1. Introduction
2. Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?*
3. Beginnings*
4. Questions 67 & 68*
5. Listen
6. Poem 58
7. Free Form Guitar
8. South California Purples
9. I'm A Man
10. Prologue, August 29, 1968
11. Someday (August 29, 1968)
12. Liberation
***1/5
If you're like me, you only really know Chicago from their song "If You Leave Me Now", which was mockingly reworked by Lemon Jelly and used as Butters' unofficial theme song in South Park. And fair enough - Chicago are I guess one of those bands that were huge at the time but have been largely forgotten by modern rock fans. This is a bit unfortunate, because as it turns out they're actually pretty great. As with most double albums, Chicago Transit Authority goes on far too long and doesn't have quite enough ideas to sustain its length, but this is still a pretty great album. In many ways, it's the album Blood, Sweat & Tears thought they were making - a clever mix of jazz, R&B, soul and hard rock that has had genuine thought put into it and is being performed by ferociously talented musicians. The result is an album that starts as proggy awesomeness, transitions through soul, jazz and psychedelia, and ends with a fourteen minute wah-wah guitar freak-out worthy of Jimi Hendrix. It's kind of awesome, and unlike most double albums you can actually listen to it all the way through without getting bored.
A lot of the success of this album can be attributed to the band's attitude. They were all shit hot players, but rather than produce a bunch of techy nonsense they wanted to make an album of clever, innovative good time music. This means that they treat their audience with respect, and understand that most people listen to music to feel better about things and relax a bit. So this is an album you could put on at a party, or listen to by yourself while knocking back a few drinks (which is what I did). The songs are all very well done in the way they mix big band jazz with rock music (it sounds like a terrible idea but works really well), and they're all very cleverly structured so that ideas flow naturally rather than just having the songs lurch between genres. "Introduction" is a borderline prog workout, but the lyrics are just the singer exhorting people to have a good time while the band try and search for a new kind of music (impressively, they largely succeed). Then you have the classic "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?", which starts with a free jazz piano exploration and then shifts into a pop song so glorious it's like sunshine in a jar.
The back end of the album contains looser, less carefully structured songs presumably more reflective of the band's live sets. "Freeform Guitar" is just guitarist Terry Kath improvising on his guitar, but it's actually pretty great and kind of a precursor to noise rock. That contrast between a harder, more exploratory form of rock and lighter pop sensibilities is part of what makes this album work so well. Chicago were obviously very well educated musically, and had pretty wide-ranging tastes, but they also understood how to craft songs that someone who wasn't on drugs might want to listen voluntarily. That sounds like an obvious thing to be but trust me - I have listened to 162 albums for this project and it is a lesson many, many artists have failed to learn.
You could criticise this album for being a precursor to Seventies soft rock, but I actually don't mind that sort of music too much. Yes, Chicago probably led to REO Speedwagon, but on the other hand "Roll With The Changes" kicks arse. So this is a bold, ambitious, and incredibly fun album of highly innovative music, and I was glad to encounter it. If not for this project, I doubt I would ever have given Chicago the time of day. But Chicago Transit Authority is well worth a listen.
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