The Studio Albums 1969-1978 (V

This is my favorite era of the Chicago band, 1969 - 1978. After Terry Kath, the band just wasn't the same. The jazz vocals and guitar work of Terry Kath was what gave the band that progressive edge. Peter Cetera and Robert Lamm were great contributers to the band as well. Overall they had developed that signature sound with the classic horn section. The first three albums is filled with experimental improvisation. That is why they were double albums. They didn't have in mind a radio friendly, cookie cutter pop formula. After Chicago V, they were more and more concerned about what could make it on the charts. Their big hit "Saturday In The Park" off Chicago V was a high charting success in the summer of 1972. They would record their next few albums at the Caribou Ranch in Colorado. It ended up being one classic right after another. Chicago VI had "Feeling Stronger Every Day" and "Just You 'n' Me". "What's The World Comin' To" is a hot jamming track where they just pull out all the stops. Chicago VII was another double album set with the first 5 tracks being all instrumental with jazz improvisation. It had classic songs like, "Life Saver", "Happy Man", "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long", "Mongonucleosis", "Wishing You Were Here" (featuring Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine of the Beach Boys) and "Call On Me". Chicago VIII was the album with "Old Days", "Harry Truman" and "Brand New Love Affair Part I & II". "Hideaway" is a favorite track on the album. Chicago IX was a hit compilation album. It was excluded from this box because there would have been many tracks repeated. It contained a shorter version of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" that not only cuts off the piano intro, but the vinyl versions even chop off the horn intro. "Beginnings" is almost complete, but fades out before the percussion tag. Chicago X had their most seccessful hit, "If You Leave Me Now". It also had "Another Rainy Day in New York City" and "You Were On My Mind". The song, "Skin Tight" and "Gently I'll Wake You" were sure to raise some eyebrows back then. The starting song, "Once or Twice" kicks things off into high gear and the closing song, "Hope for Love" winds things down with a slow introspective feel. My personal favorite is "Scrapbook", which is great song with a fantasic groove. Chicago XI is the last album to feature Terry Kath. It was a tragic fatal accident at a party that took his life. He is grealy missed. Some the bands best songs are on Chicago XI like, " Baby What a Big Surprise", "Take Me Back to Chicago", "Little One", "Takin' It On Uptown" and "Missisippi Delta Blues" which starts off the album. Chicago 12 "Hot Streets" was probably the hardest album for the band, but they pulled it off quite well with smash hits like, "Alive Again", "No Tell Lover" and "Gone, Long, Gone". "Little Miss Lovin' is a strong song as well. Overall you cannot go wrong. Even though you don't get the extra art work that came with the gatefold covers, inner sleeves and posters, You do get the music. Chicago IV: Live at Carnegie Hall is omitted and so is Chicago IX: Greatest Hits. It would have been nice if a book was included with liner notes and history of the band, but it probably would have brought the price up. The price is right for this set. Purchase it before it becomes a collector's item.

The Studio Albums, 1969-1978 is a magnificent set of the first ten studio albums/cd collection from Chicago. This music presented by Chicago from 1969 through to 1978 is remastered and sounds excellent. This appears to be the most musically productive, popular and solid time period for Chicago. The jazz rock band had all the original members, Terry Kath, lead vocals and guitar, Peter Cetera, vocals and bass, Robert Lamm, vocals and piano, James Pankow, trombonist, Lee Loughnane, trumpet, Walter Parazaider, saxaphone, and drummer Danny Seraphine. This provided the trademark blend of Kath with his slightly raspy rock/soul vocals, outstanding guitar work and Cetera with a slightly higher vocal range. Blended in with the outstanding horn section and percussion, Chicago developed the unique, horn driven, powerful and popular jazz rock fusion sound that made the band famous and well respected. The volume of hit songs and notable songs is significant and shows Chicago at the beginning of a upward climb of a very successful musical journey. The one aspect of Chicago during the first nine studio albums was the presence of Terry Kath, with raspy lead vocals and top level guitar work. Listening to the tracks you can hear and sense that Kath was the foundation where Chicago built their sound. When Kath unexpectedly passed away in 1978, the sound and direction took a different path. On the tenth cd, a Chicago without Kath had a slightly different sound and musical direction. Sadly, it really was never the same band. The box set comes in a well designed cover box that has small depictions of the ten original album covers. Each cd has it's own sleeve with the specific, original album cover depicted on the front side. There are no liner notes or inserts in this box set. This is a slight oversight and disappointment as it would have been a additional feature that Chicago fans would review and appreciate. For Chicago fans, this collection will provide an outstanding and nostalgic listening experience. The price point for this ten set cd collection is very reasonable.

