noise work on his own solo track at the beginning of side C, as well as towards the end of "Liberation". allegedly, Kath was one of, if not Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitar player. well-deserved praise! light 9/10.
I've always enjoyed Chicago. This album is an absolute belter, the musicianship is amazing and the tracks effortlessly show that. Not a single weak track on there.
I am a 42 year old geriatric millennial who grew up on grunge and emo, and maybe they’re cheesy or cringe, or maybe it’s the nostalgia of what my parents listened to, but I fucking love Chicago. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is is a perfect song. 10/10, no notes.
Great album! 4.8 so rounded up to 5.
Really great album. Great straight up rock songs, but the addition of a powerful brass section adds a cool flair to many of them.
excellent
At one point Chicago the band was not a sleazy, sultry, cringy smooth rockers to woo the middle-class spinsters, but an actually talented jazz-prog-fusion band with gut and grit, instrumental palette, song-writing chops, adventurous sound.
It was brilliant and funky. I see it in my store all the time and never realized the perfect album was there the whole time.
Great. But Free Form Guitar? That's a no from me.
5/5. A big jam band with sophisticated brass rhythms and a unique vocal. The highlight is the guitar here that drives most of the songs. The solos are insane. This is a great album to listen to front to back, it flows so nicely and another song becomes your favorite with each listen. I wouldn't say every song is perfect but they all are well-written and structured. A very good listening experience. Best Song: Questions 67 & 68, Beginnings, Poem 58
Fantastic album!
Horns meet psychedelia.
I haven’t heard some of these tunes in years. It was nice to hear them again.
this slaps so hard
I loved the big band crooner rock of Side 1, and my goodwill carried me through the soft rock on Side 2. The avant-garde guitar solo that begins Side 3 is quite a distance from where the album started out. I liked it. Experimental electronic artists twiddled diodes to get these kinds of sounds, it’s an impressive leap to use an electric guitar in the same way. Then some blues rock and the rock/soul/exotica of I’m A Man. Counter-cultural vibes coming in for Side 4, and we’re also back to the crooner style we started with. I like the use throughout of what we’d now call interludes, the talking and the sound of the protest crowd. I also like the way the loungey exotica weaves in and out.
Not only is the musicianship great, but the album is fulll of fresh-sounding ideas and unusual choices. A little long perhaps, but the quality of the album makes it feel shorter.
wow, this was not what i was expecting. this album is fantastic! my only complaint is the length of the album but they managed to keep it interesting the entire time so i can overlook it
Perfect jams. Thanks Dad for showing me this band in elementary school.
From the first notes I knew I'd like this. Big big fan
I think I love this. Had only listened to Chicago II before, but this feels more raw. A bit less polished, and it really suits them.
I love horns in rock music. Good jazzy rock with catchy lyrics and some pretty cool experimentation going on. I really liked free form guitar not really as a song but just respect the amount of noise and various sounds coming out of one guitar.
Listen, Chicago is classic rock at some of its finest and I’m here for it
Wow, their first 2 albums are masterpieces. I received both on my birthday from my gay cousin who knew his stuff about the category of music. I prefer the second one to the first but both are solid 5/5
I do unashamedly love this album. It has a great energy to it and they get a bad rap for their later work, however there is some good music on the first 7 albums and it ends there. I loved them as a young teen and think this album holds up well.
Fuck yeah
OK - Free Form Guitar - ROCKS! I wasn't so sure about this album at first, but this track saved the entire album.
Love them. Own an album. The August 29th songs reminded me of the Chicago riots and the Democratic national Convention.
Head and shoulders above their other albums. A magnificent debut.
Nice jazz rock
Big band, jazzy, funky rock n' roll? Nails all my favorites. I would love to listen to this on a day where I'm feeling a bit more spry, but it has all the makings of a 5 star album right out of the gate. Didn't love Free Form Guitar much, but that's gotta be the only blemish on this one. All other guitar shredding songs on this album make up for this though. I think this one deserves a re-listen because I'm a bit distracted at work, but I am erring on the side of "fuck yeah this album was awesome" that will hopefully be even better after a second listen.
The best!!!
The First half of the album is transcendent, the second half faffs around way too much, still top marks.
Classic Chicago Reminders of college
Loved this album! Shared with a bunch of people and added songs to playlists. Will seek this out to listen to again.
A classic. HArd to believe it is was recorded 50+ yrs ago. Still Rockin" Only the Beginnings is the first "Hey Jude"- sweeps you up and into it.
Komplett überraschend - wenn man nur Chicago‘s 80ger Jahre im Ohr hat. Mir gefällt es besser als Hard to say I‘m sorry!
Still sounds great after 50+ years.
Although I’ve heard parts of this album many times over the years, I hadn’t really realized what a great album it is. Boy, I missed out not seeing them live at some point, they would have been amazing. I can’t believe this came out so long ago. The musicianship is amazing, I never really heard it from this perspective previously. I have a whole new appreciation for Chicago for sure. Can live without the one guitar noise tune though, a bit self-indulgent.
Loved it. Excellent use of tons and a great perspective of potential jazz
אחלה של אלבום!
Just a pretty fun album start to finish. Love the long outro track. Chicago just has a good vibe about them always.
It's prog, it's funky, and it has HORNS?!
Absolutely love this album. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is is towards the top of my favorite songs and the rest rip as well. Bass lines through the whole thing are delicious.
This album contains my all-time favorite Chicago song, Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?, this is a great example of where the group came from as opposed to the sugary songs of the 80s from the Peter Cetera led version of the group. An excellent album!
