Top Artists – Chicago

Chicago – Chicago VII

More of the Music of Chicago

  • A vintage copy of Chicago VII with very good Hot Stamper grades on all FOUR sides
  • It’s richer, fuller and with more presence than the average copy, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • This is true of even our lowest-priced, lowest-graded copies – they are guaranteed to sound much better than any pressing you can find on the market today, as well as any pressing you may already own
  • “Happy Man,” “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long” and “Wishing You Were Here” (with Beach Boys backing vox) are the big hits here
  • “It was Peter Cetera who made the biggest strides on Chicago VII, composing his two most impressive songs thus far, Happy Man and “Wishing You Were Here” (#11), a lush ballad (signs of the future) that features three of The Beach Boys on backing vocals and which became a big hit in late 1974.”

Finding great sounding Chicago records is not easy. (Most copies of the second album are so bad sounding they defy understanding. I’ve heard Edison cylinders with more fidelity.) But some of their records are very well recorded, this being one of them, and even though the shootouts for double albums are twice as hard, for Chicago we do them, and for only one reason: we love this music. (Well, parts of it anyway. Chicago and consistency have one thing in common: they both start with the letter C.)

How can you write a better song than “”(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long”? That track, with its huge buildup of strings and wall to wall brass, just kills. It’ll send shivers up your spine at the live music levels we were trying to play it at. It actually has some real dynamics built into the mix, which is not something pop songs are supposed to have.

“Wishing You Were Here” (with Beach Boys vocals no less) is another one we love, along with “Happy Man.” These are some great Chicago songs, and the production is first-rate all the way.

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Letter of the Week – “For the next three hours, I spun disc after disc, to their delight.”

More Raves for the Phenomenal Sound of White Hot Stamper Pressings

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he played for friends recently:

Hey Tom, 

Story for you — last Saturday evening, a designer of a new world-famous tonearm, the owner of an elite high-end audio salon in California and I met for dinner with a well-known reviewer for one of the big audiophile rags, then went back to one of their houses to listen to records I had been asked to bring.

About 90% of the two dozen records I had selected were White Hot Stamper versions of classic rock staples.

For the next three hours, I spun disc after disc, to their delight.

Particular faves included Elvis Costello’s “My Aim Is True,” Led Zeppelin II, 10CC’s “The Original Soundtrack,” CSNY’s “Deja Vu,” and Chicago’s first LP.

Bill

Bill,

That sounds like a great way to spend an evening, playing killer copies of world class Demo Disc recordings! I would loved to have been there.

Without exception, these are five of our most beloved records, records we have been obsessed with since I first heard them all those years ago.

And of course we will never read a word about pressings with Hot Stampers, from this or any other demonstration, in one of the big audiophile rags. We are bad for their business. Their Heavy Vinyl advertisers would throw a fit. They know what we have to say about their shoddy products.

I guess there might just be something attractive about having the best sounding pressings in the world and being able to keep it amongst the small number of music loving audiophiles who are “in the know.”

But it would be nice if everyone could hear it for themselves.

Thanks for making a good start.

TP

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Chicago and The Hottest Sounding Vinyl – Are You a Thrillseeker Too?

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Chicago Available Now

We admit to being thrillseekers here at Better Records, and make no apologies for it.

The better the system and the hotter the stamper, the bigger the thrill.

I want to hear the music I love playing louder and sounding better, with more energy and excitement, and the reason I spent an ungodly number of hours over the last 40+ 50+ years working on my stereo is that the kind of sound that can give me thrills doesn’t happen by accident.

You have to work your ass off to get it.

And spend a lot of money.

And search for those pressings that have the sound you are looking for.

And be very lucky.

I don’t play records to sip wine and smoke cigars. I play records to feel something.

Whether the music is rock, jazz or classical, I want to feel the power of the music just as you would feel it at the live event.

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Chicago Transit Authority on MoFi

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Chicago Available Now

The last time I played a copy of the MoFi Chicago debut was at least twenty years ago. The all tube system I had back then was much darker and dramatically less resolving than the one I have now, having made score upon score of improvements in every area of reproduction in the interim.

I actually had some nice things to say about it. I didn’t find it too bright the way so many MoFi pressings are. Here’s what I wrote all those years ago:

What do we like about this MoFi?

For one thing it doesn’t have the phony boosted top end most of their pressings do. It was mastered by Jack Hunt, not Stan Ricker, and Jack Hunt likes to EQ his projects without all the extra top end that made Mobile Fidelity famous. (Great for dull speakers, don’t you know.)

