Reviews (page 7 of 8)
I have a higher tolerance for fuzzed out psych garage guitar solos than most people, but this was tough even for me. A surprising debut from a band I associate more with super corny 70s radio rock, this album pairs fuzzy garage experiments with big brass riffs and soul/funk/jazz arrangements. Sometimes it works to create a kind of unique pop sound (heavy Abbey Road era Beatles with sax). The best bits are the countrified funk psych (I'm a man) but when they tighten up the sound gets really stressful and agitating but also bland (Someday). Sometimes they go full prog noodle experimental mode and while that was maybe interesting in 1969 (even then, not really) it really isn't in 2026. Favorite: South Carolina Purples, I'm a Man
Bit long winded but not bad
Evidently I thought I liked Chicago more than I do. This was a bit of a drag.
Jam bands just aren’t for me. I get that they’re all very talented but this is just way too much self indulgent noodling for my taste
I trust I’m not alone is imaging that Chicago was an epic soft rock in the style of Boston, Kansas, and Black Oak Arkansas. Maybe that’s what they are or become. The American geographical bands rarely make much impact outside America, so i don’t know. But I was pleasantly surprised by this odd mix of Blood, Swear, and Tears and King Crimson. Or the few moments of that across the record. In reality, The Rite of Spring style blasts at the end of Introduction should scupper the record long before we even get to Free Form Guitar, but, for the most part, the balance between syncopated groove and prog’s rhyming unisons - there must be a name for that - is well-maintained. If you like that sort of thing. It’s silly stuff, but well-realised silly stuff. Even the parping TV theme sections. 2.5 For the most part this sounds like a succession of themes for undoubtedly awful 1970s tv shows. Chicago can play, sure, but whatever life and inspiration is in the musicians and the songs is arranged and produced right out of them. M&S Collection Percussion Solo. M&S Luxury Guitar Solo. The horns sound pristine and plastic. In this context ‘Free Form Guitar’ can only sound like a puerile account of musical freedom; a sniggering waste of 7 minutes of the listener’s time, the point driven home by the actual sniggering at the outset of the track that follows. A day after listening to Are You Experienced this is all particularly galling. I hated every minute of this. Note: M&S actually have some very nice stuff, if I could afford to shop there I probably would. 1/5
It wasn't all terrible, but none of it was good
I like Chicago, they're really a great band. But they just hadn't really found their sound yet with CTA. It has some very interesting tracks, and it feels much more boundary-pushing than their later work, but it just isn't a great album. If it were shorter, cutting down some of the longer songs, I think this could be a solid album, but as it stands it's rather disappointing.
Boomer trash
Some noise
I can understand why some fans would think of this as the real Chicago, rather than the soft rock hits, and there are some good tunes here, even if they are stretched out to breaking point. However, I’d take the cheesy charm of If You Leave Me Now over the torturous Free Form Guitar or never-ending Liberation any day of the week.
I don’t have anything against it, but there wasn’t anytime I was glad I was listening either.
Jazz rock. Not a big fan. 2/5
etwas anstrengend das Album, die Länge hilft auch nicht. Vl ist es an einem anderen Tag besser, aber hat mich nicht abgeholt.
Hat erst ganz gut angefangen, war bei 4 Sternen, aber wurd dann immer unsäglicher. Dachte ich mir 3 Sterne sind okay, aber dann warens ja teilweise einfach nur gitarrenschwingen. Next
Favorite songs: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Beginnings
Favourite song was track #11 and if i hadn't sworn I'd listen to every track on every album of this challenge, I would not have made it anywhere near track #11. Bloated and self important.
Not a Chicago fan.
The Chicago best hits album is one of my favorites, I was expecting to dig this…other than the songs I already knew I did not like any of this sadly.
There are certain bands that everyone knows from their big hits. They should stay that way.
This was far too jam-band-y for my taste. This felt very loosey goosey. I’m sure this would be pretty good live but not what I want from a studio album. 15 min track run time is crazy
Lengthy guitar solos.
Tried to get into this - I like AWB but felt just too jammy and unfocused for me to really enjoy it.
On paper I should love this, but it just falls flat for me. Stale, repetitive yet unpredictable. Bummer, I want to like this.
Very boring classic rock.
I knew the song "Does anybody know what time it is?" - good song. I didn't know the rest. It seems to go from jazzy/big-band to soul-filled and to some other styles. Some parts are piano-heavy and remind me of Ben Folds (I'm guessing he was a fan?). But some tracks are just too experimental and annoying (especially "Free Form Guitar" - that's hard to listen to). And some tracks are not quite that bad but still a little jammy for me.
God that went on for way too long
Probably there are some good aspects about that album but today every song is just noisy.
Maybe in a different mood I wood have enjoyed this album, but it just didn’t move me. The musicianship was incredible, and the songs well written (unlike KISS’s 1998 beg to be relevant album “Psycho Circus”) but didn’t ever grasp my attention. Maybe if I played it backwards for the Satanic messages…
Cool riffs..
I really hated this, but I had Brittney Spears yesterday so I’ll give them a bonus star for being an actual band.
Chicago is a band my husband has been trying to get me into for like 20 years... Still a pass
It my thing
My problem with Chicago is that despite the quality of musicianship, it often feels really soulless.
Parts were okay, but when I started to think that it would turn into jam session again and I'd get a bit annoyed again.
Too much noodling and not enough focused songwriting. Excellent technical performers but the album (and almost every song) overstays its welcome and becomes tedious and boring.
no idea what to expect here we gooo - ooh snazzy - brings you to another time, woo - everything was so cool and jazzy up until this point but i gotta admit not a fan of "Free Form Guitar" (so noisy and distorted- which i dont mind, but this sounds like a sound check gone wrong, first time i skipped a song halfway through in this challenge) all in all not really my vibe -
not bad, but not that good either. Something between jazz and pop
Only so much of this kitsch I could take.
