Chicago XIV

Chicago XIV
Studio album by Chicago
Released July 21, 1980
Recorded March–May 1980
Studio The Record Plant, Los Angeles[1] and Criteria Studios, Miami
Genre Rock
Length 38:58
Label Columbia
Producer Tom Dowd
Chicago chronology
Chicago 13
(1979)		 Chicago XIV
(1980)		 Greatest Hits, Volume II
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Chicago XIV is the twelfth studio album by the American band Chicago, released in 1980. Recorded at a time of waning interest in the band, Chicago XIV remains one of Chicago's poorest selling albums, failing to reach Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)[3] and was deemed a commercial flop. It is also notable for being their last studio album with Columbia Records, and the last one to feature percussionist Laudir de Oliveira.

Background

After the commercial and critical disappointment of Chicago 13,[4] and the departure of guitarist Donnie Dacus, Chicago decided that a new strategy was in order. Chris Pinnick played guitar on the sessions and would later become an official member.[1] They also tried a new producer, this time Tom Dowd,[1] who had worked with Aretha Franklin, Cream, Eric Clapton, and Toto. With Dowd taking the reins, and with Chicago abandoning the dance club sound that permeated their previous album, the band recorded a lean, more streamlined record which would, predictably, be called Chicago XIV. Possibly designed as a response to the under-produced, new wave efforts on the radio at the time, the album was the band's least orchestrated effort to date.

Artwork, packaging

Designed by Art Director of Columbia/CBS Records, John Berg, the album cover front features an album-cover size black thumbprint on a white background, with the Chicago logo embedded in the whorls. The album cover back also features an album-cover size black fingerprint or thumbprint on white background, but without the embedded Chicago logo. The inside dust cover is white with black printing that lists album credits, and also has at the edge four life-size black fingerprints from a right hand on the credits side of the liner, and a corresponding life-size black thumbprint at the edge of the back of the liner. This small thumbprint also has the Chicago logo embedded in the whorls.[5][6] Berg was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Album Package for this album.[7] The cover was included in a 2012-2013 exhibit of Berg's album covers at Guild Hall of East Hampton.[6] The cover artwork is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[8]

Release and aftermath

With four solo writing credits and one cowriting credit of the ten songs on the album,[5] Peter Cetera took on a greater songwriting role in the band than in the past. His compositions included a mix of ballads, pop and rock songs. Robert Lamm turned in the rockers "Manipulation" and "I'd Rather Be Rich" (a song from 1975[nb 1]); James Pankow delivered the uptempo – if downbeat – "The American Dream"; and Lamm and Danny Seraphine co-wrote "Thunder and Lightning".[5] Like Chicago 13 before it, Chicago XIV did not improve Chicago's fortunes.[9] To the record-buying public, Chicago's image was out of touch in 1980 and once the new album was released, it became clear that any attempt to win new fans would be in vain.

Poorly promoted by Columbia Records, a label that was increasingly disappointed with the poor sales performance of the band, Chicago XIV went unnoticed upon release and bombed, only reaching number seventy-one on the Billboard 200 chart in the US,[10] and disappeared quickly. There were no singles hits again, with "Thunder and Lightning" stalling below the top fifty[11] and "Song For You" failing to chart. Chicago also saw a poor attendance in many venues during the supporting tour. Realizing that the relationship had soured considerably, Columbia Records terminated their relationship with Chicago. In 1982, Robert Lamm recalled,

As a settlement to ending the arrangement early, Columbia released the band's second Greatest Hits album and jettisoned them from the label. The money from the settlement was used to record Chicago 16 independently,[1] while the band shopped for a new label (eventually they signed with Warner). Realizing that the Latin/Jazz percussion style evident in the latter half of the previous decade no longer fit with their "more pop-oriented sound," while beginning work on Chicago 16, the album Chicago XIV signaled the end of percussionist Laudir de Oliveira's tenure with the band after nine years.[13]:200 Peter Cetera, meanwhile, concentrated on his first self-titled solo album during the hiatus.[14]

In 2003, Chicago XIV was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with three outtakes from the sessions, "Doin' Business" (which first appeared on the 1991 4-Disc anthology Group Portrait), "Live It Up" and "Soldier of Fortune" as bonus tracks.

Track listing

Track titles, track order and writers for tracks one through ten from 1980 vinyl LP liner.[5]

Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Manipulation"Robert LammLamm3:45
2."Upon Arrival"Lamm/Peter CeteraCetera/Lamm3:48
3."Song for You"CeteraCetera3:41
4."Where Did the Lovin' Go"CeteraCetera4:06
5."Birthday Boy"Danny Seraphine/David "Hawk" WolinskiCetera4:55
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
6."Hold On"CeteraCetera4:15
7."Overnight Cafe"CeteraCetera4:19
8."Thunder and Lightning"Lamm/Seraphine[nb 2]Lamm/Cetera3:32
9."I'd Rather be Rich"LammLamm3:08
10."The American Dream"James PankowCetera3:19

Personnel

Chicago

Additional musicians

Production

  • Produced by Tom Dowd
  • Production Coordination – Schatzi Hagerman
  • Engineered and Mixed by Michael Carnevale
  • Assistant Engineers – Karat Faye, Bill Freesh and Ricky Delena.
  • Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Studios (Hollywood, CA).
  • Design – John Berg
  • Artwork and Cover Lettering – Gerard Huerta

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position Ref
1980 Pop Albums 71 [10]

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position Ref
1980 Thunder and Lightning Pop Singles 56 [11]

Notes

  1. ↑ A 1975 recording of this song, slightly different from the final version, appears as a bonus track on the Rhino CD reissue of Chicago X.
  2. ↑ The Rhino CD reissue credits this song to Lamm, Seraphine and Cetera.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ruhlmann, William James (1991). Chicago Group Portrait (Box Set) (CD booklet archived online) (Media notes). New York City, NY: Columbia Records. p. 8. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r3856/review
  3. ↑ "Gold & Platinum - RIAA: Search by Artist". RIAA. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ Amicone, Michael (July 20, 2002). "A vigorous 35-year-old feelin' stronger every day". Billboard. Howard Lander. p. 50. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Google Books. . . . Chicago 13 (1979), proved to be as unlucky as its number would portend.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Chicago XIV (vinyl LP liner). Chicago. CBS Inc. 1980. BL 36517.
  6. 1 2 Jacobson, Aileen (November 23, 2012). "Album Covers That Are as Evocative as the Music". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ "John Berg". GRAMMY.com. Recording Academy. May 14, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "John Berg, Nick Fasciano, Gerard Huerta. Cover for Chicago's twelfth self-titled album. 1980 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  9. ↑ Amicone, Michael (July 20, 2002). "A vigorous 35-year-old feelin' stronger every day". Billboard. Howard Lander. p. 50. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Google Books. . . . Chicago XIV, produced by Tom Dowd, could not stem the band's commercial downturn . . .
  10. 1 2 "Top 200 Albums for September 13, 1980". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart for September 20, 1980". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  12. ↑ Van Matre, Lynn (June 13, 1982). "Revitalized Chicago Back On Road Again". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  13. ↑ Seraphine, Danny (2011). Street Player: My Chicago Story. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-41683-9.
  14. ↑ Cetera, Peter (October 1, 1992). "Old Interview: Peter Cetera, October 1, 1992". Listening Is Everything (Interview). Interviewed by Jeff Giles. Jeff Giles. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.