Terry Kath
Very good, groovy, cool instrumental and vocals.
Heerlie
Favorite Song(s): I'm a Man, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Overall a really strong debut album for the Chicago Transit Authority. Lot of bops that I would put on my playlists, and a couple songs I can forget but not every song in an album can be a banger. I could be a bit biased though as a trombone player as I love hearing horns in general.
Man, would've loved to see these guys back when they sounded like this. Great musicians.
Amazing, experimental, incredible that this was from Chicago.
I listen to a lot of Jazz-Rock/Jazz-Fusion/etc. but this one is just so impressive like one of the coolest albums I’ve heard all year - 10/10
An amazing first album from CTA/Chicago. Possibly the best album they ever made. Rich and vibrant, jazzy, horn-laden sound. A little jammy, but in all the right ways. I love the older albums with Terry Kath playing mind-bending guitar and the shared vocals between Kath and Peter Cetera. There's a soulfulness and grit here that is absent from the band's later work. There is so much nuance and care in every single song, with something new to appreciate each time I hear it. "Free Form Guitar" is a little bonkers, and "Liberation" is waaaay too long. But when the band gets it right, it's stunningly good. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Beginnings, Questions 67 and 68; Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?; I'm a Man; Introduction; Listen; South California Purples; Poem 58; Liberation; Someday (August 29, 1968); Prologue, August 29, 1968; Free Form Guitar
First of all, the latter half of the album talking about the civil rights movement is pretty great, but the whole album was just really really good jazzy rock.
Amazing & classic!
Oooo the pre-pop days of Chicago. Great band.
One of my favorite albums of all time. Great songwriting and arrangements. Robert Lamm particularly shines with his fine vocal performances on numerous tracks. Additionally, you will rarely here Terry Kath as featured in the songs or as adventurous as is playing is on this record.
Jazz-rock sesentero. Vinilo.
só pela introdução já merece 5 estrelas, sonzao impecável, vários sopros, progressivo, vocal tri
Incredible album! Just recently listened to this whole thing! Still enjoyed it the second time around! Pavement is such a great band,, so many incredible albums as well as this one!
That was some of the proggiest funk I've ever laid ears upon.
tässä on kaikkea... on kitaraa... rumpuja löytyy.... bassoa on...torvia... ja lauletaankin välillä... mitässitä muuta tarvitsrstee... tsigago...heh.. welcome to chicago.... heh....kitaran vängyttämistä ois voinut olla enemmänkin.. mitä kaikki valittaa taas... SUATANA POPPIA VETÄNÄ... ei aina tartte... poem 58
Who doesn't like Chicago?! Classic
The horns, combined with Terry Kathy’s phenomenal guitar work, just make this album a great debut My favorite Chicago album…
Such and awesome blend of jazz and rock. One of my favorite bands
What a great rock album, while I didn't really enjoy the track "Free Form Guitar", the rest of the album was stunning. 5/5. Favorite Track: Questions 67 and 68
I'd never listened to this whole album before, so this was a great experience. As a casual Chicago fan over the past decades, it was great to experience their first work and hear where they came from. Several songs are ones that have always been in the background of my life's soundtrack, but I am glad to give them more attention. I appreciate its experimental, "lets try this!" feeling, which works more often than not. The sounds that really worked are the sounds that continued through their later work. ("Free Form Guitar" is simply unbearable, but we're going to chalk that up to a time when seven minutes of guitar noise seemed like something that was worth trying. Win some, lose some.) In any case, the rock-jazz monster that is Chicago is magnificent! I am compelled to continue to follow their albums and connect the dots of my favorite songs of theirs.
Love the bluesy, hornsy sound of this band. Some of the songs go on too long (I had to stop Free Form Guitar and come back later), but great to hear the origins of some very familiar songs.
I’ve never listened to this debut album before, having mostly been familiar with Chicago’s greatest hits compilations until the 80s when I owned a couple of their cassettes. This is definitely Chicago, with a few little surprises. This album is funkier and bluesier in places than I expected. The guitar work gets heavy in the middle. I’m not sure I love the degree to which they take it in Free Form Guitar. It sounds quite skilled if not particularly pleasant or melodic. I can’t imagine I’ll sit through that song in its entirety again. Ready access to the skip track button would have been a good reason to get this on CD as soon as the tech was available… Other than that quibble, I loved the album!
I get what old heads mean when they say they don’t make music like this anymore
One of my all time favorites. Automatic 5. I will enjoy the entire day listening to this gem. Greatest use of a sample ever on Someday.
This is how I like my Chicago, not the stuff they did in the '80s. Of course I've heard (and loved) the songs on this album that showed up on their Greatest Hits compilations, but it was great to hear some new-to-me songs in that same style.
starts with a bang, making its intentions clear: strap in boys and girls this is going to be a wild journey and it absolutely delivered. almost lost me with the free form guitar but pulled me straight back in with the punchy bass line on listen.
amazing!!
This album was different than anything else at the time.
More jazzy than I expected, but still great
I'd give this a 4.5, it wouldn't sit in my all-time favorite albums but it's a great album with quite a few recognizable hits over 50 years later.
Tauban.
Better than I remember. The horns and virtuoso guitar make this a great album to listen to anytime.
loved it
Jedan od onih jebate u što se ovo pretvorilo bendova
Introduction - 10/10 Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - 10/10 Beginnings - 9/10 Questions 67 and 68 - 10/10 Listen - 10/10 Poem 58 - 9/10 Free Form Guitar - 6/10 South California Purples - 10/10 I'm a Man - 10/10 Prologue - 9/10 Someday - 10/10 Liberation - 10/10
What an album. I love the intensity, power and played with precise timing and tightness. Terry Kath.. Wow he's spectacular on this album , sadly he was never given as much space as he was on this album. My favorite Chicago album.