There's a lot going on! Occasionally a bit too much. This must have sounded wild when it came out but now it feels like hot mess. If you take the guitar out it's the template for bland MOR. Probably sounded much, much better live and a bit looser. It's a shame Terry Kath didn't last long enough to find a band he fit with. All of Chicago's output seems very generously reviewed online
It's just ok
Too jazzy. Not my thing
one star for does anybody really know what time it is? and one star for i’m a man. experimental guitar too experimental
More type !! And fun shapes and key lines !! "Sit back and let us groove And let us work on you" - the groove-rock entered the ears, through the blood stream and manifested in some shimmy shimmy bopping while churning out the devil's agenda - rhymes with mud (no I'm not going to disrespect the word pub), ends with way. Some tracks quite experimental & not for me but I respect the mana. 'I'm a Man' makes me reflect that I've only heard one album by a woman so far, and this one is 10 men.
Музыка: 5/10 Разнообразие: 6/10 Тематика и вайб: 3/10 Цепляемость (отдельные песни зашли): 2/10 Реиграбельность (можно ли рандомно врубить на фон): 2/10 Итог: 3.6
It took me a moment to get over the complete surprise of this. I was expecting some soft rock, but got, erm, I’m not sure. Sounded like the band on a Saturday Night from the Royal Palladium Variety Show hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck. I was half expecting Michael bloody Buble to start singing. Oh God, we haven’t had Michael Buble yet on this list. Have I jinxed it by mentioning him? If he pops up it’s my fault. Sorry. Back to the album. It had some ok moments where they got a bit of a bluesy flow going. But it wasn’t for me. An extra star awarded because it wasn’t Michael Buble.
Hog butcher to the world. Extra star for Freeform Guitar, which is the perfect soundtrack for a sausage factory.
Dad music for dad people. If you took the Blood sweat and tears lp we heard already and made it blander and stretched it to a double debut LP (who does -that-?!?)*, this would be the result. *I know the Frankie Goes to Hollywood debut is also a 2xLp. Its also bloated.
Naming a band after a city? Dumb. What's next a band named Boston?
Just felt like boring white people jazz trying to be interesting
Smörigt, men cool låt ”Free form guitar”!
This is a bit of an odd one. There’s a solid album of pleasant enough jazzy soft rock here, but for some reason they decided to pad it out to a double by including some tracks recorded at and inspired by the infamous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and an utterly bonkers improvised experimental guitar freak out that wouldn’t be out of place on a Hendrix album. File under “What were they thinking?”
# Playlist Track - Listen # Notes - The solo sessions in "Free Form Guitar" and "I'm a Man" are -2 stars. Easy. - The entire live thing is super boring, actually. - That's not to say that Chicago is a bad band, but boy, did they put out a bad album.
Good but not much thing
I liked "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Free Form Guitar"
This was everywhere in the 70’s. I always thought they were very overrated and this listen didn’t do anything to change that opinion. Most of the tracks play too long. I like some of the guitar jams on “I’m a Man” and “Poem 58”, but both play too long.
Rating: 1.8 This album started with so much potential, and then the Metal Machine Music song hit, and then the 14 minute “drag my balls across the guitar and see what comes out” song hit, and then I just started disassociating and wondering why I’m even doing this.
4/10
Ei muulloin kuin 60-luvulla olisi päästetty tuollaisia monen minuutin mittaisia sähkökitarantestailtu-interludeja levylle asti… annettakoon se siis anteeksi. Pitkin hampain. Koska on aivan liian pitkä levy. Ehkä kahessa ekassa biisissä jaksaa kuulijakin kiinnostua ideasta, sit homma leviää.
I thought I would like this more than I did. I like the hits of Chicago. This was long and kind of bland, with nothing that stuck out as catchy as any of their hits.
Started off feeling kind of chill and then just got annoying from the midpoint 🫠. Not my jam! Album rating: ⭐⭐
This album was another with undeniably talented musicians and sonically was good but it just dragged a bit for me. The brass was a bit fatiguing to listen to and tracks like “Free Form Guitar” “Liberation” just took up too much time. That being said the high points on this album were “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is”, “Questions 67 and 68” and “Someday”, and they were great songs. I’d give this one a 2.5 probably.
Until I read the Wikipedia entry I didn't connect this band to the band I know as Chicago. They sond very different and their later sound really shows how a band can evolve. There is nothing wrong with this album at all but it isn't something I would choose amongst other great music.
I was groovin at 1st, but the longer it went on, the more I grew to hate it. Free Form Guitar is the straw that broke the camels back with an explosion of fake, wannabe psychedelic guitar nonsense.
In between throwing everything including the kitchen sink at it, this wasn’t bad. Maybe one less extended posturing guitar solo
This was well done but so elaborate that it was hard to focus on. Who greenlit that awful guitar track??
I’m having trouble articulating exactly why, but this didn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the bloat, maybe the arrangements are too busy, maybe the melodies are underwhelming. I should probably give this album at least one more shot, but I simply do not want to.
I was liking this album until they started that awful screeching
Too much 'other stuff'
Lots of skill but I really didn’t enjoy it. The repetitive groove in Poem 58 made me want to chop my ears off. It’s followed by Free Form Guitar, which was even more painful. I guess I just don’t like this.
Just one big jam session with a couple of familiar songs sprinkled in.
Not a huge fan of this one, I was excited to listen to chicago as I remember seeing their logo everywhere when growing up. But I didn't find anything interesting to me in this album. I'll revisit it later and see if I wasn't paying attention
So before they were a soft-rock behemoth, Chicago was a tedious, meandering blues band. Got it.
Not really my thing but not entirely a wasted listen. Interesting in parts
I wrote a longer review earlier, but I restarted my computer and lost it and I don't care enough about this album to rewrite it. Blah blah boring blah blah free form guitar is weird and sucks blah blah 2 out of 5.
Not for me. Free Form Guitar is an apt track name and an utterly shite concept.
