Chicago
XXX

The thirtieth album by Chicago was released in 2006 without the slightest buzz in our area, which has always been resistant to their very American mainstream pop rock, old-fashioned and stagnant. The response in their homeland, where they are considered a real institution (more than sixty million records sold from 1969 to today in the USA alone), was nothing special either… evidently, across the Atlantic, they have become accustomed to not expecting anything new and important from an old and satisfied group like them.

Listening to and owning recent Chicago albums can still be a good musical exercise though… The trick is not to expect constant inspiration and interest and therefore to clearly discriminate among the various tracks offered, first and foremost tossing into the sea without much ado the generous and cloying dose of sugary and hollow ballads, more or less all the same, which always start with the plink plink of the piano to introduce the voidly honeyed voice of the otherwise excellent bassist Jason Scheff. They then develop their usual sweetened lyrics and as much as they might swell with choruses, full orchestras, bombastic sounds here and there, they lead to nothing good, radiating an odor of Sanremo Festival in the USA version.

Once this considerable ballast is removed, there's always some nice little fish left in the net: the eight Chicago members and the collaborating musicians with whom they, not at all jealous of their artistic roles, surround themselves, are all first-rate musicians who, when they stop being ingratiating and "adult-oriented” tout court and indulge in the pleasure of playing for themselves and not for the record company, still bring out commendable work.

In personal order of preference, I first mention ""Already Gone", nearly seven flamboyant minutes starting with smooth-talking crooner singing from organist Bill Champlin and then soaked in with punctual, explosive choruses as well as the high-quality work of the three brass players. When it seems that the track has concluded its journey with the scholastic repetition of the chorus ad libitum, an excellent instrumental coda kicks in, with horns traveling in unison in a big band style, delightful over an elegant and agile rhythm.

In ""90 Degrees and Freezing" the unmistakable, muddy voice of pianist Robert Lamm and the excellent riff alternatively crafted by his instrument and the guitars already predispose to just admiration, then there's also the central instrumental portion, with an ascending jazz scale on which the horns and then guest guitarist Dan Huff (a fantastic musician, he can be fully admired with his AOR band Giant of which he is also the singer) solo. As per the typical scheme used by Chicago, in the chorus the vocal duties pass to bassist Scheff who demonstrates all the explosiveness, range, and drive of his voice, truly wasted and thrown away in all those sappy passages he indulges in on every album.

"Better" is a funky rock shuffle placed almost at the end that smells a bit of Steely Dan, with the brass section brilliantly accentuating each passage and the very clever interlocking of rhythmic instruments, oozing class and sophistication at every beat.

Last mention for the opening track ""Feel", a very Toto-like piece, curiously also reprised at the end with an option of added brass: it opens with a "modern" concession to hip-hop, i.e., the classic stuffy and obtuse rhythmic loop, which thankfully soon gives way to the explosion of real instruments and the splendid, booming voices of the three great singers this band boasts.

The rest of the album ranges from negligible to irritating… it's the typical album to enjoy with the remote control in hand, finger on the track progression button.