Reviews (page 9 of 9)
Whoa. Unlike many of their albums, this one isn't hit or miss. Just great.
(boring a bit)
.
The debut Chicago album is a DOUBLE ALBUM?! And it's "only the beginning" (see what I did there?). Chicago is, without a doubt, very good at this kind of music. It's well-composed, well-performed, and well-paced. This is all undone by Side C's opener "Free Form Guitar" which rocks my socks. It totally breaks the flow of the album built up for the past 30-40 minutes by just experimenting with horrid guitar sounds and I love it. I wish more albums had a mid-point wake-up call. After that though it gets right back into it's normal groove and everything is alright again. I definitely feel that this is one of the better double albums, but it still ends up being too big for it's own good.
A bit self indulgent in places, clearly good musicians but the album didn't do much for me.
Surprisingly excellent
This was ace. Similar to maggot brain
5
Meh
Tja, ik ken Chicago toch vooral van de latere periode toen ze meer AOR maakten. Dit is toch echt voor de liefhebbers. Schiet teveel kanten op. Wel afgeluisterd, maar zal dit niet snel nog een keer draaien.
Ik vond het eigenlijk best wel tof, maar 5 kwartier was echt teveel van het goed. En dat nummer waar iemand 6,5 minuut met een verrote bladblazer bezig is? Wtf?
Is dit dezelfde Chicago als van 'Hard to say I'm sorry'? Jeetje, wat klinkt dit anders.
Strong start but loses me towards the second half of the album. Once the song part of Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is? came on i really enjoyed it, but there was a lot of odd instrumentals throughout the album. Free Form Guitar was just jarring
Not enough, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," or, "If You Leave Me Now." Not a fan.
They had me at Chicago! This album is an introduction to to amazing talent of a band homegrown in the USA! Transit AC shows how truly talented the artists were before their explosion into stardom. The instruments played cover a wide spectrum of cow bell to trombone. I can honestly say they grew leaps and bounds after this album...25 or 6 to 4..... Name a band today that has vocal, drummer, trumpet keyboard, brass, guitar and cowbell to boot! Loved Beginning, Q’s 67 & 68, I’m a Man& Introduction. Jim, I never knew you were the original “More Cowbell” guy?! Chicago goes on to become a legend in their own time. “Does anyone Really Know What time it is”.
I do not like this very much.
Fair to middling. Not particular my bag.
an hour and a bit i'll never get back. self indulgent muso wank.
Generic, inoffensive 60s rock. It's not bad really, just boring.
Dog shite
too much brass for my tastes.....but i can see how this would have been super fresh in its day
Extremely self indulgent. Comes across to me as being calculated to the point of boredom. It is also excessively long (are debut double albums ever a good idea?). The longer it went on the more I just wanted it to be over, which isn't a good sign. A special mention also for "free from guitar" which made me grit my teeth and grimace 'finger nails on chalkboard' style. It would be a 2, but that knocks it down to a 1.
Extraordinary album. Can't believe I've never heard this before now. I thought Chicago were a soft rock group. Not on this evidence, a very different well crafted album.
I thought Chicago sounded like Journey... It's much better than than that, I liked the rock and the horns and the weird stuff
This started off strong for me. My love for big horns was kicking in strong, and then they just kept going with the brass and I started getting a bit of listener fatigue. Then came "Free Form Guitar," and at that point I was like get fucked Chicago, and that became the first song on this entire list that I skipped before finishing. Like get over yourself guys, no one wants to hear that for 6 minutes and its not even interesting experimentation. Any ways, back half was pretty unremarkable. The only standout for me was "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" Overall it just felt a little uninspired to me. It's like taking the 10th best bands from the swing, jazz, hard rock, and blues genres and trying to form a supergroup. Nah.
Well well well. If it isn’t our family’s band. I don’t need to go into that history as I’m sure many of us are aware, but this album was fantastic. Does anybody really know what time it is is one of my favorite Chicago songs and the rest of this album was just great. I loved the intro song and one towards the end even had the soundbites from the protests that were shown in Trial of the Chicago 7. There is a magic to this band, with the trumpets and guitars and singing. Perfect for the late 60’s but also incredibly timeless. This album cover is basic but also classic as well. I never had heard this one before, I usually listened to the hits but I’m glad to see that even their lesser known songs are great.
You know, I think I would like a lot more of this album if not for the wild, out of place, forever long intros. See like on Beginnings, I don't mind the extended outro, but a whole minute of the same groove just to do a super slow fade out? come on! Free Form Guitar is one of those tracks critics love and I don't get because its not pleasant to listen to. I'm docking a star for a 14 minute jam song at the end.
Música de qualidade, exceto Free Form Guitar que é um pouco exagerada
Jazz-rock sesentero.
I do not like this band
Amazing drums and horns. Not thrilled with the vocals. Will listen again.