Felt like an hour and a half jam sesh. Free Form Guitar didn’t help. Highlights: Honestly, nothing really stood out. It was all very samey.
OK, there's a lot to hate here. That guitar track sounds like some corporate dudes listened to Pere Ubu once and cut this track in a single take and then went out to an expensive cafe to celebrate over Michelob Light and sandwiches. But no. My biggest complaint is with Does Anyone Really Know What Time it Is. I knew this song. I remember that particluar line from the chorus and the "I. WAS. WALK. ING. DOWN. THE. STREET. ONE. DAY" line and thought it was catchy enough. On a closer listen, this song sucks. First of all, much like the Fran Drescher film, "Beauty and the Beautician," it is pretty obvious that they came up with the title and then started writing the piece around it. The little narratives to get up to the chorus are super conttrived, and I don't know if I've heard a pair of lines as bloated as "A man came up to me and asked me / what the time was that was on my watch." Come on. That's like the moment in that terrible M. Night Shamalan movie about how the environment starts killing everyone and someone is on a train and asks "Is this the train to Princeton, New Jersey?" No human would ever ask that question that way. And the actual lyric in this song should be "A man came up and asked me what time it was." I had to restart the song to make sure that I heard how bad that line actually was. Then the chorus. OK, sure, I'll grant the double meaning here in the title question. Not mind blowing, but it's pop music, so I check my expectations a little, and this line works on its own. But the possible depth they find here is just annihilated by the backing singers blurting "I! DON'T! CARE! ABOUT! TIME!" in the background, like the song can't trust its own listeners with nuance. An interesting contemplation about time is to be found in "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" by Fairport Convention on this project. This song, however, is just some smug boomer thinking he's clever. Oh, and then it gets saccharine for no reason with that final line about "We all have time enough to CRY" or whatever. Yeah. true. Sometimes things are sad and time exists. And hold on to your hats, poets, but the final chorus changes CRY to DIE. Oh my god that's so deep. Also, this feels like it's now a mixed message. Time is elusive and I can transcend those other people who feel bound by its artificial constraints and... we're all going to die. Huh? I gave this album a second star because some of the extended instrumental parts were actually sort of fun. But this album managed to provide TWO of my least favorite single moments of this entire project so far, and I'm in the homestretch.
Unstrukturiertes Jazz und Bigband geklimpert ohne angenehme Passagen. Als Hotelbar Sound ok aber nicht wirklich gut.
Bien
Ugh! Hate this band. Hated them then, gave them a fresh listen and I totally dislike their sound now - right up there with BS&T and Herb Alpert.
I love Chicago, but not this album.
Fun but too much
My wife came into the room when Free Form Guitar was on and asked what this crap was.....
This has a lot of the elements of things I like, but it just doesn't come together into something that I enjoyed listening to. I think partly it's the horns, vocals, piano and guitar all fighting over the same couple of octaves and partly that the tracks are all a bit too long. I was very surprised to see this came out in 1969 though.
I like Chicago. They're super talented - but this is a bit self-indulgent for me. Any album that has a 7-minute long song title "Free Form Guitar" is going to get on my nerves a little bit.
Not really my cup of tea
Really didn’t like the bluesy stuff much at all, but I like Questions 67 and 68 a lot
I liked the music and songs, but I didn't really understand it as an album. It felt a bit long and not cohesive.
Im a huge fan of Peter Cetera sung power ballads but this version of Chicago is like the house band at locals’ favorite Italian restaurant in the suburbs.
A jazz rock album. It was okay. 2 out of 5.
I found it rather rudimentary for the most part and Free Form Guitar was a pointless addition. I particularly enjoyed Poem 58 and South California Purples, otherwise nothing really stood out. It’s not really what I associate with Chicago.
What a load of dreadful nonsense, in which sits one absolutely stonking song. Seriously, Questions 67 and 68 is like one of the best Wings-style songs you can imagine, and yet it sits next to the worst prog/jazz/rock fusion you could ever find. Someone should have put a stop to this.
The guitar solo song knocked this down to a 2 as it was the worst song out of all these albums combined. The rest of the album is nice and I liked the jazzy, big band feel for a rock album but the guitar solo really ruined it for me.
Today I decided to enter this Album with an open mind. Inspired from a reddit post I listened the first couple of songs trying to understand the essence of this music. And then this part happened. If you've listened to the album, you know what I mean. Noise, literal nonoise. No thanks.
you can’t be serious
My older siblings listened to this all the time. But feels so dated now
Not sure what to make of this one. Didn’t really grab me and think there was better music being made at that time.
Kudos to them for trying so many different genres. Shame that they failed at them all! There are parts of some songs that I liked, in particular the strong guitar work. The jazz stuff and the continued overuse of the horn section was cringey and when they seemed to be getting some good jam sessions going, it simply went on too long. I played this in the car with my wife and daughter and they both requested that we don’t listen to it on the way back! Hard to argue with that. Top track: I’m a man - a cover version, with no horns!
Thought I’d listened to this in the past, but clearly hadn’t as it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. My overriding thought was ‘ffs calm down a bit lads, and do you really need so much brass!?’. Fair play to them for being balls out experimental. However, the earlier jazzier stuff is dull and not my bag, the funk ones were OK in places, and while the more jam style numbers were theoretically up my street (with an obviously talented guitarist and bassist) the songs were so all over the place it never really hit a groove you felt they had well within their locker. All in all a bit disappointing really, with no song standing out at all (other than making me think the more recent excellent Ty Segall cover of ‘I’m a man’ may owe more to this version than the original). C-, could do better.
Som en inkarnert Chicago hater var jeg overrasket over, at denne ikke gjorde mig mere hidsig. Det var jam shit men lød egentligt ikke dårligt. Alt for lang, ikke særligt interessant, men inoffensive
Lyder rigtig meget som nogen af de live albums vi har haft fra den æra men uden at være live (negativt). Nogen gange groovy, alt alt for langt. Måske jeg bare ikke var i humør til det.