I’d only ever heard the hits before (Time, Beginnings, Questions), and they’re truly great songs. But holy cow, the rest of this record is so damn good. I would have never chosen to listen to this but for this list, this is a great example of why this is a fun exercise: discovering music that’s been right in front of me all along. Vocals, brass, guitar,… all blend and shine through individually at times.
This is great, a perfect balance of pop appeal, sophisticated composition, and avant-garde experiments. Some nostalgic value for me too, as my Dad had some Chicago records that he would play sometimes when I was a kid.
Always a good album to come to. It drips 70s, but in a good way (yes I know it was released in 1969). Besides the songs that were hits, “Liberation “ has to be mentioned as an amazing track. A tour de force, really. “Free Form Guitar,” um… yeah. Guess you had to be there. Solid album, all the way through. The first few Chicago albums are really good stuff, I really recommend them.
Excelente álbum! Conhecia só as baladas da banda, muito bom saber mais. Gostei muito, quero ouvir mais o álbum e apreciar melhor. Melhores músicas: Poem 58 e I'm a man.
Grooving hard
Great album start to finish.
i liked how this was released in 1969, arguably the funniest year of the 20th century
10/10
Loved it, some classics
CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC album. By and large, really great stuff. Could have done without "Free Form Guitar". A1
Really like this album. Quite free form Jazz/Rock stuff with great brass and drums. Didn’t like the track “Freeform Guitar” much, too experimental jazz style but others all very good, listened to it twice. Maëla also like it:)
Me senti andando nas ruas de Nova York (apesar da banda se chamar "Chicago"), fazendo dança sincronizada com as pessoas à minha volta. Ou seja, fantástico.
5.5…remember when t came out, rather unique at the time…I’m a huge brass fan so this album was special ..have been a Chicago fan ever since….excellent
02/14/2022
great
Me siento como lo que pasó con Boston pero potenciado. Yo siempre tuve a Chicago en un rubro de "soft rock" que estaba entre decente y somnifero para mis gustos. Supongo que nunca escuche sus primeros discos (o al menos este primero), pero no se como nadie me había recomendado este disco antes. Jazz progresivo de la cosa más interesante, rock sesentero experimental, un poema, siete minutos de golpear las cuerdas y jugar con un amplificador. Es un disco variadísimo, sin ninguna canción floja a pesar de la enorme variedad que ofrece. Siento que quiero escuchar bastante más Chicago, probalmente caiga en un año en el que me empiezan a dejar de llamar la atención y sus discos se convierten más en ese soft rock en el que los tenía, pero esto vale y revale la pena.
¡Qué discazo! Y lo mejor es que no trae ninguna de esas que se quemaron en la radio, sino (para mí) pura rareza que demuestra que tienen de todo (voces, metales, guitarras, bajos y percusiones) para sonar como lo mejor de su época. Cierto, hay un momento en "Free Form Guitar" en el que se pasan un poco (nada que no se escuche en un en vivo de Metallica) pero eso no desmerece el resto del disco que en verdad podría (y eso hice hoy) tener todo el día en loop.
Brilliant debut album! One of my favorites from an innovative group of musicians.
Whooo that album kicks off with a bang and just doesn’t stop. What a great and unique sound. Killer!
1969 Grammy Awards, Best New Artist nominees included CSN, Chicago, Zeppelin.
Fedt album! Desværre ødelægger Free guitar form albummets flow. Tæt på perfekt og fede soloer og lækker jazz rock
Ok this rips
Outstanding first album. When Chicago was Chicago!
A really impressive album equal parts big band jazz, hard rock, including some screaming guitars, some gorgeous melodies and an impressive collection of songs that show this band began as a fully formed band. And it ROCKS HARD! Case in point the impressive cover of Spencer Davis Group's I'm a Man. A very impressive debut that shocked me how good it is. Despite some moments of self indulgence like the album closer "Liberation", I'm giving it 5 🌟
very good
5/5 - Fun, pre-fall album
Wow. Really noodly, horns. I love it.
Really love most of the songs! Will be listening to from now on.
Crazy stuff on this album, especially impressive that the horns sound almost too good to be real. Also wasn’t expecting that guitar track. 9
- Strong vocals and love the musical style - Great range and quality. - 'Does anybody really know what time it is", "Questions 67 and 68" and "Prologue" all got likes.
It's a catchy album and it starts off that way from the beginning of the first song and continues with hits like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," and "I'm a Man." A wonderful mixture of rock and jazz with the instrumentals, and the variety of vocals, gives the album a lot of range.
Loved this. Great groove. Favourite track was Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
-Great jazz rock, the bass and drums are jamming quite frequently -I always like adding orchestra elements to rock, and this has lots of horns and stuff added in -I like bassline on "Listen." Probably other too, but I happened to notice "Listen."
Incredible album front to back.
Pretty sure I'm going to like this more than I used to like Chicago. Really cool. Some of it got a little jam bandy, but really liked the horns in the band and it being lest soft rock than the later Chicago.
Whoa. Unlike many of their albums, this one isn't hit or miss. Just great.
Jazz-rock sesentero.
peak Chicago?
Fantastic album great use of blues, horns, lots of a cool sounds . I'm a guitarist but free form seemed a little bit wanky. Weakest track but still killer.
