kungfuzu
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May 26, 2020 19:58:25 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 19:58:25 GMT -8
That's an interesting take which I have never thought of. Of course, albums are very different from movies and a song can stand on its own even if surrounded by rubbish. One can skip over as many songs as one wants and still have great satisfaction with the product.
It is only with albums like the Who's "Tommy" that it might be necessary to listen to every song on an album.
I admit there are not many rock/pop albums that I will listen to from beginning to end.
What does CSNY mean?
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Brad Nelson
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May 26, 2020 20:03:11 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 20:03:11 GMT -8
Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
Now listeing to the last song on the last side, "Where Do We Go from Here?" Some nice harmonies. Not an earth-shattering song but kind of nice. The only criticism I have is that the four movements on side four drag on a bit. I realize he's creating an atmosphere here, the kind of album you can put on and it's not a scatter-gun of 2:35 one-off AM singles. So I can appreciate that. It just got a little dull by the 3rd movement.
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kungfuzu
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May 26, 2020 20:06:35 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 26, 2020 20:06:35 GMT -8
It just hit me as you posted this.
Apparently, the material for the first two albums was mainly written when Chicago moved to L.A. in 1968/69 and practiced for a year, before recording the CTA album. They had so much material left over that they used it for the second album. Chicago III is new material and quite different from the first two albums.
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Brad Nelson
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 20:26:09 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 20:26:09 GMT -8
'
Mr. Flu, according to Wiki there is a producer's note inside the album that says:
Done and done. And it was a pretty good sequential experience. I get what you mean about skipping songs. And that will be useful in regards to re-listening to CTA. But clearly Chicago (at least II) is truly an album-oriented production. It has bits and pieces, for sure, but it's also attempting to meld something together. I guess this is the modern equivalent of a symphony.
And I think it works on that level while sill having some bits and pieces you can pull out for their own sake.
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Brad Nelson
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 20:27:28 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 20:27:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the background. It's onto III tomorrow.
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 20:37:06 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 26, 2020 20:37:06 GMT -8
Anyway, Chicago II sounded great through the Sony headphones. I’m taking it up a notch and streaming Apple Music from my phone to my pretty good stereo system with a decent pair of Ohm speakers. The stereo is retrofitted with a B06 Plus Bluetooth Receiver which has worked very well for me and I can’t tell any degradation of sound due to the Bluetooth, although theoretically there has to be some. I read the Wiki article on III and they were a weary band (physically, mentally, and spiritually) who went back into the studio to crank out new material. We’ll see how they do. I'm not enamored with the first song. It's just noisy.
Should have scrapped the first two songs and started with "What Else Can I Say?"
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Chicago
May 26, 2020 21:01:26 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on May 26, 2020 21:01:26 GMT -8
I have a collection of Crosby, Stills, and Nash that I occasionally play (my favorite of their songs is probably "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"). I don't play anything by Neil Young (or by the four together), though I do occasionally play Lynyrd Skynyrd's response to Young's anti-Southern views, "Sweet Home Alabama".
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Chicago
May 27, 2020 7:29:10 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 7:29:10 GMT -8
Neil Young is an absolute flake. But occasionally he has a tune worth listening to. I think "Country Girl" from Déjà Vu is pretty good, although on that song it's really sort of all of them.
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Chicago
May 27, 2020 7:31:40 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 7:31:40 GMT -8
"Free" from Chicago III was good. "Free Country," which follows, is sort of an avant garde instrumental piece. A bit strange and out of place. They're album-packing at this point.
"At the Sunrise" kicks it up a notch.
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Chicago
May 27, 2020 7:33:23 GMT -8
Post by timothylane on May 27, 2020 7:33:23 GMT -8
One hall mate at Purdue was a big Neil Young fan, so I heard some. At that time he tended to be rather high-pitched, and I didn't like it. (Neither did his roommate, who after hearing Young said that now he knew who provided that sour note in CSNY.) One of the songs was called "Southern Man", which is at least an example of what Skynyrd was responding to. |
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Chicago
May 27, 2020 7:37:55 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 7:37:55 GMT -8
Next up on Chicago III is "Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home." Lamm/Cetera have some nice harmonies. I think this song works. I would have started the album with it and cut some of the others. I think you could make a fine single album of this. But we'll see what sides three and four have to offer.
I admit that "Mother" is a fine song. It's just not my sort of jazz. Next up: "Lowdown." Better. Much better.
"A Hard Risin' Morning Without Breakfast" and "Off to Work." Again, I won't say this is bad music. But it's the kind of tries-too-hard soul/jazz stuff that grates on me. Nobody cares. Now, go and sing something more pleasant. And I guess I could accept the last two installments of that suite ("Dreamin' Home" and "Morning Blues Again") as better.
