CD Review: Chicago XI
Published March 25, 2006
Most bands have experienced tragedy, sometimes great, at one point or another during their careers. But what befell Chicago not long after the release of their eleventh album seems particularly cruel.
Guitarist and vocalist Terry Kath was an avid gun collector and had been cleaning one of his guns at a friend's party on January 23, 1978. When someone expressed concern and asked Kath to put the gun away, he replied, "Not to worry, it's not loaded," aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger to prove it. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Terry, the gun was loaded and he died almost instantly. It's amazing how often that great talents are robbed of their lives through the stupidest incidents.
Though stupid, it was incredibly tragic, and the rest of the boys in Chicago nearly hung it up as a result of their grief. So if one thing marks September 1977's Chicago XI as sublimely unique, it was because it was their last album, in a sense.
Chicago would not be the same without Terry Kath. When most people think of Chicago, they think of Peter Cetera as their leader. This is, of course, mostly to do with his vocals on "If You Leave Me Now." But Cetera did not really step up and become more prominent with Chicago until 1982. From the band's inception in 1967 to his death in 1978, it was Kath who was the main frontman and undisputed leader of the group. Without Kath, their sound and style never quite recovered.
Chicago XI is also the last album they would record with James William Guercio. Guercio had been with Chicago since the beginning and was practically their eighth member. Every time you heard a song of theirs on the radio, you could almost hear Guercio in the background, calling all the shots. Although it's funny to think of a band called Chicago recording in Colorado, that's where they recorded the bulk of their work. The 11th album was no exception. However, by '77, Guercio had become something of a control freak, trying to dictate the band from every direction imaginable. So, due to the fact that they could not bring themselves to go back to same studio they'd shared with Terry, plus the fact that they were fed up with Guercio, the band told their longtime manager/producer to screw himself and, as aforementioned, were never quite the same.
Although it is a very good album, Chicago XI is not very cohesive. There is less of a common thread running through the album than there had been on past efforts. This album is really just a collection of songs and nothing more. But the music, nevertheless, is top-notch. What also makes the album great is that everyone in the band contributed to the writing of it.
Mark Edward Manning grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in London, England. He wrote commentaries for The Boston Herald in the mid 1990s.
- CD Review: Chicago XI
- Published: March 25, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Blues, Music: Pop, Music: Rock
- Writer: Mark Edward Manning
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Comments on this articleComments
Thanks, Mark. Hot Streets did mark quite a departure for the band, though not so much in sound - that wouldn't become evident until 1982 with the release of Chicago 16. In a way, Hot Streets made a powerful statement, best expressed in the song "Alive Again." "No Tell Lover" also preserved some of Chicago's old sound. But, considering they'd lost Kath, getting used to a new guitarist in the process (Donnie Dacus), and jettisoning Guercio as their manager - that, for me, was the start of their second phase. (Phase 3 started once Cetera left.) Also, it was the first time since their debut album that they did not use a number. Naming the album something like "Hot Streets" was quite surprising for them, at the time. It was definitely the end of Chicago as the world knew them from '69-'77.
I'd almost forgotten about this album until I landed on this page by accident during a search for reviews of Chicago XXX. I grew up listening to Chicago. The 70's were all of my adolescence and Chicago was it as far as I was concerned. I bought all of their records on the day of release (well starting with Chicago VI, that is. I bought the earlier ones not long after that).
I personally felt the band made a number of mistakes (or their management/record label did) with regard to choices for what songs would be singles. Some of their best work was probably never heard by a lot of people who weren't getting into what they were hearing on the radio.
Chicago VIII and X were good examples of this. The weakest songs were the singles and the best were not.
VIII didn't do that well, but X was a huge hit thanks to that schlock known as "If You Leave Me Now".
I loved virtually everything about X except that one song.....
Fortunately though it did help the album do pretty well sales-wise. I'm sure the award-winning cover art (The Chocolate Bar) didn't hurt, either.
Then comes XI, followed not long after by Terry Kath's death. It was almost haunting hearing him on that record. But tragedy aside, I didn't think Chicago could top X but they did with XI. They experimented a bit (something they hadn't been noted for in several years) and I think it paid off.
My favorite song is still "Take Me Back to Chicago", with the awesome background vocals by Chaka Kahn.
Anyhow thanks for the memory trip. Now I'm off to find reviews of XXX which I'm sure will suck.
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nice review mark.
so was there a big transformation between this record and Hot Streets? i don't remember reading any reveiws of that one. i do like the song "Alive Again" but can't say that i can place anything else on it.
oh, and i love it when the words "Side Two" come up in a review. nostagia maybe, but so what?!