Chicago in 1970

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Early Chicago in my opinion was much better than the later Chicago driven by Peter Cetera ballads.

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They're like two completely different bands.

I can't imagine the Chicago of "Baby What A Big Surprise" dedicating an album the way Chicago Transit Authority was.

if you listen to Chicago at Carnegie Hall (1971), you can hear how Kath would improvise parts of songs that were instrumental... he, Cetera, Lamm, and drummer Danny Seraphine would jam and were a basis of a good band. Kath would tire of the horns eventually in his later years; Cetera would too as well. Some of the later Cetera songs could be a beating but he was a damn fine bass player. In those early years (as evident by Tanglewood and the Carnegie Hall album - which gets an expanded edition in July where they release all eight concert recorded that week in April '71), there is no doubt the leader of Chicago is Terry Kath

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Early Chicago in my opinion was much better than the later Chicago driven by Peter Cetera ballads.

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You know the history of why Chicago became more pop music than what they used to be in the late 60's/early 70's?

That's b/c in the late 70's/early 80's their musical chemistry was not selling records anymore. So the record company dropped them after the release of "Chicago 14". I believe each member got paid $300K by the record company for voiding their contracts, so they used the funds to re-group and produce their next album. This is when the magic of David Foster came in and was hired to produce their upcoming record.

Foster believed that the band staple of brass & guitar in their previous years was becoming "old" so he came up with the idea of creating more pop songs. To say the least, Chicago 16 & Chicago 17 were released and they both went on to sell millions of records and marked the band as a comeback group due to their commercial success. Those 2 albums went 2x platinum and the other 6x platinum.

So there's the reason why their musical style changed drastically. They were heading downhill and David Foster bailed them out.

Fun fact: if you watch the "You're the Inspiration" music video, you will notice the brass players are playing keyboards and the other is reading a newspaper. In the video there's 3 band members total (Champlin is the other one) playing keyboards and Lamm playing piano. Gives you an idea they ditched the brass and their players had no option but to go with selling records and making their fans happy.

I like Chicago of the 70s. Mid to late 80s Chicago was pure garbage.

Look away. Baby, look away. Bleh

1982 isn't mid to late 80s.

What I'm talking about is all of that David Foster crap that charted in the mid to late 80s.

Especially Chicago 18 and everything after.

Terry Kath most underrated guitarist ever

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I don't get the hate for the 2nd phase of their life

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Me neither, they released catchy pop tunes and ballads, even after Cetera left. However after Champlin left the band, I think that was it for Chicago. Age caught up to them too.

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but Cetera is the man.

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I'm a fan of the man. He was a great bass player and basically was the heart and soul of Chicago post-Terry Kath. After he split from Chicago he went totally pop and had a decent career. Nothing wrong with that but that created a different fan base for him. And if you fast forward to the 90's he became more like a crooner singer, a long way from his kick arse R&R style of the late 60's/early 70's.

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Chicago 17

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A great album. I can listen to that album and skip over just one track.

For all the grief Cetera may get for ballads, the lead track on 17 'Stay the Night' is faster paced than the other singles. His first solo album in '81 had a lot of guitar in it. He wrote some great guitar tracks on VIII that showcased Kath ('Hideaway' and 'Anyway You Want'); some songs on that album had no horns.

Hideaway

Or "Saturday in the Park".

I like both eras. Let's say there was Chicago Kath-era; then Chicago Cetera-era; and then Chicago w/o Cetera.
After his departure in '85 it became just another group and the songs became more and more corny.