Fuck yeah, Chicago
The blend of jazz, soul & rock influences on this album are super interesting and keeps you guessing as the album takes you down tangent after tangent. I especially love the soulful brass sections and also the incredible end of the album that boasts ripping guitars, groovy basslines and all the energy in the world. What the fuck is Free Form Guitar though? The less said about that the better.
The audacity to debut with a double album. The sheer gall to make it this good. Unfortunately, it has “Free Form Guitar”, so I cannot give it a 5
This album was thick! If music was critiqued by how many individual notes per bar, this would have to be a perfect 5. There has always been something that intrigued me about Chicago, they're super unique and fantastic musicians, but I actually think their music is missing something. Maybe it's because the focus is on the maximalist approach and I value subtlety, but I just find it doesn't quick hit as hard as I want it too. That said, this album is so jam packed and impressive I still have to give it a high rating.
I apparently had no idea who Chicago was up until now. I always thought they played generic classic stadium rock similar to Boston. Is that assumption purely based on the fact that they both have US cities as their name? Maybe? I honestly don’t know. Anyways, this isn’t anything like Boston. The horns were incredibly funky and jazzy and the guitar playing was great throughout. There were also a ton of little experimental bits including a pretty awesome free form guitar freakout right in the middle that wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Butthole Surfers album 20 years later. Based on the reviews that track seems to be controversial and divisive in a similar way as Revolution 9 on the White Album. Speaking of the Beatles, I also enjoyed the little nod to I Am the Walrus on South California Purple. My only complaints are that they definitely got a little bit self indulgent at times and it went on a bit long. Had they reined it in on a few tracks, this could have been a really solid album. That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this album.
I can certainly see why this band took off like they did. The proggy instrumental portions catch the attention of the music people, the syrupy pop lyrics and melodies work a lot and they don't hesitate to experiment. Throw in some catchy radio-friendly hits and you have a recipe for success.
Alors, c'était long, mais on voit pas le temps passer. Je m'attendais à une sorte de vieux rock de la fin des années 60, ce à quoi je ne m'étais pas du tout attendu, c'était les grosses influences jazz tout du long. Bon, ça reste une base purement rock (rien que la batterie suffit clairement à savoir de quel côté on se situe), mais les cuivres hyper énergiques donnent une dimension supplémentaire à Chicago, ce qui en fait un album vachement prenant et étonnamment encore frais. Par rapport à de nombreux albums des années 60 (y compris parmi les meilleurs, ce n'est pas exactement un défaut), je trouve que celui-ci a vraiment très bien vieilli. Ce sera une bonne note, pour sûr !
Before even listening I thought it was a ballsy move to release a double album as your debut. Then I read they did that with their first three albums! I was aware of Chicago having two very different sounds, as I knew their singles from the 60's and early 70's as well as their MOR hits from the mid 70's forward. I never gave them much thought, other than they were fine till they got way too pop in the 80's. This is an album I'd never heard before, and I was intrigued to give it a listen. I thought it started out very strong, with a cool initial band statement in Introduction, and then longer versions of songs I'd heard many times before but not like this. If they'd stopped at the end of side 2 I'd probably give this a solid 4.5 rating. For me things got much messier on the second record. I loved South California Purples, and liked Someday, but the rest felt so bloated and unnecessary. By middle of Liberation I was so ready for the thing to just be done. I still enjoyed listening, but what a much better album this could have been...
flamboyant
Puh so Feuerrrr
3.5
This wasn't bad!
had to skip that Guitar nonsense, other than that pretty good
Lots of hits or songs I’d recognized but didn’t realize was Chicago. Feedback song was unexpected
EPIC!
It'll be 4
This could not have sounded more opposite the mid-80s Peter Cetera power ballads album I was expecting…in fact 3 songs in I had to go to Wikipedia because surely this was not the same band. Nope - this is them. I spent the first 30 minutes trying to figure out what this was. Big band? Jazz? Backing soundtrack music to an early 70s crime drama? It soars in places. It also feels disorganized mess in others. What I did enjoy was the layered variety, complexity, and lengthy free flowing atmosphere created by several songs. On one listen I would not normally give this more than a 3 but I am going to be generous to encourage a revisit later. 4/5
Вообще не в курсе был, что они начинали с джаз-рока, ну на контрасте с той попсой, которую они делали позже это круто
интересно звучит, думал между 3.5 и 4, но склоняюсь по итогу все таки к 3.5, другого ждал от chicago
These guys could groove before they sold their souls to make tepid soft rock garbage.
I think it's entirely too long, and as much as I value diversity, I find it to be a bit messy, but the highlights are strong enough for me to give it the 4-star bump on the 1001 website. 3.5/5
Not sure i needed to hear 7 minutes of screeching guitar feedback in the middle of this but the rest of this album was quite good.
Last time i was in Chicago the uber driver who picked me up from the airport was playing 'Beginnings' from this Chicago album. It was very Chicago. Almost suspiciously Chicago. Liked this alot. Fun maximalism. Restraint is a skill these guys don't have or need. Can't be a 5 because of a few too many overlong throwaways (and their huge cast feels dangerously collective-esque at times). Still, I wonder why Chicago isn't usually talked about as an all time great band. They've got the hits and originality. Maybe the public's appetite for horns is less robust than I'm thinking
I've talked about how awesome my middle school band teacher was. My high school band teacher was the exact opposite. Sweaty, angry (but not in a cool Whiplash kind of way), ill-fitting dress clothes, elastic back brace often worn outside of his shirt, where he would stuff his 20 ozer of Mt. Dew that he would take sips of between songs. This guy would take his own solos at our concerts, did a whole half-time show rendition at a basketball game of him and some other band kids banging on trash cans, and was reportedly spotted alone at the strip club 30 min outside of town that allowed 18+ entry, and attracted some more daring high school seniors than I. I only lasted one year under his tutelage - but in that year, we played Saturday in the Park and 25 or 6 to 4. It's really hard for me to separate Chicago from those memories of this terrible high school jazz band. This album actually rocks, thought it sounded like Hendrix and times and see that Jimi had very high praise for Terry Kath. That spring of freshmen year I played in the pit for the school musical, also under his conduction, and realized the choir and theater directors had their shit together much more than this dude, and the kids on stage looked alot less miserable - so that's what I did for the other three years.
