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Chicago (album)

Chicago
ChicagoAlbum.jpg
Studio album by Chicago
Released January 26, 1970
Recorded August 1969
Studio Columbia Recording Studios, New York and Columbia Studios, Hollywood
Genre Jazz fusion, rock
Length 67:21
Label Columbia
Producer James William Guercio
Chicago chronology
The Chicago Transit Authority
(1969)
Chicago
(1970)
Chicago III
(1971)
Singles from Chicago
  1. "Make Me Smile/Colour My World"
    Released: March 1970
  2. "25 or 6 to 4"
    Released: June 1970
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars

Chicago (sometimes referred to as Chicago II) is the second studio album by Chicago-based American rock band Chicago. It was released in 1970 after the band had shortened its name from The Chicago Transit Authority following the release of their self-titled debut album the previous year (to avoid legal action being threatened by the actual mass-transit company).

Although the official title of the album is Chicago, it came to be retroactively known as Chicago II, keeping it in line with the succession of Roman numeral-titled albums that officially began with Chicago III in 1971.

While The Chicago Transit Authority was a success, Chicago is considered by many to be Chicago's breakthrough album, yielding a number of Top 40 hits, including "Make Me Smile" (#9), "Colour My World" (#7), and "25 or 6 to 4" (#4). The centerpiece of the album was the thirteen-minute song cycle "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". Guitarist Terry Kath also participated in an extended classically styled cycle of four pieces, three of which were co-written by the well-known, arranger, composer, and pianist Peter Matz. The politically outspoken keyboardist Robert Lamm also tackles his qualms with "It Better End Soon", another modular piece. Bassist Peter Cetera, later to play a crucial role in the band's music, contributed his first song to Chicago and this album, "Where Do We Go From Here".


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