Chicago 13 [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Chicago
Engineer: Jim Boyer
Producer: Chicago; Phil Ramone
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Chicago: Peter Cetera (vocals, guitar); Lee Loughnane (vocals, trumpet); Robert Lamm (vocals, keyboards); Donnie Dacus (guitar); Walter Parazaider (woodwinds); James Pankow (trombone); Danny Seraphine (drums). Additional personnel: Maynard Ferguson (trumpet); David "Hawk" Wolinski, Mrs. Wolinski (synthesizer); Airto Moreira (percussion). Recorded at Le Studio, Montreal, Quebec; A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, California. Personnel: Donnie Dacus (vocals, guitar); Lee Loughnane (vocals, trumpet); Robert Lamm (vocals, keyboards); Peter Cetera (vocals); Walter Parazaider (woodwinds); Maynard Ferguson (trumpet); James Pankow (trombone); David Wolinski "Hawk" (synthesizer); Daniel Seraphine (drums); Airto Moreira (percussion). Audio Remasterer: David Donnelly. Recording information: A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Le Studio, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Photographer: Gary Heery. Unknown Contributor Role: Daniel Seraphine. While it might be a stretch to claim that disco in effect killed Chicago, as this effort exemplifies, the dance craze certainly didn't help the band, either. After the moderate success of its previous long-player, Hot Streets (1978), Chicago seemed to have the fortitude to be able to carry on in the wake of the tragic loss of original member Terry Kath (lead guitar/vocals). With the addition of Donnie Dacus (guitar/vocals) and producer Phil Ramone, Chicago scored a pair of strong Top 40 hits with "No Tell Lover" and "Alive Again." By mid-1979, the fickle pop music tides had fully turned toward the beat-intensive drone of disco. Somewhere along the line the rhythm temporarily fixated the band -- much in the same way a deer reacts to oncoming headlights. As Chicago 13 (1979) proves, the results in either instance are not pretty. The nine-plus minute "extended" opener, "Street Player," could easily be mistaken for a Village People number. The same fate befalls the overtly funky and urban-influenced "Paradise Alley." Interestingly, the latter was originally slated as the title track from a concurrent Sylvester Stallone snoozer of the same name. The disc does contain a few redeeming moments, however. Laudir DeOliveira (percussion) contributes the breezy and jazz-flavored "Life Is What It Is." Featuring an equally liberating vocal from Peter Cetera (bass/vocals), it includes one of the more tasteful horn arrangements on the album. The ragtime blues feel on Danny Seraphine's (drums) "Aloha Mama" has some well-seasoned brass augmentation, proving that Chicago had not completely abandoned its roots or audience. The 2003 CD reissue sports not only significantly improved sound, but also a pair of "bonus selections." These appear in the form of an alternate mix of "Street Player" as well as a Dacus' B-side track, "Closer to You." The latter was paired with his "Must Have Been Crazy" and issued as the first of three singles from the LP -- none of which charted in the Top 40. ~ Lindsay Planer Even the pair of bonus tracks on Rhino's 2003 CD reissue of Chicago 13 can't prevent this release from being one of the most inconsistent and lackluster of the combo's career thus far. Chicago was continuing to reel from the loss of Terry Kath (guitar) and although its previous effort, Hot Streets (1978), had garnered nominal success, the band was continuing to lose touch with its audience. As the original 1979 release proves, they were having equal difficulty when attempting to modernize their sound as well. The nine-plus minute "extended" opener, "Street Player," could easily be mistaken for a Village People number. The same fate befalls the overtly funky and urban-influenced "Paradise Alley." Interestingly, the latter was originally slated as the title track from a concurrent Sylvester Stallone snoozer of the same name. The disc does contain a few redeeming moments, however. Laudir DeOliveira (percussion) contributes the breezy and jazz-flavored "Life Is What It Is." Featuring an equally liberating vocal from Peter Cetera (bass/vocals), it includes one of the more tasteful horn arrangements on the album. The ragtime blues feel on Danny Seraphine's (drums) "Aloha Mama" has some well-seasoned brass augmentation, proving that Chicago had not completely abandoned its roots or audience. This 2003 CD reissue can be credited for much improved audio quality as well as the pair of previously unearthed "bonus selections" -- an alternate mix of "Street Player" and the Donnie Dacus-penned B-side, "Closer to You." Although it failed to make any impressions on the singles chart, the side was coupled with his "Must Have Been Crazy" and subsequently issued as the first of three 45s from the LP. ~ Lindsay Planer

Chicago was the longest-running and most commercially successful of the hordes of jazz-rock bands with horn sections that sprang up in the late-1960s wake of Blood, Sweat & Tears. After myriad personnel changes (including the death of founding guitarist Terry Kath due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound), Chicago eventually mutated into a more conventional pop group that was able to score hit after hit well into the '80s, usually with romantic ballads. They remain among the best-selling American bands of all time. In the mid 1990s they briefly returned to their roots with an album of big band-era standards given the Chicago treatment.

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