If you're a Chicago fan, this is a great collection. It has mostly everything they've ever done and especially all the classics. I always loved this band and hearing their music carries me way back into a much younger day. This is a must have - buy it!!

No booklets or anything. Just basic packaging on the CDs but they are the remastered versions with bonus tracks. I bought the first 5 Chicago albums in in real time as they came out and then they lost me though of course I was aware of the hits. An inexpensive way to revisit their catalogue.

I got this on sale for about $34. I am a Chicago fan so how can you go wrong for about $3.40 for each Chicago CD. Some of the songs I would not know it was Chicago. It sounded good just different. If you like Chicago and want to get some of their music I would recommend The Very Best of Chicago, Only the Beginning. It is a 2 disk set with a bunch of their greatest hits. If you get any of Chicago's greatest hits albums you will know the songs and they have that Chicago sound to them. If you are a Chicago fan this album is still a great deal for the money. The advantage of the greatest hits album, I can leave it on and enjoy it all the way through without wanting to skip any songs.

Ah, yes. Chicago. The name. The iconic logo. The reliable hit factory. The peerless collective of superior artists. The deserving recipient of awards and accolades for five decades on. Ok. I am a fan, but I had never made the deep dive into Chicago's massive songbook. Recently, I decided to correct my long-time error in judgment and purchase The Studio Albums (1969-1978) box set. Additionally, I committed the time to listen to every song on every album. It plays continuously every time I drive my car, and I have a long, daily commute, so I am able to take in multiple tracks on every trip. This has been an enlightening endeavor, to be sure. You and I already know of this band's storied history. You and I may also know Chicago to be lyrically, musically, and artistically Rock's symphony orchestra. What I did not know and what you may not know is the depth of their genius. Friends, it may well be bottomless. I did not love every track. You may not love song either. However, the great majority of what I heard was fascinating, compelling, pleasing. One learns that Chicago was and is highly motivated by creativity because there is a profound sense of invention and exploration that the listeners experience in their journey through the band's first decade. It is a road trip of joy. It is a tour through history. It is also a sojourn of personal discovery because one learns about oneself along the way. Chicago The Studio Albums (1969-1978) is more a mind-blowing encounter; it's mind-opening. Enjoy it. Absorb it. Buy it!

The first ten studio albums from the band Chicago are exactly what die-hard fans need, especially with bonus tracks featured on almost every album. Among all tens, my favorites are Chicago VI, X, XI and Hot Streets [Chicago XII] because in those albums, the band really stood out. Overall, the recently inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band (2016) deserve standing ovation for all ten of those studio albums because, along with the classic hits we all know today, they represented themselves throughout the songs that they wrote and performed. That is why I rate five stars on this wonderfully extravagant collection of albums. In case somebody wants to know what those albums are, I have a list of the whole 10-album collection: 1. Chicago Transition Authority [1969 debut album] 2. Chicago II [1970] 3. Chicago III [1971] 4. Chicago V [1972] 5. Chicago VI [1973] 6. Chicago VII [1974] 7. Chicago VIII [1975] 8. Chicago X [1976] 9. Chicago XI [1977- Final album with Terry Kath] 10. Hot Streets (Chicago XII) [1978- Their 12th album released after the untimely death of (and dedicated to) Terry Kath] Note: Chicago IV and Chicago IX, not included because IV is live and IX is their greatest hits album. Advice for fans and music lovers, you should buy this collection! It is amazing. If you do have it, don't forget to listen to the bonus tracks and rehearsals that are meant for certain albums.