Stunning record, in a period where jazz and rock met more on the rock end of things, this is a creative powerhouse of a debut record from a band that would go on to help define the 70’s and 80’s with finishing returns. Young men with guitars and horns, singing soulfully, and in some cases writing some with massive hooks. The energy jumps off of the stylus. 4.5
Didn't realize Chicago was a jam band. Really good. Some songs sound nearly like the Allman Brothers. Maybe a bit too much horn, and Free Form Guitar wasn't great.
1. "Beginnings" 2. "Questions 67 and 68" 3. "Listen"
This is absolutely full of bangers. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, Questions 67 and 68, I'm a Man, and Someday (August 29, 1968) are all basically all-timers. The rest of this is extremely good, with one exception. I honestly couldn't stand Free Form Guitar, which is ~7 minutes of trying to make a guitar sound like a race car. Is the technical work cool? Yeah. Is it annoying? Extremely. I ended up skipping that song after a couple of minutes. Rest is absolutely worth it.
Great album, except for the track “Free Form Guitar”, which is worthless and the sort of messing about I did as a teenager with my guitar and amp. “He did it in one take!” No kidding.
Eclectic album with a wide variety of styles, positively surprised me.
Like his singing, he seems to put a lot into it. „Free from guitar“ is like diabolic, but since I like the other ones a low 4.
Cool stuff. Came in completely unfamiliar, but adored the jazzy tight musicianship here. 4
Nice
Free Form Guitar is a stain on an otherwise fantastic album
Hard, maar free form guitar is kut
Any album with a 6 1/2 minute first song just called "Introduction" wins some points with me. It's uplifting, jazzy with long instrumental passages. I'm engaged. The next song takes it to another level. Something about this stuff just makes me happy. It does blend together a bit but there's a pleasing cohesion to everything. Questions 67 and 68 is particularly good, lively and dramatic. Listen has a bit more of an edge to it with a driving bassline. Poem 58 ups the intensity again, plenty of tempo changes, and we're no longer in easy breezy territory. It settles in to a nice mid paced groove. Free Form Guitar is... exactly what it sounds like. Not sure we needed this. Back on track with some organ and more funky bass after that. Someday is very good and feels like it brings together the first and half parts of the record, with just enough dark overtones. And we close with a meandering 14 1/2 minute song. Yes. This feels right.
This was fun!! The music was a really great listen, the songs did start to drag on by the end
The first half of this album is a standout. It touches on many genres, I was having a hard time of guessing where the album was going. Is this an old school show-tunes album? Are we listening to a rock album??? What a journey! Personally, I lost interest after Free Form Guitar. However, the composition/instrumentation was still great. This is a well-deserved 4. Favorite tracks: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Beginnings? Poem 58
Sit Back And Let Us Groove 1001 Albums Generator 269 (4/15/2026) Dude why did I think Chicago were a lame AOR pop rock group? You're telling me they had serious jazz, psych, funk, and prog chops back in the day? Holy cow! The instrumentation here, first of all, is top notch. From the standard rock instruments (all done at an extremely high level) to the more unique elements, like the prominent, often jazzy piano to the unavoidable horns, everything just really works here. Even the tribal drums on Beginnings are really cool. Unfortunately, Free Form Guitar is total nonsense, and generally the songwriting after it isn't as consistently interesting as the first half, but there's still some good stuff here. I did really like the I Am The Walrus callout on South Carolina Purples. Also, the closing epic Liberation is really good, although it gets a little noodly in the middle. Overall, Chicago Transit Authority is a really great, eclectic album that shows a band in peak form, somehow on their first album. 4/5. Also 67 mention. Favs: Introduction Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Beginning Least Fav: Free Form Guitar
I did not expect to find an album that kind of slaps here. I like the Tom Jones-esque vocals, the CSNY adjacent jams, and the big band horns. Do I hear yacht rock in there as well? I’m here for it.
Muy buen álbum con muy buenas canciones. Me hizo querer escuchar más de la banda
Pretty cool
Chicago Transit Authority slaaaaaaaaaps!!! Damn. I was not expecting that kind of ride. Real talent across the board and just, jams. Foot tappin', hip thrustin', good ol' time. Not quite a 5, but damn close.
Chicago's debut album shows what a great guitarist Terry Kath was at this peak. 25 or 6 to 4 doesn't come until Chicago II but his guitar can be found prominently on the debut album as well, especially on Poem 58. A lot of listeners are probably surprised the debut isn't full of saccharine ballads and focused much more on the horns. Four of their biggest hits (pre-ballad Chicago) on here and they are all really good songs. I am a fan of Chicago's early work and this album doesn't do anything to dispel those feelings. I find their early work to be very interesting and quite the dichotomy from the later work by the band. I honestly haven't listened to every album by Chicago but I think this is the appropriate introduction to them. I am not sure why Free Form Guitar is on here. It's a good song to perhaps include as part of a live act, but it does seem to break up the rhythm of this album since it's plopped right down in the middle. This is a really great introduction to Chicago even though non-Boomers may not know any of the songs on here. Favorite songs: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Beginnings Questions 67 and 68 Listen South Carolina Purples I'm a Man
This is making me realize what a disaster the 80s were for this band and how disappointing the 80s version of Chicago must have been for their original fans. Solid effort.
