Chicago-Loving Audiophiles of the World, gather round, this is the week [sometime in 2010] we took on one of the toughest challenges in all of Analog Rockdom — Chicago II.
Ever played one? Then you know that the average copy of this album is an unmitigated DISASTER. The smeary sub-gen brass alone is enough to drive you from the room.
To a list of the album’s faults you can confidently add some or all of the following: blurry out of control bass; opaque veiled mids; rolled off highs, or no highs, whichever the case may be, common to virtually every pressing you find: plain old distortion; and, last but not least, the kind of compressed, lifeless sound that manages to make even the best songs on the album tedious.
And that’s not easy to do — this one album spawned not one, not two, but three still-catchy tunes that get played plenty these days.
This Copy
Two Super Hot or Better sides for three and four, which is very unusual, and two other quite good sides for one and two, making this a consistently good copy all around. Let’s break it down.
Side One
A+ to A++. Better brass transients than most of the 360 copies, but lacks the fullness those pressings have going for them. Horns are present and lively, voices a bit thinner than ideal.
Side Two
A+ to A++. Just the reverse of side one (see why it’s so hard to predict?). Big and Rich sounding, with lots of tubey magic, but a bit too smooth.
Two big hits on this side: Make Me Smile and Colour My World.
Side Three
The Real Sound, finally! Clear extended top, transparent and spacious, breathy vocals, big bass — it’s doing it all. One copy of all the pressings we played had a better side three. This one murdered the others.
The big hit is on this side: 25 or 6 to 4. Also Fancy Colours, one of the best songs on the album.
Side Four
WAY off the charts. Without a doubt the best sound on the entire album. No copy sounded better. It’s White Hot.
Side One
Movin’ In
The Road
Poem For The People
In The Country
Side Two
Wake Up Sunshine (Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon)
Make Me Smile
So Much To Say, So Much To Give
Anxiety’s Moment
West Virginia Fantasies
Colour My World
To Be Free
Now More Than Ever
Side Three
Fancy Colours
25 or 6 to 4
Prelude
A.M. Mourning
P.M. Mourning
Memories Of Love
Side Four
It Better End Soon
1st Movement
2nd Movement
3rd Movement
4th Movement
Where Do We Go From Here
AMG Review
The contents of Chicago II (1970) underscore the solid foundation of complex jazz changes with heavy electric rock & roll that the band so brazenly forged on the first set. The septet also continued its ability to blend the seemingly divergent musical styles into some of the best and most effective pop music of the era.