Not sure I really care for this album. Nice music but it reminds me of music they used to play at the super market while you shop. 5/10.
Nope.
Zaczęło się spoko, ale nudy
Wow, this really showed me how unfamiliar I am with early Chicago. A couple of familiar tracks made it fun here and there. Too many guitar solos for me.
Sometimes good, sometimes it drags on.
Really great album. Great straight up rock songs, but the addition of a powerful brass section adds a cool flair to many of them. Then there’s those free form jams that are interesting. Really great stuff. Favorite Track(s): “Introduction,” “Listen,” “Poem 58,” and “I’m A Man”
This could’ve been, and should’ve been two albums. There’s no reason for this to be an hour and fifteen
Excellent blend of jazz and rock. Overall very solid album even if it was a bit long and had a couple weaker tracks.
Some favorites, like the horn sections
struggled with this one. I kind of figured Chicago would be bad, given that after living there for 8 years, you never heard anyone really talk about the band, even in a city that is obsessed with itself. The sound felt like old school big band 'modernized' for the seventies. I like other Jam music so I kept trying to give this another chance, but it just never got there.
Some sick riffs
What a way to end a really good week of music! We grew up with a lot of the Chicago hits, including "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," but I've never listened to an album from them before. This is not what I expected but really impressive! Virtuosic, exploratory instrumental work all around, a lot less traditional song structure than I anticipated. Dare I say experimental? "Free Form Guitar" is absolutely melting my brain. And the sample of the chanting at the 1968 DNC, there's just so much going on here. If you heard this for the first time in '69, what kind of band or music would you even think this is? Learning the lore too, that this was the original band name until they received a cease and desist from the actual CTA. The Grammys giving them best new artist was probably one of the few times they got an award right. And of course, I have to mention Uncle Jim on the trombone. I think it's really cool that he actually wrote the last two songs on this album. This is really great. Favorite tracks: Free Form Guitar, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, Listen, Liberation, Someday. Album art: Love this. I've always admired that Chicago was consistent with their font/lettering on all their album covers. This one has the added charm of appearing painted on wood. The colors really pop, the framing is excellent. Proud of you guys. 4.5/5
This is nice. Sounds like 60s cool city big band music. Nostalgic, like this is what they are listening to on Sesame Street.
1 - Gerade ist hier Tiefphase
well old stuff again. Kickt mich nicht mehr wirklich.
ja, ne, echt nicht. Danke. Heute kein Foto für dich. Dafür verschwende ich nicht meine Zeit. Richtig sauer gerade.
Long songs toward the end, but I like Chicago. Also sick guitar tones for solos.
Quite Chicago-y.
Lovely. I'll have to pull this out again
Don't know why I slept on this one. So good!
Excellent rock. Meh jazz. Superior songwriting.
best in small doses. more jamband than I was aware
Such great singers and guitar players. Absolute classic. Some of the guitar solos went on for a little too long IMHO, like the last song is 14 min long, that’s a bit.
awesome playing. but jazz rock.... not my thing
peak Chicago?
More complexity in the music than I might have given it credit for. Not really my thing, and I think the lyrics are a little dull and trite.
Incredible musicianship, but also pretty fun. They seem to be really luxuriating in playing together. Makes me miss playing music in a band with other people. Nice brass. Free Form Guitar is badass.
1969. Horns! Jazzy. Fun.
High highs, but a couple too many free form tracks
Awesome jazz/rock big band.
I had assumptions about this band, and I was wrong. This album slaps for a horn-driven album. Free Form Guitar was a bit much, but I get it.
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.
It was okay. Kinda weird. Didn't like the freeform song.
Dat saxophone tho
Kinda corny of course, but love the horn section.
decent chill vibes. would listen again . intentionally. reason for 4 is last few songs were heavy guitar work . not my vibe. only the fast jazzy kind thing i like
I've always liked Chicago, but I'd never heard their first album. It was a really interesting blend of everything that I've known of them, plus some throwbacks to the era which initially produced them. It wasn't a top tier album for me personally, but merited 3 stars.
70's game show music, and not the funky kind.
Wow, this was crazy, I thought I knew Chicago. This was almost Hendrix like in places. Really interesting album.
Fuck yeah, Chicago
Not Chicago’s best but an interesting no vocal sound
A couple of my favorite Chicago songs on here, and a surprising amount of heavy guitar wanking.
God. This went on and on.
not bad
I love Chicago when they're at their best. They're not always at their best here, but the foundation is there. I wish somebody would have been around to tell them to cut the bullshit (looking at you, Free Form Guitar). Best track: Listen
Love the innovation here even it gets weird at times
The musicianship and simple chutzpah to put Free Form in there saves this from being offensively bad, but it's quite bad. It sneaks under the radar, which should perhaps be a point against it. Utterly uninspiring.
Tiring. 5.5/10 FT: Questions 67 and 68
Hated it.
a true classic