Chicago VIII - CHICAGO***

Anyway You Want/Brand New Love Affair/Never Been In Love Before/Hideaway/Till We Meet Again/Harry Truman/Oh Thank You Great Spirit/Long Time No See/Ain't It Blue/Old Days

The jazz-rock ensemble Chicago still managed to top the US album charts despite the increasing blandness of their sound. This one includes the US No. 5 Old Days and No. 13 Harry Truman. (US:1)

“Nothing on here is particularly bad, although apart from Old Days, nothing is particularly interesting either.”

“All things considered this is a very solid effort, even with a misstep here and there. This has plenty to love, though I wouldn't recommend it for a casual fan.”

“Chicago have always been known as a premier horn band, but a big part of their signature sound was the amazing guitar playing and lead vocals of Terry Kath. This was the last album he recorded with the band.”

“While it still sounded like Chicago, this album pretty much does away with the experimentalism they had been known for when they started out. Still, Chicago VIII shows definite signs of artistic growth; there is a good mix of everything from R & B to hard rock, to ragtime and to string-drenched balladry.”

“Other than Old Days and possibly Harry Truman this is disappointing. It must be considered as the transition album that would never again see Chicago write songs as good, and forget everything that followed.”

“It's not one of their critically acclaimed albums, but there are some really great songs on this album. Brand New Love Affair is a great jazz song featuring Terry Kath's soulful vocals. Anyway You Want, the first cut on the album, gets things rolling in an upbeat style. Terry Kath has a great, but short, guitar solo on this song.”

“After the slightly generic opening track, Brand New Love Affair is a great track all over. Never Been In Love Before is so catchy that I mistakenly considered it a hit single at my first listen. Then comes Hideaway, where the guitar sound is not extremely heavy. Till We Meet Again is a brief, very beautiful number, while Oh, Thank You Great Spirit is very lengthy, psychedelic and jammy. Long Time No See feels like filler, but contains a great middle part that gets the song going. Ain't It Blue is very funky jazz-rock, and finally, Old Days closes the album in a catchy way.”