Fresh Chicago, interesting. "Take me back to Chicago" was a great new track with a lot of feeling. Great brass as you would expect. Some of this disc reminds one of parts of the first album. A little uneven in spots, but mostly satiisfying, especially since Terry is no longer with us. Purist Chicago fans should be happy with this disc. Three and a half stars would be more accurate.....

Chicago XI is one of my favorite Chicago albums; I consider it their only really good album to come after VII.

"Baby What A Big Surprise," neither the best nor the worst of Chicago's "hits" (I've always liked the non-hits better), is unusual in that it's Peter Cetera's only lead vocal on the album! I have to wonder how that happened!

James Pankow's "Till The End Of Time" will probably be either one of your favorites or least favorites. He's not a great singer and not every note is spot-on, but it's a wonderfully catchy song, and his extroverted vocal improvisation at the end is quite surprising! James only sang lead twice for the band, but each of those songs is my favorite from the album it was on. (There's no way know for sure, but I think most or all of the backing vocals might be James as well -- he seems to be able to sound kind of like all the other guys at the same time.)

Lee Loughnane, like Pankow, didn't sing lead much, and unlike him he didn't write much. He does both on "This Time" here, and while it's not too strong lyrically, it's just as catchy as Pankow's song musically. It certainly beats Lee's earlier "Call On Me" which was more of a hit than I think it deserved to be.

One surprising aspect of this album is the sudden emergence of drummer Danny Seraphine as a major songwriter (or at least lyricist -- it's uncertain how much he ever had to do with the actual *tunes* on his various collaborations). During his writing heyday that began here, his songs were kind of hit & miss. His "Take Me Back To Chicago" and "Little One" are really good songs, but most later Danny songs make these seem like they were lucky accidents.

Terry Kath's "Takin' It On Uptown" may have been a solo-album preview along the lines of Robert Lamm's "Skinny Boy" on VII. There is the cryptic note saying to "keep your eyes open" because the song only "appears courtesy of." And there's the fact that Terry probably played all the instruments (he used to play drums, and the drumming here sounds very different from Danny's). Since Terry died after this album's release, it's a good thing the song was "previewed" here (instead of being saved for the album he never made) or we never would have heard it. And it's also a good thing that Terry's wonderful "Mississippi Delta City Blues" -- a song which had been hanging around backstage for years -- finally got recorded in its definitive version here.

Robert Lamm used to be Chicago's main songwriter. That wasn't the case anymore, but his songs were still good. His Chicago XI songs, like many earlier ones, are still issues-driven, but "Policeman" shows newfound compassion and "Vote For Me" is light-hearted rather than angry.

If you like the Chicago that existed before their lame radio-ballad days, then you need to have this album. It's short on the big hits, but then those usually weren't their best songs anyway.

Chicago XI is my first "5 Star" since Chicago V. This is the album where they perfected their Caribou Ranch, Chicago-plus-congas sound. It has the elements of an excellent Chicago album: original (not warmed-over) brass voices on almost every track; a driving hard rock number with no horns, strong lead vocals by The Big Three Plus James Pankow and Lee Loughnane; and at least two wind solos. Lee Loughnane's solo on Little One is pure art.

Those that bemoan its departure from the sound of the first three albums seem to want near carbon copies of the same. Any new group has some signature, experimental style that got them noticed. They all tend toward some mainstream sound over time, partly because their novelty is no longer fresh, but partly based on what the fans seem to like.

Is it a soft, AC ballad? Is it a hard rocker? Funk? Rock band with horns? Others may debate the merits of each, but I hear Chicago - and I like it, whatever you want to call it.

XI closes the Terry Kath era, and I cannot add to the excellent comments along these lines. I do want to note two early signs of their future direction that have not been covered yet:

1) Danny Seraphine as song-writer. He will offer quality selections on each of the next five albums. You get a sense that he is a creative force in this middle period, giving them some directions and helping hold it together in the wake of Terry's death. This is just a guess on my part, but you cannot downplay his influence, beginning here. He is a big part of the bridge between the Kath/Guercio and Champlin/Foster era.

2) Lee and James' vocals herald the Champlin style. When I first heard Chicago 16 playing in a record store in 1982, I thought his voice must be either Lee or James on steroids. To me, they sound very similar. Here in the Kath era, you have these Champlin-like voices, and it turns out he was a very good fit for Chicago.

XI does not have a South California Purples, a Make Me Smile, an Approaching Storm.

But it is, clearly, Chicago. The music is accessible, but expertly and artistically done. Chicago's second era is the period when they perfect their record production chops. Listen to Chicago XI, and hear a musical team that knows how to make every variety of music. If the occasional pop song or ballad offends some underground FM enthusiast, well, tough.

I recommend this album to all music lovers.

From the opening bass chops of Peter Cetera and the haunting laugh of Terry Kath- this album is gripping. The final album of the original line-up of Chicago shows a return to some of the hard rock stylings of their 1969 debut album on songs such as Mississippi Delta City Blues and Takin' It On Uptown.