Nice drums! The trumpets ar soulful and bring Joy. Im not sure if I like his Voice.
Forgot how good early Chicago were. Why did they fall inti that 80's/90's ballad crap. This album is great.
Yet another gem, a sound is from the 70s but before it's time
nothing but bangers
Early weird psychedelic Chicago is the best Chicago
Love this album. My favorite Chicago offering. Highlights: Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is, Beginnings, Questions 67 and 68, Poem 58 and I’m A Man. Easy 4.4
We really enjoyed this and were very close to giving it five stars, but the extra long screechy section meant the album sadly took a bit of a dive for us. Would listen to quite a few songs again, but probably not the album in it's entirety.
I was already quite familiar with this album. It is one of my favorite jazz-influenced rock albums, and even one of my favorite albums overall. Along with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago perfectly blended horns into their sound. This album is full of great stuff from start to end. The catchy, more radio-friendly stuff tends towards the beginning and the latter part is more stretched out and experimental. This album will continue to be in my rotation, and I would listen to it any time.
7/10
Great 70’s band. Love the use of brass. Great sound, and music.
very groovy, some very interesting instrumentals. not entirely sure how i feel about the freeform guitar. maybe a few songs could have been a liiiittle shorter but overall it was a pretty solid record and I'll probably listen to it again
Jazzier than I figured it would be, maybe I just haven't listened to much Chicago
Pretty sweet album, a little long. Heavy in places that I wasn’t expecting, enjoyed the back half more than first which was more heavy on the guitars
Was NOT expecting to vibe with this
Previously I thought of Chicago as the lamest of all the dad rock bands. I must correct my opinion. That was pretty damn good.
Unexpectedly great! I really liked the second half of this album, South California Purples was groovy. The horns are fun.
Super fun album. Super cool that this came out in the late 60’s. It has that super experimental sound, and it’s also almost got big band sound/feel to it with all the different instruments that debut.
This is one of my dad’s favorite albums and I listened to it so much growing up. Starts out with a BANG. So freakin groovy. And the piano solo before does anybody really know what time it is so unique. Thought this was gonna be an easy 5 but I guess I hadn’t really listened to the B side as much. Unfortunately has a pretty big drop off in the second half.
It’s really hard to rate this album without considering just how well Chicago hits their stride later on in their time as a band. Is it an absolute jam with solid instrumental tracks? For sure. Are there a couple of their greatest songs on this album? Yes. Is it what I’m expecting when I think about Chicago and how many times I played through their greatest hits on the CD player in my old Mazda? Most certainly not. I want to rate this higher but it’s just not there. Later albums will be though.
I want so bad to give this five stars but just not quite there. Honestly, if you cut out the long meaningless guitar solo song in the middle that might put it over the edge. Overall an absolutely amazing debut album with some amazing songs on it. I just wish it could be perfect.
Could have been a 5 without the guitar song.
I liked it. I don't even mind Free Form Guitar, although I might skip it on shuffle.
Buenardo, rock clásico entero chorizo.
4 could have sworn I heard Jimi Hendrix through this whole thing. Learned some interesting history on it in the process.
I had heard a number of Chicago songs before this album, including a number of songs from this album. I can safely say they are at their best when they include the horns and write punchy, hooky songs. There are a few of them on this album and it shows how a debut album like this could be so well received. All they needed to do was remove some of the noodling and meandering tracks like Free Form Guitar and this would have really had the juice.
i enjoyed many parts of this album.
nice and jazzy
Old Chicago is badass
In sound and spirit Chicago is so wholesome I forget they go HARD sometimes @liberation
This would be a 5 without that guitar stuff in the middle.
3.5
3.5
Cool jazz-rock, but drags a bit at times and gets a bit too jammy. 4 stars
I enjoyed today's album a lot more than I thought I would. I thought it would be too jammy and unfocused after the first song, but it got surprisingly good for a while after that. I think the run of "Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68" is cool. The cover of "I'm a Man" is also quite good. I think some of the Terry Kath stuff does get a little jammy, particularly "Free Form Guitar", but I think it's a really good album nonetheless. 4 stars.
4.5
I like it, but it’s definitely too long. Free Form Guitar also pissed me off, because there’s no need for 6.5 minutes of that crap on an already long album. That said, most of the album sounds great. Had more than one moment of “Oh I know this one.” And the bit of historic political drama chronicled near the end of the album makes this a solid 4.
I feel like I was misled as to what Chicago was. The only song of there's that I knew I had heard before this was "Saturday in the Park." And this was not that. For the better! This thing is too bloated though for a five-star rating. Many of the songs have an unnecessary guitar interlude. And the album itself has an unnecessary, and musically offensive, guitar interlude of of entire song - Free Form Guitar. If that monstrosity wasn't there, I'd look over the bloated track length and give it those five stars. But I just can't because of Free Form Guitar.