This felt very long. It grooved a lot at times, but then the freedom guitar jazz thing came and broke my ears..
12 songs 1 hour, 16 minutes. I've never listened to an album by Chicago. That's probably because I can't stand any song I've ever heard on the radio by Chicago. Chicago Transit Authority did little to change that. Most of this album comes across as pretentious and precious. I don't understand the popularity of this band at all. BUT. BUT there are at least 2 very, very noisy jam sessions that I dug a LOT! I'm talking noise like Eruption by Van Halen. Or Noise like Sonic Youth.- good stuff. I bet it was hated in 1968 2 stars for the noise and noise only
these guys would call the cops if you offered them a joint
Really enjoyed the first 3 songs and then it just dropped off a cliff for me. Sad
This was too jazzy and too long for my liking. When I think of Chicago, I think of them from the 80s. It was interesting listening to their older material.
The long instrumentals aren’t that interesting to me. It’s technically impressive (not that I know how difficult it is to perform), but does not capture my interest
Another goddamned double album! They're like catnip to these critics! The guitar solo is pretty good on Introduction, and I am a fan of horn sections in general, but this is like a cross between Santana and Al Stewart. There's too much horn on some of these songs. There was a chance for Chicago to rock, Poem 58 proves it. Free Form Guitar is terrible, but I bet Eddie Van Halen listened to it and thought, I can do this but good. They changed their name from Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago because they were afraid of getting sued. Nothing but losers on both sides of that threat, god forbid they besmirch the good name of a public transit authority. On the songs without the horns, I'd have a hard time not guessing this was Santana. The guitar style, the electric piano, the general vibe are all very much of that style. The 1968 Democratic Convention chanting is so dumb. As a kid, i thought political bands stood for something. Now it all just feels like a marketing gimmick. I could see the Beastie Boys being into this album. The first half of Liberation is good but it goes off the rails at about 10 minutes, just a lot of random instrument noise. Yes, you use a lot of instruments. No you do not need to make random noises with all of them for 90 seconds. Not a strong ending for not a strong album.
Честно сказать, всё мимо. Лучшая песня - Questions 67 and 68.
I liked Poem 58 and Liberation but most of the songs were not for me. The earlier tracks sounded like the outro music for 70s sit-coms and some of the later ones were a bit self-indulgent.
La puta canción de 7 minutos con la guitarra infernal me mató, lo siento.
2 stars for the horns
This might be good music, but it was also so freaking cheesy. The horns drove me crazy I did not want to listen to this album
I couldn't figure out what occasion this music fits with...even music I don't like, I can find a use for...for example, I noted earlier that Steely Dan was great music for buying a terrific pair of slacks. Some music is good for ignoring even...but I couldn't figure out what Chicago is for. I did think Poem 58 was a good jam.
Un band ultra surévalué selon moi. Tellement de bruit pour des compositions tellement peu inspirées. Les cuivres au début apportent de quoi d'intéressant, mais ça ne prend pas de temps que la durée inutilement longue des chansons, l'aspect répétitif d'une pièce à l'autre et les hurlements des instruments deviennent vraiment énervant. Il y a au moins 30 minutes de gras à couper sur cet album. 3/10
I'm a Man
Lots of horns and jam band vibes
Chicago habe ich nie große Beachtung geschenkt. Lag wahrscheinlich an If You Leave Me Now. Im Radio zu Tode genudelt. Daher hat mich dieses erste Album überrascht, zackiger Einstieg mit den Bläsern, gefällt mir. Leider spielt sich die Gitarre spätestens ab dem 5ten Titel nervtötend in den Vordergrund. Ja ganz toll, most underrated guitarist bla bla in jedem Youtube Kommentar. Ich kann es nicht mehr hören.
I'd start liking with a song, but then it'd kept going for an extra 5 minutes to the point I no longer liked it. Rinse and repeat for the majority of this album.
Chicago’s a great town, but their namesake band is no Boston. There were points on this album where I was into it, but overall, this is overlong and over-indulgent. I also couldn’t get out of my head a documentary I watched about this band a few years ago. They fired one of their longtime members for coming late to a rehearsal. Apparently, they were in the UK and he went to visit a castle with his wife, which made him late. The doc then showed a one on one with each of the band members bashing this guy for going to look at castles, like a loser. Methinks something deeper and unaddressed in the documentary was going on, and they were blaming one event after their storied multigenerational careers for letting this guy, who probably wrote a lot of the music they were rehearsing and could play in his sleep, go. Very fresh, considering their first hit, which is on this album, is literally about not caring what time it is. Really, think about it. You ask a guy for the time because you might be late for an important meeting, and the asswipe is like ‘does anybody really know what time it is, like philosophically, dude?’ I’d punch him in the neck. Little Nicky has this right. Chicago has a clean facade, but look deeper and you’ll find what’s really up.
25/09/24 I found it too slow, I became bored listening.
Solid album but nothing really stood out for me, not too sure why it's on the list. High 2.
this wasn't nearly as unlistenable as i anticipated honestly, but i still didn't really care about it. i liked the more experimental/freak-out guitar tracks toward the end of the album. the first half was too heavy on the brass for me personally. also insert obligatory cowbell joke here. fav tracks: free form guitar, i'm a man
only really enjoyed "I'm a man" and even that's too long
Not really my type.
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It gets too noodley fairly often, but it never really got bad enough for me to even notice it, which is about what I expect from chicago
At first, I thought it was great and amazing, but then I heard the amount of guitar solos and was just like when will this end. Going into the album, I knew a couple songs and I still enjoy them somewhat
was enjoying the listen until I reached "free form guitar". why was that track included on album?? after that all the other tracks seemed to have over-indulgent guitar solos that just rambled on & on "liberation" was nothing but rambling solos shame since the opening few songs were really enjoyable
Listen and I'm a Man tracks weren't great, but I did like Poem 58, Intro, Beginnings tracks. Rest were so-so.
