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Chicago Refreshed & Renewed
After the relatively downbeat pop of "Chicago VI," this album shows an energetic Chicago with a positive musical outlook. While the pop element is retained, there are also incredible jazz moments that can take you back to the first three Chicago albums.
The first five tracks are instrumentals, yielding more than 25 minutes of wonderful music that alternates between jazz, progressive jazz, jazz-rock, and other combinations that are easy to lose in the complexity of the music. The ins...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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02/25/2005
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100%
(27 of 27) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Chicago's Best
This is where the band peaked---at the height of their popularity, they stretched out and took chances and it worked. After their two great initial albums, the double album format had began to become a bit strained by Chicago III. Two great single disc sets followed, but nobody was really expecting the foray into jazz that they took on Chicago VII. Originally it was planned to be an entire jazz album. Instead it's a double album which transitions nicely from the jazz to the standard pop mat...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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06/24/2006
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100%
(11 of 11) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Great re-issue of a great album....
CHICAGO VII was originally released in March 1974, quickly hitting # 1 and eventually spawning three big hit singles. Initially it was planned as a jazz record (hence the first 5 instrumental - and highly enjoyable - tracks) but with commercial concerns, they soon included a fresh selection of conventional pop tunes. Of the hits, you'll find "I've Been Searchin' So Long", "Call On Me" and "Wishing You Were Here" (with three of The Beach Boys), however many of the highlights are the non-hits, s...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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11/07/2002
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94%
(16 of 17) Users Found This Review Helpful
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The Last Great Chicago Album
I'm probably not alone is saying that the music of Chicago was my first exposure to jazz of any kind. At the time, I didn't know there were jazz elements in the band's music. I just knew that what I was hearing sounded different from all the other stuff I was listening to. And that it was very, very cool.After buying this CD today and listening to it for the first time in probably 20 years, I was delighted to find it still fresh, alive, and exciting. And it's still cool. The album open...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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12/23/2003
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90%
(27 of 30) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Simply their Best !!
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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11/14/2002
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90%
(9 of 10) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Chicago Soars!
With the release of their seventh record, Chicago quashed the opinions of their critics who, after the release of "VI" snubbed the band for going "pop". Along with "Chicago Transit Authority" and "Chicago II", "Chicago VII" is considerd by many (and this reviewer especially) to be a document of the legendary group at their finest.
This disc originally produced three hit singles while finding the band playing, for the first time, through some true jazz compositions. Chicago had been known for...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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05/18/2003
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100%
(9 of 9) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Well worth the wait!
When I heard that Rhino was re-releasing all of Chicago's albums on CD, I made it a point to find out when this one would be available. This was the album that reaffirmed me as a fan of Chicago when it was released in 1974. I was happy then to see that they had returned to their more album-oriented, jazzy roots (however temporarily). I'm surprised at how well this album has held up over the years; these guys were (and are) fantastic musicians, composers and songwriters. This re-release has b...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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11/08/2002
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88%
(8 of 9) Users Found This Review Helpful
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How could it happen?
How could it happen that Chicago became a pop-hits machine after Chicago VII? After listening the remastered version of this fantastic album I just say that this was the last excellent music they did.
The songs "Aire, prelude and Devil's sweet" songs are performed in what I consider the peak in the chicago musical career.
"Byblos" is one of the most introspected songs of Tery Kath and I have to say that the new version included in the bonus tracks is better than the origin...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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08/19/2005
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100%
(7 of 7) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Eclectic and Electric
So, in the fall of 1973, a bunch of the guys in Chicago say, "We're gonna do a jazz album this time. All jazz." And bassist Peter Cetera sighs, "Hoo, boy....." After a few sessions, producer James William Guercio complains, "I hate this. It just isn't working." Well, Peter just happens to have a few tunes of his own.....and CHICAGO VII is the result. The recent Rhino remaster and re-release has given me a chance to re-evaluate this classic, first out in 1974.
Jazz dominates the ...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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04/21/2005
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83%
(5 of 6) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Not just another 70s Chicago album. Great jazz and singles.
I'm a relatively new fan of Chicago, and since buying their box set this past summer, I've now been buying some of their remastered full albums. The DVD in that box set includes a live performance of "Devil's Sweet" from Chicago VII, which I was really impressed by. So I picked up this CD.The first half of this CD really blew me away. All instrumental jazz! These were similar to those long jams on the first couple of albums, which I like a lot. But definitely more jazz here. W...
[Rhino Records Chicago - Chicago VII [Remaster] (61772) review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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10/19/2003
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100%
(5 of 5) Users Found This Review Helpful
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