The other thing this MoFi has going for it is tons of weight down where it needs it, in the all-important lower midrange, and extending well into the mid-bass area.

Chicago is about brass and you want that brass to have weight and power.

So many domestic copies are leaned out, and many are hard sounding. On both counts this MoFi excels over copies with those problems. Our White Hot Stamper was definitely better, but we don’t find those very often, not to mention the fact that we happened to charge a ton of money for it.

I did take issue with the MoFi bass though.

This is where your MoFi falls apart, as good as it may be in other areas.

There IS no lower octave of bass on their pressing.

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Chicago – III

More Rock and Pop

  • Boasting KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on sides one and four, and outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades on sides two and three, this copy of Chicago’s third album will be very hard to beat
  • The sound is lively, punchy, and powerful – with all due respect, it should MURDER whatever copies you may have
  • 4 stars: “Chicago’s third effort…is packed with a combination of extended jams as well as progressive and equally challenging pop songs. Their innovative sound was the result of augmenting the powerful rock & roll quartet with a three-piece brass section – the members of whom are all consummate soloists. Once again, the group couples that with material worthy of its formidable skills.”

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Chicago – Chicago Transit Authority

More Chicago

  • A killer 360 Stereo copy with roughly Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on all FOUR sides, just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • These sides boast some of the best sounding, boldest arrangements for a horn-based rock band we’ve ever heard
  • “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,” “I’m A Man,” and “Questions 67 and 68” are simply incredible here
  • 4 stars: “In April of 1969, the four sides of Chicago Transit Authority unleashed a formidable and ultimately American musical experience… an unheralded synthesis of electric guitar wailin’ rock & roll to more deeply rooted jazz influences and arrangements.”
  • Chicago’s debut is a Must Own album from 1969, as well as our pick for the band’s best sounding
  • Roughly 150 other listings for the Highest Quality Recording by an Artist or Group can be found here

It’s difficult to find copies that do this big production music justice, but we got hold of a hot one here. If you’re a fan (and we think you should be, of the early band at least) you won’t believe how good this album can sound on the right pressing. All four sides here are rich and full, punchy and solid, with great energy and dynamics. This is a Truly Killer Copy from start to finish

Huge Sound Can Be Yours

We love this album here at Better Records. It’s amazing that this hard-rockin’ band from 1968 could be the same band that gave us “You’re The Inspiration” and other power-schlock ballads in the ’80s. Have they no shame?

Fortunately, this isn’t your Mom’s Chicago. Here, with their freshman effort, the band stands on the threshold of becoming True Rock Legends. Even today the album still sounds fresh. Who can argue with the brilliance of tracks such as “Beginnings,” “I’m a Man” and “Questions 67 and 68”? This is as good as the band ever got, man! It’s all here.

All four sides boast some of the boldest arrangements for a horn-based rock band ever. These boys have no problem standing toe to toe with the likes of Blood Sweat And Tears. If you don’t find yourself turning the stereo up during “Beginnings,” this music is not for you. The energy they bring to their cover of Spencer Davis’ “I’m A Man” positively puts the original to shame. They jam its rock and roll groove, then take it places nobody else would even think to go.

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Another Amazing Demo Disc for Bass – Peter Cetera and Chicago

More of the Music of Chicago

Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Chicago

We’ve called this album a Demo Disc for Bass and any Hot Stamper copy will show you why.

Talk about beefy — this album is the poster boy for rock solid bottom end. When you have a copy of Chicago’s first album with a hot side three you have a Bass Demo Disc LP that’s going to rock your world, not to mention the foundation of your house.

(How they managed to get the bass so right and screw up so many other things I will never know.)

This is a Rock Demo Disc by any measure, especially on Big Speakers at Loud Levels

It’s also our pick for the band’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Recording by an Artist or Group can be found here.

Peter Cetera

Not many musicians qualify to be placed on the list of Most Underrated, but if there were any justice in this world Peter Cetera’s name would be found right up at the top.

Meaning that he can’t even get credit for being the most underrated.

His bass playing alone — forget his singing, which is as good as any pop singer of his generation — qualifies him for Most Talented (but for some reason) Most Overlooked Musician. The huge bass sound Peter got out of his axe is the meat and potatoes of this album.

Again, it’s hard to believe this is the same guy that sang and played on ‘Hard To Say I’m Sorry’. His jazz-rock chops anchor the rhythm section with the kind of energy a band with as many pieces as this one simply cannot do without.

Chicago boasts seven top players, but Cetera’s brilliance cuts through on practically every song. People may not be able to appreciate his playing because they have bad records or bad stereos, but we’re here to rectify that situation, as least the record part of it.