Mississippi Delta City Blues- Viewed by some fans as Terry's swan song. This song can be interpreted on multiple levels. Terry's laugh at the beginning of the song juxtaposed with the lyrics about masking his unhappiness is a very nice creative effect. Peter Cetera shines on the bass on this song. The guitar riff is catchy, the horns accent Terry and Peter's performance. Although this song had been around since Chicago's days playing the club circuit in the late sixties, the lyrics seem particularly pertinent to Terry's feelings at the time of its recording. His unhappiness is expressed throughout the song despite his somewhat jovial tone- it's almost eerie that this was recorded so close to Terry's death.

Baby What A Big Surprise- This is the rough in the diamonds, reinforcing the label of "ballad band" for Chicago. It might as well have been called If You Leave Me Now Part II- This Time We'll REALLY Give You Cavities.

Till the End of Time- James Pankow's second endeavour as lead vocalist. While somewhat slow, this song still contains a lot of the elements of earlier Chicago. The syrup doesn't run quite as thick as on Baby What a Big Surprise. The horns are still quite prominent, the vocals are well done by Pankow leaving some fans wondering why he only sang lead on two Chicago songs during his entire (and continued) tenure with the band. The harmony vocals at the end of the song are some of the best harmonies Chicago has ever done.

Policeman- Musically speaking it's not one of Robert Lamm's stronger songs. The lyrics however are written quite well in a story-telling style which is somewhat reminiscent of the songs of Gordon Lightfoot and Harry Chapin. The horns are quite prominent, Terry's guitar playing accents and compliments the horns nicely. The harmony vocals compliment both Lamm's vocals and the horns. Unfortunately after this song Lamm's songwriting skills seemed to fall into a slump.

Take Me Back to Chicago- A touching song written by Danny Seraphine and "Hawk" Wolinski for Freddy Page, the late drummer of the Illinois Speed Press. However with Terry's untimely passing being so close to the release of this album this song is seemingly just as much written for Terry as it's written for Page. The preach by Chaka Kahn at the end of the song is a nice touch. This is easily one of the best Danny Seraphine penned songs and it shows his emergence as a songwriter.

Vote For Me- Typical Robert Lamm political commentary. This song is quite tongue-in-cheek, however, lyrically speaking it seems a bit weaker than Policeman. On the musical end of things this song has a stronger feel to it than some of Robert's other endeavours from the late seventies.

Takin' It On Uptown- In a word WOW! Terry Kath at his absolute best! Both vocally and on guitar- Terry Kath shines on this album. Some of Terry's best playing since his marathon solos on Live at Carnegie Hall. The lyrics are written by Fred Kagan, however they seem to carry a similar theme to the lyrics of Mississippi Delta City Blues. This song has a more upbeat theme to it although Terry sings it in an almost angry, fed-up tone. Moreso than any other song of Terry's- this seems to be a duet between Terry the singer and Terry the guitarist.

This Time- For a slower song, Terry really jams on this song as well. Lee Loughnane's lead vocals are very reminiscent of Terry's soulful style in fact at first listen one would almost assume that it is indeed Terry, not Lee, on lead vocals. One of Lee's finer attempts at being a songwriter and a singer.

The Inner Struggles of A Man- The orchestration on this piece provides a beautiful segue from the more upbeat This Time to the more somber Little One. It's a very beautiful piece and it sounds like it could be used for a film.

Prelude (Little One)- Picking up where The Inner Struggles of A Man crescendoes this is an excellent lead-in to Little One.

Little One- Written by Danny Seraphine for his daughters, Terry puts his stamp on this piece as well. This song can easily be interpretted as being just as much for Michelle Kath as it is for Danny's daughters. The string orchestration in the background really compliments the horns and Terry's voice.

If the strength of an orchestra is in their weakest player, is the strength of a band in their weakest album? Chicago XI is certainly not the weakest Chicago album--as the record did go platinum in its 1977 release. However, few if any songs in the album have had any staying power. With the possible exception of "Baby, What A Big Surprise," few of the remaining songs would ever be played on the radio or in a Chicago concert. And this is regrettable. Chicago XI is a solid album, but many of its songs represent the highly melodic and well orchestrated soft rock that characterized Chicago in the mid-to-late 70s.

The album was a turning point in the band for many reasons. As mentioned in other posts, Chicago XI is Terry Kath's last album. The band would soon transition to disco in "Hot Streets," hard rock in "Chicago XIV" (well, Chicago's version of hard rock), and then the power ballads in the 80s. In addition, XI is James William Guercio's last Chicago album as the band forced the producer out following its release.

However, the album was also different for being less focused on Robert Lamm songs. As much as I enjoy Lamm's songs such as "Policeman," my favorite track is "Little One," co-written by Danny Seraphine and David Wolinski. Not only would the song be the last sung by Terry Kath, but it is a beautiful six minutes of soft rock.

Rhino's re-release of XI provided the additional tracks of Pankow's "Wish That I Could Fly" and Lamm's "Paris." Neither track is memorable, but both are OK additions.

XI is a good album for the Chicago faithful. However, Chicago X and Hot Streets solidly outshine this album with similar-sounding music.