First off, let me state that I have EVERY Chicago album on the original vinyl from CTA all the way through Chicago XXI. And I also have a USB turntable for dubbing my vinyl albums to CD. So this was somewhat of a debate in my mind as to whether or not I should buy this 10-CD set. But now I am glad I did. As a great Chicago fan, listening to the albums for the first time on remastered CDs, I can hear subtle background sounds, especially with the horns and strings that I never had heard from the vinyl albums. So it is almost like listening to new versions of their music for the first time. Well worth the price at less than four dollars per CD. And several of the CDs have bonus tracks, which is like "all new" Chicago music to me. The packaging is substantial, never mind that the double albums don't fold out (as some reviewers have complained). The covers are faithful and reproductions of the original album covers, and the backs have the listings of all the music on the CD. The only album that this presents a problem for is "Hot Streets," because the original fold-out cover was a wrap-around photo of the members of the band, and some were wrapped to the backside of the album. So they are missing on this cover. And "Hot Streets" is, of course, the first Chicago album with the members' faces on the cover, and the first Chicago album with a real name, and not a number for its title. And the first album recorded after Terry Kath's untimely death. So it is well-worth the price. I just wish other record labels would come out with multi-album compilations of an artist's music. I have all the Eagles's albums on vinyl, but I'm thinking of buying their multi-album set next.

Die Chicago-Alben waren eigentlich von jeher keine kurzfristigen Hitparadenstürmer sondern jeweils ein in sich geschlossenes Album, welches durch seine Gesamtheit überzeugte. Also keine wahllose Ansammlung von Songs mir EINEM Hit und sonstigem Füllmaterials, sondern Gesamtwerke - oder besser: GesamtKUNSTwerke! In der nun vorliegenden Zusammenstellung erhält man 10 Chicago-Alben für den Preis, der sonst fast für eine CD aufgerufen wird! Da ist man natürlich gespannt, ob der Sound dann ein billiges Zusammengestöpsel ist und die ganze Sache den Preis nicht wert! Bisher habe ich nur das Album 7 angehört, doch allein schon diese hat mich voll vom Hocker geholt: Sound ist klar, frisch, mindestens so gut wie man es damals nicht besser konnte! Lt. Titelliste sind ein Teil der Aufnahmen "remastered". Doch auch die übrigen Aufnahmen klingen sehr gut! Insgesamt bekommt man 10 Alben für rund 25 Euro - da lohnt sich das Downloaden anderwo kaum. Klangqualität 1A, Preis mehr als günstig - was will man mehr um in die Erinnerungsoase "Chicago" einzusteigen!

Cómo gran fan de este grupo, que me considero desde 1968, cuando editaron su primer LP Chicago Transit Authority. Aquí en España se editó en un LP sencillo, por lo que unos años después, recurrí a un amigo que viajaba a Estados Unidos para encargarle éste primer LP doble, tal y como se había editado en ese país. Desde entonces, fui comprando todos vinilos que sacaron al mercado, ya con el nombre de Chicago añadiendo en números romanos el título del LP. Cuando apareció el CD, me pasé a este formato en las sucesivas ediciones nuevas. En el 2016, Rhino tuvo la feliz idea de editar en Blu-ray y en multicanal (4.1) los nueve primeros discos, que como enamorado que soy de la música en multicanal, disfruto enormemente cada vez que los escucho. Finalmente, esta recopilación de sus 10 primeros discos en estéreo me motivó a su compra para poder escuchar en cualquier lugar y con auriculares. En estos años, las mezclas de estos discos han ido retocándose y han llegado a un nivel de calidad francamente bueno. Aún, si no sois acérrimos seguidores de este grupo, como lo soy yo, os lo recomiendo con empeño. Vais a disfrutar de lo lindo.

It has taken me 53 years to bother with Chicage and I am very pleased that I have found this CD set, a set that provides excellent value. It comes on a good hard case and the sound production is brilliant. Now the music is wonderful, a mixture of Jazz, Blues and Hard Rock and each album somehow manages to capture a different aspect of the group. No gimmicks found here just straight to the point musicianship and you would find it hard to compare it against anything of today, even the early albums sound great. Wonderful group and fantastic value as a box set.

Completo. Ótimo som.

Son 10 discos, yo estoy satisfecho con los primeros 8....desde que lo pedí, a cuando llegó, pasaron más de 40 días, quizás por eso llegó un poco maltratada la caja ....paso mucho tiempo...como mensajería de hace 20 años. Único inconveniente...