"When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow." Shut up and play some music. No one wants your poetry spoken with fake heartfeltness. At least not me. The rest of this "Elegy" suite is written by Pankow. It will be interesting to see what he does.
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kungfuzu
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May 27, 2020 8:06:34 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 27, 2020 8:06:34 GMT -8
You are correct that this album has some symphonic qualities about it. It was much most complex and required more technical ability that most of the pop music which was out there at the time. (Or still is for that matter.)
I recall reading something last week about II being Chicago's first hit album. Apparently, the CTA album had not performed as well, but when II came out it caused a huge interest in the band and the sales of the CTA album increased substantially. This was new to me.
I was introduced to the album in choir class during my junior year in high school. Obviously, those in choir were interested in music and I vaguely recall another kid talking about a really great group which had just come out. Someone brought the album in and we talked about it more. I think they must have even played parts of it before class started. This same thing happened for other albums, like CSN's first album.
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kungfuzu
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May 27, 2020 8:08:17 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 27, 2020 8:08:17 GMT -8
Worse than his pitch was the nasal way in which he sang. Damn Canadian should have stayed home.  |
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May 27, 2020 8:36:06 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 8:36:06 GMT -8
And I acquired it on Reviews&Things. I do think Chicago II reaches toward the penumbra of the outside shadow of within shouting distance of "masterpiece." III is more spotty. "Elegy" is okay if you like that sort of jazz. I don't. But I don't mind a little horn-infused Chicago-style jazz. I guess I would say that for me there is a happy medium between Lamm's more bluesy excesses (to my ear) and Cetera's later vapid pop.
I will attest that "The Approaching Storm"/"Man vs. Man: The End" is a vibrant and interesting piece. But it's not the kind of stuff I generally enjoy listening to.
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kungfuzu
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Post by kungfuzu on May 27, 2020 16:36:40 GMT -8
Leonid and his crazy Russians are back.
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May 27, 2020 21:24:14 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 21:24:14 GMT -8
I listened to Chicago V. I thought half of it was pretty good. And the other half seemed to be a factor of Robert Lamm wishing he'd been born black. I think he stretches way too far trying to imitate a black man in some of his songs.
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May 27, 2020 21:27:02 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 21:27:02 GMT -8
Onto Chicago VI.
It may not be their most famous song. But having listened to a few now, I think "Just You 'n' Me" is the quintessential Chicago tune. It's everything they try to be....realized very well in this song. Jazzy. Horny. Even a bit funky. But not going down the rat hole of trying to sound like Sly and the Family Stone. Exquisite and subtle production. And a poppy, but not saccharine, song style.
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May 27, 2020 21:31:32 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 27, 2020 21:31:32 GMT -8
Great song: "Just You 'n' Me." And then a giant thud with "Darlin' Dear." Then Terry Kath does something that Lamm doesn't achieve in the previous song. Like it or hate it, "Jenny" sounds like a song with the guy's heart and soul behind it. He's not trying so damn hard to be "soulful." I don't particularly love the song, but I do think it is authentic.
"What's This World Coming To" sounds very dated.
"Something in This City Changes People." A Beatlesesque tune in some respects. Unlike some of the Chicago songs (especially many of Lamm's), this one doesn't feel as if they're trying to beat you over the head with it. There's real artistry here.
Lamm finally offers a more Chicago-style tune with "Hollywood" which has a good feel to it. It doesn't feel forced and overbearing.
"In Terms of Two." How interesting that a harmonica is introduced in this Cetera/Pankow song. Almost a good song. It seems to be missing a little something that would take it over the top.
Next to last: "Rediscovery." Lamm. Not bad. Flows better. Doesn't feel so forced. Still not exactly my cup of tea but I can appreciate that it does this style well. However, I think Lamm is always better when he's not "styling" so hard. "Saturday in the Park" (from V) is an excellent song and he handles it expertly.
Last song (not counting the two bonus tracks on this extended version). Another quintessential Chicago song and sound. The horns aren't in your face or trying to make up for a lack of a good tune. Cetera's singing is certainly front-and-center (he's always just a little on the edge of being grating), but he works this song very well and sounds natural. Pankow is the power behind this album, writing the two big hits.
This is an album I would definitely listen to again. The same with II. I wanna do V again as well since I had too many interruptions and other stuff going on at the time.
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kungfuzu
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May 27, 2020 21:51:44 GMT -8
Post by kungfuzu on May 27, 2020 21:51:44 GMT -8
I agree it is a very good piece. This is Cetera starting to take a bigger part in the band.
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May 28, 2020 6:55:37 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on May 28, 2020 6:55:37 GMT -8
You know my methods, Watson….such as they are. Anyway, I did indeed re-listen to V last night and made it through “Saturday in the Park” before I final had to concede that it was getting late. I thought the album flowed very nicely as an album. The production values are of very high quality as well.
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