Naff overlong, overcooked cocktail jazz-rock that sounds like it was made for a naff TV programme where people clap long to the wrong beat.
I liked 'Listen' but the rest was mostly a bit rubbish. A six minute intro is a bit of a warning flag, as is the ill-advised and frankly crap guitar solo track.
Corny horny lounge act.
5/10
not inspiring
Wonderful production and great musicianship. I especially enjoyed the drum solos and fills. Definitely an ambitious debut, however it ends up as far too self-indulgent for my taste. Few of the songs are memorable. Those horns ended up being gratuitous after a while. And I love guitars, but "Free Form Guitar" was a bit of a low point. The music felt largely meaningless in a sense.
The intro didnt sell this album for me, however the music really starts to get fun, and the cliché 70s vibes really start to grow on you. Very long winded in the second half.
Are they a jazz band, a hard rock band, a soft rock band, or just a wedding band with a record deal? Even Chicago can’t decide! It starts out pretty okay, with some key essential tracks to the Adult Contemporary Canon™️ – not the best songs in that canon, but song I’m not going to turn the dial on, especially “Questions 67 and 68” – but there’s hints of an annoying jazz band underneath, on “Intro” and the first half of “Beginnings.” After that initial run of singles, though, Chicago Transit Authority quickly devolves into jazz noodling. It’s uncool and unstructured, and the album immediately lost any good will it had built up from the mediocre singles that came before. The real turning point is “Free Form Guitar,” which is just obnoxious and masturbatory. From here, Chicago try to instill some ‘70s hard rock ✨edge✨, which isn’t even a strength this band can truly lean on. By this point, their affinity for jazz and being long-winded started to annoy me. What started as a passable yet passive listen turned in an experience I couldn’t wait to finish. And while there’s a glimmer of the ‘80s AC charts with Cetera’s “Someday,” the album closes with “Liberation,” a song that’s essential just “Free Form Guitar” with the entire band deciding to chime in this time around. How these guys have almost 40 more albums also named Chicago filled with this bullshit is beyond my comprehension.
Pretty boring but some standouts
I have no qualms with the Chicago Transit Authority, for of course they're also responsible for getting the iconic L train running on time. And I totally support them taking up music in their spare time, but, uhmm, we gotta listen to the whole thing? Ah well, at least it's better than Boston and Kansas. 2 fare dodgers out of 5
Chicago Transit Authority's self-titled debut album, released in 1969, aims high but ultimately falls short of its lofty ambitions. While the band's attempt to fuse rock, jazz, and classical elements is admirable, the result is often a bloated and unfocused mess. At a sprawling 76 minutes, the double album overstays its welcome. Tracks like "Free Form Guitar" and "Liberation" devolve into self-indulgent noodling, testing the listener's patience. The horn section, while competent, feels overused and gimmicky at times. There are a few bright spots, such as "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" which showcases a knack for melody. However, these moments are few and far between, lost in a sea of overwrought arrangements and pretentious experimentation. Chicago Transit Authority's debut shows potential, but the band's lack of restraint and clear direction results in an album that's more exhausting than exhilarating. It's a prime example of a group trying too hard to impress, at the expense of crafting truly engaging music.
4/10
I'm not really a fan of prog, find an album like this feels like it was written to try and be epic and it all comes across as slightly silly. Some of the songs are alright, the jazz-rock fusion reminded me of Bruce Springsteen a bit, maybe the use of brass was an influence on him I was ready for the album to end after the 7 minute long instrumental in the middle though. It sounds more like a chainsaw than music, WTF
Soul, Rock, 1969 -> 2
I have always liked the Chicago sound with the brass section. This album was a little too freeform for me. I definitely like their later stuff.
A little too experimental for my taste
Okay, I like Chicago, but this is weird
Some good. Some not good.
A lot of sounded like it would belong on an 80s porn VHS
Some good tracks, mostly experimental but did appreciate the guitar sounds very evh but years before him
Yeah that free form guitar track is shit and kinda ruins the mood. The rest is ok although looong and not cringe free
This album is a lot like a ride on the actual Chicago Transit Authority: it takes too long and has some garbage in it (Free Form Guitar).
A pretty forgettable album. Next please!.
"Does anyone Really Know What Time It is?" and "Beginnings" are the only two that I remember hearing from this album. The rest was not my thing.
It was okay
What is this band even about? Like yeah, they can play their instruments and sing technically well, but these songs lack any…depth or sincerity? Are they jazz? Are they rock? Are they soul? Because they lack any soul or funk to make that work. And then they have a 7 minute experimental fuzz song right in the middle of the album? This is a band in search of a reason to be a band….also every song is TOO LONG holy shit!
Really unmemorable
Would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was like half the length, as it stands it's just a drag to listen to.
Some nice guitar / bass parts but this is as far away from my cup of tea without being totally unpleasant.
Pretty weird. Not a fan
Me aburre
I was really digging this until that atrocious and torturous Free Form Guitar track. Jesus Christ. What a sudden and jarring departure that was from the playful lounge act schtick they were doing up until that point. The first half of the album is a fun swinging time, but the back half really falls apart. The track lengths are bloated and overindulgent at times too. This album is good at the foreplay, but then it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to actually getting down. And I do mean A LOT. Yikes.
If you leave me now, that would be just fine.
an embarrassment to the L system frankly
First half: Sounds like the soundtrack to a proggy theatre musical. Has some nice bass lines though. 1.5/5 Second half: Noisy, experimental rock (some Hendrix vibes). 3.5/5 Overall: let's just average it out and call it 2.5/5
trumpets do not make a good album.
Not a fan of Chicago at all
I only know Chicago from the 80´s. Chicago from 1969 is new and not really my kind of music.
All the songs were too long. The live songs were unnecessary. Not my kind of music.
Nah, what is this? Is it rock n roll? I don’t get it. Twice I listened, twice I sat disappointed.