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Basic Concepts and Realities Explained 

Chicago – What We Heard Circa 2008

More of the Music of Chicago

In 2008, we had a lot of trouble finding good sound on the copies of the first album that we had on hand, more than a dozen I’m sure.

Over the next five to ten years we managed to do a much better job of cleaning and playing the band’s debut, to the delight of our listening panel as well as our Hot Stamper fans.

This is the kind of album that most audiophiles would be sorely tempted to give up on. Who can blame them?

So Many Faults, So Little Time

The average copy of this album is an unmitigated DISASTER. The smeary brass alone is enough to drive anyone from the room.

To a list of its faults you can confidently add some or all of the following:

1) blobby, blurry, out of control bass;
2) opaque, veiled mids;
3) rolled off highs, or no highs, whichever the case may be, common to virtually every pressing you find;
4) plain old distortion; and, last but not least,
5) the kind of compressed, lifeless sound that manages to make this groundbreaking album boring — and that’s not easy to do.

The music ROCKS! It’s the crappy records Columbia pressed that suck.

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Listening in Depth to Chicago Transit Authority

More of the Music of Chicago

Reviews and Commentaries for Chicago Transit Authority

It’s amazing that this hard-rockin’ band from 1968 could be the same band that gave us “You’re The Inspiration” and other power-schlock ballads in the ’80s. Have they no shame?

Fortunately, this isn’t your Mom’s Chicago. Here, with their freshman effort, the band stands on the threshold of becoming True Rock Legends. Even today the album still sounds fresh. Who can argue with the brilliance of tracks such as “Beginnings,” “I’m a Man” and “Questions 67 and 68”?

This is as good as the band ever got, man! It’s all here.

All four sides boast some of the boldest arrangements for a horn-based rock band ever. These boys have no problem standing toe to toe with the likes of Blood, Sweat And Tears.

If you don’t find yourself turning the stereo up during “Beginnings,” this music is not for you. The energy they bring to their cover of Spencer Davis’ “I’m A Man” puts the original to shame. They jam its rock and roll groove, then take it places nobody else would even think to go.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Introduction
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

A tough one right off the bat. If you have an aggressive sounding copy you’ll know it pretty quick. Grit and grain in the vocal on this track will have you running for the nearest exit. Conversely, you still need presence without smear or the brass won’t have the bite of the real thing, and a Chicago album without good brass is pretty pointless.

They really put their best foot forward with this cut — a true sing-along anthem.

Beginnings

THE best Chicago song of all time! Pop music just does not get any better. The one-two punch of that amazing trombone solo followed by the equally amazing trumpet solo still knocks me out.

Part of what makes Chicago’s brass so distinctive is the infrequent use of a saxophone in the brass section. The Chicago brass is darker and heavier than, say, that of Blood Sweat and Tears, and that Heavy Brass Sound was never better than on this, their first album.

Side Two

Questions 67 and 68

When the chorus comes in the bass had better be tight or the whole thing will turn to mud. The best copies have tons of energy and life on this song. Though not a hit, it still stands as one of the best tracks on the album and a real highpoint for early-period Chicago.

Listen
Poem 58

Side Three

Free Form Guitar
South California Purples
I’m a Man

Not the typical audiophile’s first choice in a Demonstration Quality track, but if you have the right kind of stereo (a big one, natch) and a top quality pressing (for side three anyway), watch out.

This track has the power to knock you right out of your socks. The bass part that Cetera opens the song with has an unbelievably solid tone. At the same time it’s harmonically rich and has subterranean power that must be heard to be believed. Holy Smokes does it ever sound good!

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Chicago – Chicago VI

More Chicago

More Pure Pop Recordings

  • An outstanding copy of Chicago VI, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • The sound of the brass on any Chicago album is key and these sides have the horns sounding clear and really jumping out of the speakers
  • VI was propelled to the top of the charts for five full weeks by two of the band’s best tracks: “Just You ‘n’ Me” “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day”
  • 4 stars: “Chicago VI is an undeniably strong effort – supported at the time by its chart-topping status…”

The background vocals on these sides are breathy and clear, a far cry from the typically smeary, dark voices we heard on most of the pressings we played, all originals in this case.

More often than not the brass lacks bite and presence, but these sides had the Chicago horns leaping out of the speakers. What is a Chicago record without great horns? Without that big bold sound you may have something, but it sure ain’t Chicago.

The sound of the brass on any Chicago album is key — it has to have just the right amount of transient bite yet still be full-bodied and never blary. In addition, on the best of the best pressings you can really hear the air moving through the horns.

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