I had reservations as to whether I would enjoy this, and my initial impression didn't do much to change that. However, there is some excellent playing on display here, very Hendrix in places (did they influence him, or he them?), and there's a least a little Beatles worship in here too. The vocals don't always land with me, sometimes they feel a bit middle of the road but as the album goes on that feeling dissipates. The end of Beginnings feels like a Brazilian celebration, very much percussion led, and when the album really started to grab my attention. Poem 58 is a great jam and the bluesy South California Purples is a favourite, followed by I'm a Man, which I instantly recognise. Amid some of these great tracks is Free Form Guitar, which marred the album slightly for me and felt a little unnecessary. Someday is a bit of a throwaway track towards the end but the 15 min jam, Liberation closes out the album in style. It's far from perfect but there is a lot here to like and the craft and instrumentation is impressive, particularly for a debut.
Chicago, et band alles foreldre har et forhold til. Det er riktig nok mer grunnet power balladene (av typen You’re The Inspiration) de har gitt ut, og ikke jazz/prog-rocken vi finner på dette albumet. Den første gjennomgangen, da jeg var sulten og sliten på vei hjem fra jobb, høstet ingen positive reaksjoner. Et andre lytt forbedret inntrykket betydelig. Foruten katastrofale Free Form Guitar, er det en mengde kvalitetssanger her. Noen låter kan oppleves som langdryge, men albumet skal få en firer. Det er enormt imponerende til å være 60-tallsmusikk. Top 3: Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?, Beginnings, Questions 67 and 68
it’s giving jazz i like it
Yeah ! Crazy, I always Saw discs of Chicago without ever putting one on play. Damn, it's really great ! I thought it was something bit funky like Chic, like funk big band and it's like kind of this but with a psychedelic touch, like this all screaming guitar un the middle of the album... Really nice discovery
It’s funny because I read the reviews first and saw everyone talking about this horrendous guitar solo halfway through. I was listening and though, wow, it’s pretty good! And then… it came. Why would they put that in there??? Otherwise, really nice. Love horns.
So good!
gostei
I really liked this album! It's very funky and has a lot of riffs and extended solos. It's one I'll absolutely buy if I see it!
Well ... it has some great songs on it, that's for sure. But it's the first half that really shines! When you get to #7, Freeform Guitar, it goes off the tracks for the rest of the album for me. That does NOT belong here. And then there are only two other songs worth listening to, South California Purples and I'm a man. So - if this were an album I buy, I listen to side one. Only.
This album didn’t start particularly well, but it improved significantly as it went on. The latter half was very easy to listen to, and by the time I got to songs like “Free Form Guitar,” “I’m a Man,” and “Liberation,” I was deeply affected.
Not what I was expecting, at all. I think I've confused the band with something else all together, the horns really threw me. I was expecting AOR style music, like light hearted stadion rock or something to that effect. Instead, this sounds like big band jazz in comparison to my expectations. Also, this album had one of my all time favourite songs on it, I'm a Man, I especially love Ty Segall's version of the track, but hearing the original is always great, especially when it's also a great "version".
Synes faktisk dette er ganske gøy! Treffer litt samme spotten som Hot Rats, bare ikke liiiike kult. Kunne også vært litt mindre vokal, men det funker greit nok. Terry Kath er helt rå, og på Poem 58 kommer han nesten på nivå med Zappa. (På Free Form Guitar kommer han nesten på nivå med Reed. Synes faktisk det er litt kult -- spesielt fra et band som tydeligvis er et av de bestselgende bandene i historien.) Jeg kunne nok klart meg med en enkel-LP, men det er sjeldent kjedelig. Sterk 3er? Lunken 4er? Her runder jeg opp! Heier på Kath og messingseksjonen!
Det er synd, for dette albumet er altfor langt og ufokusert. Det er så utrolig mye kult her. Men hver gang jeg bestemmer meg for treeren, kommer det noe nytt kult som gjør at jeg kan ikke gi den noe annet en fire
What a fun album. Honestly I liked the rock elements just as much as the jazz and the big band stuff.
Would you like some bread with your jam sir? You know, I might be completely out of whack here, but I don't think Chicago get the recognition they deserve. The amount of genres the manage to bridge throughout their career is almost on par with the amount of lineup changes. Whatever the musical landscape shifted to at the. time, Chicago were able to stay on top of it and craft compelling tunes, even if they lost the plot a few times. Look no further than their debut—some instant classics here like I'm a Man, Beginnings, and who could forget Free Form Guitar, a sprawling epic of frankly horrid sounds that completely removes the listener from the flow of this record? I love this band, and this is a hell of a debut, but it could be tightened up, no doubt.
Pretty solid
This one is better than i expected, with great songs. The instrumentals are the best part here, so good.
It's, fine, very groovy. Taking a break on listen. Quite the odyssey, sent me down a rabbit hole reading about Terry Kath, what a nutter.
Fun! Things get a lil masturbatory at points but it’s the 70s and they just invented the guitar so
My only gripe with this album is Free From Guitar. I don’t know what I listened to when that song came on. Can that even be replicated live or is it just improvised? Let’s take out that song. What a collection of music. Super funky, groovy, some slick solos and verses that just keep kicking me in the face.