Free from guitar is wel echt heerlijk kut
Free form guitar was mij iets te “free”
God this was all over the place. ‘Free Form Guitar’ give me strength, that was awful!
I tried but it was all kinds of irritating to me. Objectively I can see that it’s good stuff but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s jazzy, middle of the road stuff.
Someday and Listen save this neverending over-indulgent w*nk of an album from getting one star. I don’t want to listen to this band ever again
There are some good spits highlighting their talent but this just isnt for me.
This is not what I expected from this band; I thought it would be like the Peter Cetera 80s ballads, but it was jazzier and funkier than that. However, it's a thin line between jazz and jam band, and this crosses it a few too many times. There's a good 45 minute album in here somewhere. Also, the freeform guitar track is fairly dreadful.
2.5 Chicago? Great city, great hot dogs, not so great pizza. The band? Ehhhhh. I’ve never really been a big fan of these guys. They’ve always come across to me as generic dad rock but with horns - horns that really do nothing to save the music from mediocrity, and somehow makes it feel even more MOR than it already is. I knew this was going to be a slog the second I saw that the introduction was 6 and a half minutes long. But that’s just kind of the thing with this album - every song here is way longer than it needs to be. Like, they’re not even doing anything particularly cool or overly jammy on most tracks, it just feels like padding. And the one time they do attempt something improvised and experimental results in Free Form Guitar, an absolute ear massacre that is sure to turn off even someone who was genuinely enjoying the album prior. It’s like they were trying to prove they were hard or something here, but it’s just cringe-inducing. Maybe you could classify the closing track, Liberation as a better example of a jam-out track, but either way, I was long over the album at that point. Not a ton of standouts here for a 76-minute album. I was curious what the group would have to say about Southern Californians with their song about Purples (whatever the hell those are), and yet them quoting The Beatles ended up feeling more insulting than anything negative they could have said. The August 29, 1968 tracks ended up being the actual charged tracks here, which I guess are about cops beating up anti-Vietnam protestors on said date in Chicago. I respect the energy (assuming they’re supporting the protestors - I can’t really tell), but given that the songs pop up a good hour into the album, the sudden political messaging feels a bit out of left field. Overall, meh. Not bad, but a pretty forgettable classic rock record.
Smells like Demon Dogs
Nope.
Cetera’s bass playing is underrated
Right about now, the prog funk brother. This album sounded like proto-phish. Not a fan.
Chicago’s brand of Broadway-esque Pop/Rock has never really rubbed me the right way, and not even the stronger influence of Prog on this album can win me over fully. I will say though, as a whole, I enjoyed this a lot more than my previous exposures to the group. Several solid tracks on here and the full-band sound really elevates a lot of them. I just can’t stomach when they really dive into the sort of whimsical on-stage storytelling voice like they do on Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, which unfortunately is more often than not. Also, speaking as a guy who loves to jam, Free Form Guitar is truly an awful track. Top tracks: Introduction, Beginnings, I’m A Man, Liberation
An assault on the eardrums, with a few exceptions.
Not for me
Rock / funk combination that disappears so far up its own backside it can see the back of its own teeth.
jazzy
Not a fan
November 25, 2023 Top marks for the talent. They do like to take their songs for a walk. I'm going curling today.
Groundbreaking for the time, but doesn't hold up in 2023 in my opinion. The composition is solid, but feels primarily like music written for a stage play of yesteryear. I'm over the lead vocalist.
Starts off well then such long boring guitar solos 2
I found this album very difficult to listen to. At the best times, I found it to mildly interesting, but I found most of the album tolerable, and there were moments and entire songs that were annoying to listen to. Jam bands and this sort of jazz rock are not genres I generally enjoy, but I'm only giving it 2 stars instead of 1, because the talent is obvious from the playing of the instruments to some of the complex compositions. When it comes to Chicago, I'm really only interested in Peter Cetera "soft rock" era, though.
Was not into this. Too much jazz than rock for me. Some of it was fine, like "Beginnings" but "Free Form Guitar" alone made this listen a drag.
Good sound mixing but ultimately boring. I can understand it may have been impactful or fresh at its time, but sometimes I listen to music to enjoy it and engage with, not reflect on its place in history.
Keys a tad annoying in the intro to “does anybody really know what time it it?” I’ve had a fever since yesterday and while there are some nice elements to jam along to there’s too much noice & exhausting stuff for my head rn 2/5
Impressive musicianship. It's an interesting blend of influences. Kinda Motown bass and drums, with blue-eyed-soul vocals, rock guitar, and Latin percussion elements. I get why they're influential. But the result is kinda goofy. Beginnings has a really cool chord structure and harmony halfway through. And Free Form Guitar is a complete left turn into experimental noise guitar performance. I dig the willingness to abandon genre and venture into weirdness. But ultimately, it feels like a worse version of its component parts. I appreciate it, but if my rating requirement is whether I'd choose to listen again, I'd have to say I won't be returning to this one.
It's Chicago. Jazzy. horns. A whole album of that is a lot.
ok 5.5/10
When they remixed this album, they won the loudness war by turning those horns up to eleven.
Able playing unfortunately coupled with the most vanilla songwriting.
They'll just throw anything on here.
Je me disais en écoutant l'entame de cet album "tiens c'est bizzare, Robert nous a proposé trois bons albums d'un coup ??". Mais pas d'inquiétude, grâce aux multiples bruits de moto imités par Chicago avec leurs guitares ultra-saturées sur la deuxième partie de l'album, on retrouve bien notre générateur ignoble. Quel superbe contre-pied de la part de Robert une fois de plus.
My POP had this record on vinyl and I'm not going to lie to you, I used to rock out to some of these jams. The playing is still outstanding but now when I try to take the whole album in as a statement I'm just not as impressed as I was when I was 7 or 8.
Interesting at first sight, the "Chicago Transit Authority" album offers an initial allure. However, as you delve deeper, the sound occasionally presents itself as somewhat dull. The omnipresence of the horns is undeniable, and at times, they seem to drill their melodies into the very core of your consciousness. The vibe often mirrors that of a lackluster high school band, an impression that's further reinforced by the vocals. While the band's talent may be evident, the overall execution on this album just does not resonate with me.
Fui al remaster porque el original no se puede escuchar del ruido que tiene encima. Cetera tiene re cambiada la voz. Bien pero no lo volvería a escuchar.
De Chicago solo conocía los baladones ochentosos que escucha Geny. Este está bien pero me aburrió un poco. 2.5
Expected pop, brass, jazz, big band. Didn't expect guitar masturbation
So sixties. Sub Hendrix or cream. Pretty dated now
GRATING. So so grating. Beyond the intended (I guess) unpleasantness, I found the vocals annoying twee and coy and the lyrics with nothing to say. Some of the instrumentation worked and there were a few nice transitions, I can see the appeal for some, but boy it ain't me. One and a half. Fave track: I'm A Man
Not great. Not so heinous that I bomb it with a 1 star rating, but fairly unremarkable album. Is it groovy? Sure. Is it lame as all hell? Kinda. The longer songs that would perhaps be the more interesting tracks turned into a bit of a chore at times. Some good percussion, but overall a snoozer for me. Fave track: Listen
De fanns bra saker och dåliga saker, för långttttttt dock. Å idk kanske ja ba int gillar chicago. Trummorna va koola dock
Never understood the attraction.. Includes the iconic "I'm A Man", but little else of interest.
Some enjoyable songs for background work music, but also some long songs and some that were not enjoyable at all.
I feel slightly less than neutral about this album. I have been waffling between 2 and 3, but I have to shoot just short for this one. The playing is exceptional, and some of the arrangements are really fun– I especially like the horns! And this is not the sound that I expect from Chicago– I don't know what I expected, to be honest. Much more versatility. To me, though, it just feels like Normal Music. As in, it's nothing astounding or notable, other than the really great playing, and maybe the feeling I get around it? It just feels like I'm hearing a band having a good time, at an outdoor blues festival. So I feel overall "meh" about it, even though the recording and playing are superb. Just didn't speak to me. 2/5
Technically, there is nothing wrong with this music, but I just can't tell what emotions this was trying to evoke. The only time it distracted me from my inner monologue was when it turned into dementia music
was expecting trash, was greeted by okay and then it turned too long and repetitive
a grab bag of rock genres with a nice horn section. unfortunately it degenerates into jam band tomfoolery and atonal noise. music that's more fun to make than to listen to
Dont care
The tracks in this album take a long, meandering time to go nowhere in particular. It's very grand, layered and, at times, bombastic, but the end result is a little soulless and showy for its own sake.
Well. Not what I was expecting, which is lazy MOR rawk. Instead got a mix of jazz and my 12 year old son playing with my guitar and amp.
It’s not bad just not my flavor
technically solid but just not for me. horny yawny dad-rock? ⭐⭐
Probably a little long and one-note for me. I don't dislike blues rock or wah-wah type sounds, but I think by 30 minutes in I had got the idea. Maybe another listen would reveal more detail, but I probably won't get back to this one for a while.
I couldn't really get into this.
A little stiff, and weird tracks
no
Some decent, jazzy instrumentals. Track 2 has some good feels. Lyrics/vocals pretty meh. Too many horns.
probably really good live but they couldn't write a hook line if their lives depended on it. can't remember a single song of this and there was over an hour of it.
Staff pie and chips
Sí, esto estuvo aburrido
Average, songs got a bit annoying in the end.
ekki slæmt en pínu leiðinlegt, mikið af hornum og funký
Meh Like their 80’s stuff better
The first half of this album is an absolute snooze fest, then Poem 58 happens and it’s like a different band is making this album for a few tracks and then back to snooze fest, what a bummer. Poem 58 is a masterpiece and the rest is so bland also FUCK FREEFORM GUITAR
That was a tough one to get through. I enjoyed parts & and was exasperated by these long jamming sessions.
Erikoisia ääniä saatu kitaralla aikaan. Ei oikein mitään mieleen painuvaa paitsi free form guitar joka on pelkkää kitaran raiskuuttamista
Meh. Some good tracks. LOOOOONG stretches of jamming descending into noise though. 3 out of 5
I found this to be not good. That is all. Sorry max bud
found an upside to having tooth ache - it's a welcome distraction to listening to this.
Not a fan
This was ok and I recognized a few songs that are somewhat ubiquitous in the culture. Some of the songs were weird and annoying but mostly decent stuff. Nothing that especially stood out to me though, even the popular songs were just ok.
Chicago's over-the-top, big band, lounge lizard vibe is definitely a jam... For somebody. Just not for me. I just can't with the big Boomer energy that drips off of this album. It doesn't feel good, it doesn't sound good... it doesn't do me any good. It feels like what it is. Namely, an expression of an era of extreme excess. The arrangements here feel almost gluttonous they're so thick and over the top. The only reason this doesn't get failing marks from me is because clearly this is a group of musicians that know their stuff. Like, these are great musicians. There's no way to argue with that.
I don’t like this jam band style. All of the songs seem aimless within the overall message of the album. They’re just…songs. Songs that are often too long and often meander too much. Now I know why I avoided this band.
Really hard one to rate as it is so inconsistent. It would probably have been a 3 or 4 if it wasn't for shite like the free form guitar song.
Some of it is good, but a lot I didn't like
better than i thought it would be.
10/04 I tried man. But it didn’t work. Boring to me.
I wanted to like it, but there wasn't a single song that I really liked.
It was kinda cool that I was in Chicago when the album generator gave me an album by Chicago. But this is the kinda music my mom listens to. It's fine... just not my style.
Ugh, no... just... no. 2 stars because they at least play their own instruments and like, my dad kinda likes this album.