Classic dad rock
Overall: 8/10 This was a lot jazzier than I expected! Sometimes I get bands named after U.S. cities confused so I expected this to sound similar to Boston or Kansas. Not at all. There were times that the musicians seemed to just be showing off and I wasn't a huge fan of that, but at least it wasn't constant. Will definitely be checking this out again! Fav Song: I'm a Man
Something about a near-7-minute-long track just ominously titled "Free Form Guitar" makes my blood curdle, but actually he spent the whole track making funny distorted airplane revving noises so it was all cool in the end The rest of the songs are pretty engaging and good though
When I was a kid my dad had Chicago’s Greatest Hits on vinyl. I was quite taken by this record because the COVER looked like it was made of WOOD. It stood out even from the side in his little pile of records. Content-wise I didn’t really like it, but I remembered WANTING to like it. That said, There was one song I did like. Questions 67 and 68. The mercurial title. The blaring horns off the hop. The in media res nature of the singing when it kicked in. I was obsessed as only a 10-yr-old can be. That track made it on many a personal mixtape, let me tell you. Second story: when I was, ohhh, about 20 or 21 a very close friend came to visit me in the rental house I shared with 3 other people. Most importantly, my friend was bringing his new girlfriend, with whom he was head-over-heels. In preparation for the visit I shrouded the light in the spare room in red crepe paper, plastered the walls with words like “LOVE” and “PASSION” alongside numerous sketches of human butts, and I had “You’re The Inspiration” playing on a loop. When I showed them in she was rattled. They broke up within the year, but she became the standard in his mind against whom all future women were unfavourably compared. So, what about this album, you wonder? The sheer chutzpah to deliver a 76-minute double album as your debut demands applause. And it delivers a fun low-consequence listen. Hey! What’s that there? Questions 67 and 68!
Well that was quite the ride. I was getting ready to put on my chinos and snap my fingers to some soft rock, but somehow got blasted with funk and a track dedicated to noise. Bravo.
Chicago rules✌️ Great debut. The songs are a bit long tho.
Jazzy, rocking and experimental. This record is great. It spans so many moods and vibes and really flexes the potential for music creation. "Free Form Guitar" is one that caught me off guard, immediately reminding me of something Hendrix would do. I knew of Chicago and had heard many of their hits before listening to this album, but as a whole, they know how to put together a great piece of art.
Hell of a thing! It almost lost me during the grating guitar solo, but the rest was clearly excellent. The double album is also just an impressive amount of music to release all at once. Honestly I was only vaguely aware of Chicago's existence (terrible name, by the way), so this was a pleasant surprise.
I liked the kind of mix of rock and jazz. It was fun and I liked most of the songs
Really enjoyed this. Very instrumental. Some of the drumming was fantastic - production sounded really nice on them. Favorite track was "Does anybody really know what time it is"
good for skating but got a little lost in the middle
Excellent album, although the random ten-minute solos each could have been about nine minutes shorter
Eine Neuentdeckung für mich. Starkes Jazz-Gejamme, super Vocals und echt experimentelles Zeug mittendrin.
This album left me feeling very conflicted. There are some tracks on it that I think are awesome, while others are just terrible. If I liked all the tracks I would give it five stars, but since I don't, I will settle for four stars.
Really great album and a really nice surpise. I love the amount of guitar solos in this, but "Free From Guitar" keeps it from getting 5 stars
The standard for rock with a brass section. Great tunes on this first album. Maybe a little indulgent at times though.
An excellent album, one I've been familiar with since the 70s.
Really enjoyed this one. It's long but doesn't overstay its welcome.
1. Introduction 2. Beginnings 3. South California Purple This album made me so excited right from the opening few notes. I knew I was going to love it. I’m not sure what genre it would be but I think that’s part of the draw. It blends genres together, often mixing harsher rock and roll vocals or electric guitar with saxophone instrumentals. A lot of the songs are quite long but they are often more like shorter pieces strung together rather than one long song which I like. For example, Pyramids by Frank Ocean does this. A song with stages. I hated Free Form Guitar though, so it was not a perfect album. This is what I wanted to come across in this project. Hearing artists that I’d never listened to before and then being excited to listen to their other work. I definitely will be listening to their later albums.
Day728 - when i was younger i hated the horns and peter cetera’s voice but now i’ve changed my mind about the horns
3.5
I don’t care what ANyONe says about Chicago I moaned, I love this band. But then, and it’s my fault for having only their greatest hits, some of this seemed like a bad wedding band and WTH is all this jazzy intro stuff that is not on the single edit of “does anyone really know what time it is?” It’s time to just start with the horns guys, start with the horns. Ultimately, let’s face, it I adored it. Big Band meets Classic Rock is right up my alley!
Chicago is one of those bands I’ve known by name since childhood. One of my friend’s mom used to say she didn’t like country music, or most rock bands that leaned in that direction, but she always claimed Chicago was one of the few bands with a “country twang” she could tolerate. Because of that, I never really paid attention to Chicago growing up, since it made me assume they probably just sucked. Now, over 30 years later, listening to this album, I honestly have no idea what she was talking about, because there is absolutely no country twang here at all. This is their debut album from 1969, so I can’t speak on where they went stylistically after this, but this is a great early example of progressive jazz rock, especially before many bands were doing it on the scale Chicago was. There’s also a strong blues and funk element running through this album, which adds to how adventurous it feels. What I really appreciated is the improvisational, extended jam energy, but without the band losing focus. Even when the songs stretch out, they still feel like they have a destination in mind and stay structurally grounded.
Uh let me be clear, the streets are saying this is maybe the whitest album ever and I am struggling to find a convincing argument against that. However, I am white, so this album is great. Very much of the same styling as Blood Sweat and Tears. The latter half of this has a bluesier edge that I think pushes it above future Chicago material that got softer. The end of South California Purples features a very similar riff to Behind The Wall Of Sleep by Black Sabbath. The main thing holding this album back is it is a little long, but making your debut a double LP is ballsy. Favorite songs were Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Questions 67 And 68, South California Purples, and Liberation
Strong 3,5
Great compositions, hits, and the best tracks are the deep cuts. Five stars for an occasional listen.