I liked it more than I thought I would. The lyrics are pretty bad throughout and the whole production sounds like the 1970s. There are moments that make me really excited but nothing here is edited in a way that keeps the album moving forward. Seven minutes of tuneless guitar noise is perhaps excessive but I prefer it over a blues jam of the same length so there's that.
Promising onsets of songs but they keep losing themselves in pointless excursions.
Nothing noteworthy, the music is okay
Too much jamming for me.
Do you love listening to an hour of boring instrumental music? Well do I have the album for you!
No muy de mi estilo
"Free form guitar" should be named "how to make your guitar sound like a broken car"
Didn't listen to full thing but very jazzy, not really my type
Family Guy does the bit where they play a joke to death, and as they continue to beat it to death, it becomes funny again. Chicago plays enjoyable riffs to death, but they don’t become enjoyable again.
It was good, but a bit harsh sound (sound tech in the 60s). I'm starting to think not all of these albums are designed to listen to in the background.
This is one of those albums where I can admire the musicianship but have to admit it’s just not for me.
Not my style. I appreciate the abilities of the musicians, and hence the two stars.
It's fun, but not going to listen ever again.
The album was alright. It was eccentric at points. The brass and woodwinds were interesting. I did get bored in the middle of it. I don't think I was familiar with any of the songs and I don't think I will be revisiting it. Better than a 2 but not really a three.
For someone who always associated CTA with Peter Cetera and his works, this was a sharp (and bewildering) shock. My preferred response would have been not to rate this, because I simply don’t get the smorgasbord served up here. But since this isn’t an option…
Chicago (Transit Authority). Charming, big band sound fused with classic rock that's actually quite a nice easy listen but far too overblown, eight tracks over 5 minutes long and a 15 minute self-indulgent closer. Probably better than I expected though.
It's decent but very samey.
not for me
Just not for me.
I hate to say it, but I enjoyed the Documentary Now! sendup if Chicago- Blue Jean Comitee-than I liked this.
Probably great live during this era. Seems bloated in retrospect. The Hendrix influenced guitar is fun.
meh
Some nice fun riffs and horns but got verrrrry samey and it's long. Too long for my attention span. bleh
Pretty vacant to me. Just throwing a load of rock stuff at it but without much soul or heart.
Didn’t really like it, and I thought I would. Too many long ass guitar solos. I did like “I’m a Man.”
'Ooftah' - Shannah (1.75) 'Flip-flops between being really awesome to really tedious' - Conor (2.8) 'I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't Boston' - Bill (2)
Apparently they were going for the abundance of horns and percussion sounds combined with a bunch of solo noodling on any instrument they could find. There's essentially 3 songs that show they have some potential to become a melodic interesting rock band, and about 60 minutes of music that should best be left in the past.
Starts well but loses itself in the middle and peters out
L'intro est cool, l'intro de piano de la deuxième toune est malade, ça se gâte pour moi quand le chant arrive. Connaissais pas du tout (de nom) Beginings begin longtemps en criss En général c'est mon impression, trop long... Si je m'attendais à entendre un solo de guit noise? Non, est-ce que c'était bon?... Pleins de bout de brass vraiment cool et bien écrit mais aussi beaucoup de bout de brass générique qui n'apporte rien aussi C'est long, qui a besoin d'un autre blues après 50 minutes d'album?? 2,5 si on pouvais
Started off well, but the hour upon hour of terrible guitar noodling completely ruined the entire thing!
This is what happens when band geeks are allowed to make a rock band. They like jazz, obviously. Every song is too long
Think this will go against general ratings but couldnt get into it. Found it to be kind of noisy.
Prior to hearing this I was only familiar with their really lame, sappy soft rock hits. I was expecting another 1 star especially with that run time. Well it was a little better than I expected, but not much. It started out okish but just turned into a slog and don't even get me started on the self indulgence. There's a good case to cast this into the gutter, but there are some pretty cool moments with the brass that give it some redeeming value. Regardless I don't really want to cross paths with this or any Chicago album again.
Can respect rock with horns and appreciate a different rock flavour, but it was not my cup of tea. While there were a few good songs (does anybody really know....., Listen, and Questions 67 and 68 are strong examples), the album was very muddly and at times annoying.
This album feels like the score to a show that I can't see. Despite the diversity of sound, I ultimately have no idea what is happening on stage or how the story is progressing so I lose interest.
It was… fine.
I'm tempted to give everything from 1969 an automatic 1/5 from now on because there is TOO MUCH from this time period, but this is alright. It was almost proggy in places, but mostly just kinda poppy jazz. 75 minutes was punishing though. 2/5.
Не мое
Funky horns, guitars that take turns blazing and noodling, a melange of Andy Williams vibes and hippy idealism. "Free Form Guitar" is 6 minutes and 49 seconds of self-indulgent tosh.
Lots of jazz, naturally lending itself to big band energy. Overall an ok album, however nothing that would really grab me to go back and listen to it. Best: Southern California Purples Worst: Liberation
When it’s good it’s good, but it’s too often bogged down in some of the most pointlessly self-indulgent experimental toss I’veever heard. And I say that as a King Crimson fan, just to put things in perspective.
Start of nice jazzy, but then it gets less
Não rendeu bem
The debut album of Chicago was a disappointment to me. Most of the songs are dragging on in an uninspired jazz rock format.
A bit tough
Not to my taste, but I can see the appeal.
Free form guitar es demasiado JAJAJAJ
i'm a man the only good song
1969 brought us a lot of great music that was both ground-breaking but also timeless; then there's Chicago. I may be missing something here, but the album is fairly uninspired and treads the line of 70's rock and big brass bands without excelling in either. As far as an influence in the decade to come, that would be notable if the decade by and large wasn't so bereft of quality music.
Bluesy with hints of jazz and soul. This should have been something that I enjoyed but I found very little to latch onto with a weak lead vocal and uninspiring lyrics.
I was hopeful after the opening track but the rest of the album was pretty dire.