Chicago XXXVI: Now
Chicago XXXVI: Now, sometimes stylized as "NOW" Chicago XXXVI or Now: Chicago XXXVI, is the twenty-fourth studio album, and thirty-sixth overall by Chicago. It was written and recorded in 2013–2014, and was released on July 4, 2014. Aside from the occasional few new tracks found in the band's many compilation and cover albums, Now is the band's first full album of new compositions since 2006's Chicago XXX,[1] (not including Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus, which was released in 2008 but recorded in 1993).[2] This album has the first original Chicago credits for veteran musicians percussionist Walfredo Reyes, Jr. and keyboardist/vocalist Lou Pardini, since joining the band. It is also the final studio album to feature bassist/vocalist Jason Scheff, woodwinds player/band founder Walter Parazaider, and longtime drummer Tris Imboden; Scheff left the band after 31 years two years later since citing "family health reasons" in early May of 2016 with Jeff Coffey replacing him as his successor, Parazaider, who later retired from touring due to a heart condition in 2017, as the band no longer lists him as a member on it's July official website in the following year (though he would now appear on the band's "Tribute to Founding Members" in it's updated website), and Imboden, who left the band in 2018 to focus more on his family time.
| Chicago XXXVI: Now | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 4, 2014 | |||
| Recorded | 2013–2014 | |||
| Genre | Rock, adult contemporary | |||
| Length | 50:27 | |||
| Label | Chicago Records II | |||
| Producer | Chicago, Hank Linderman | |||
| Chicago chronology | ||||
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Production
The album was produced in a geographically distributed, "just-in-time"[2] fashion. Noted by the band's cofounder Robert Lamm as "a very sort of disjointed way to work",[1] Now's production model was largely enabled by a fully mobile system of the band's own design called "The Rig". It was recorded primarily in hotels and secondarily in studios along the band's American tour, constructed mostly from each musician's isolated performances between concert dates, and then synchronized via a private Web portal site for final overdubbing by coordinating producer and engineer Hank Linderman. The band's songwriting members are each respectively credited as each track's "supervising producer".[3]
Even throughout the album's year-long development, audio preview clips of each track were progressively released to the public online — some before they were completed by the addition of the band's signature brass section.[2] The first preview, "Naked in the Garden of Allah", was released in April 2013, the album was finally made available for preorder in April 2014, and was released July 2014.[4]
The ultimate goal was to make music — and now we’re doing that. We’re going to see how far we can go with this. Thank goodness we have 46 years of track record behind us. We’re just trying to grow the legacy even more.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
Beginning in April 2013, the Something Else! webzine engaged the band's progressively released preview clips. They said that "Naked in the Garden of Allah" "reanimates" the band's early "cutting" political messages, wherein "the lyrics, and the song’s turbulent textures, speak to both the horrors of war and to Lamm’s enduring pleas for peace".[4] "Watching All the Colors" is said to resemble Robert Lamm's 2008 solo sessions from The Bossa Project, and "Something's Coming, I Know" "rumbles along with a more scuffed-up cadence — until it’s broken up by this sun-streaked, Beatlesque bridge".[2] Recorded on the tour bus, Tris Imboden's drums on "Crazy Happy" are said to "sound modern and appropriate for the song and mesh seamlessly". They complement the album's percussion, as provided by "the great Walfredo Reyes Jr."[6]
It entered the American Billboard 200 at number 82.[7]
AllMusic's Stephen Erlewine assigned 3.5 stars out of 5, calling the album "united in sound and sensibility, anchored upon the splashy horn-fueled jazz-pop they pioneered in the '70s but usually returning to the slick professional adult contemporary of the '80s", with songs that are "big, smooth, cheerful, and bright, emphasizing melody over instrumental interplay, explicitly evoking the past without re-creating it".[5]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Now" | Jason Scheff, Greg Barnhill | Jason Scheff with Robert Lamm and Lou Pardini | 5:03 |
| 2. | "More Will Be Revealed" | Lamm, Phil Galdston | Lamm with Pardini | 5:11 |
| 3. | "America" | Lee Loughnane | Pardini | 4:04 |
| 4. | "Crazy Happy" | Jason Scheff, Lamm | Lamm with Jason Scheff | 5:02 |
| 5. | "Free At Last" | Keith Howland, Tris Imboden, Lamm | Lamm | 5:13 |
| 6. | "Love Lives On" | Barnhill, Jason Scheff, James Pankow | Jason Scheff | 5:21 |
| 7. | "Something's Coming, I Know" | Gerry Beckley, Lamm | Lamm with Loughnane | 3:48 |
| 8. | "Watching All the Colors" | Lamm, Pardini | Pardini | 4:15 |
| 9. | "Nice Girl" | Howland, Imboden, Jason Scheff | Howland with Scheff | 4:02 |
| 10. | "Naked in the Garden of Allah" | Lamm, Hank Linderman | Lamm | 4:24 |
| 11. | "Another Trippy Day" | John Van Eps, Lamm | Lamm with Pardini | 4:04 |
Personnel
Chicago
- Robert Lamm – keyboards (2, 4, 5, 7, 8), horn arrangements (2, 4, 7, 8, 11), synthesizer (3), synth guitar (8), programming (10), lead and backing vocals, arrangements
- Walter Parazaider – alto saxophone (7, 8, 10)
- Lee Loughnane – trumpet (2, 9, 10, 11), flugelhorn (3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10), horn arrangements (3), horn transcriptions (5), lead and backing vocals
- James Pankow – trombone (2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11), horn arrangements (5)
- Jason Scheff – bass guitar (2-11), synth bass (4), keyboards (4), acoustic guitars (6), acoustic piano (6), lead and backing vocals, arrangements
- Keith Howland – lead guitar (1), guitars (2-5, 7-11), Rhodes piano (9), horn arrangements (9), lead and backing vocals, arrangements
- Tris Imboden – drums (2-11)
- Lou Pardini – keyboards (3, 9), organ (9), lead and backing vocals
- Walfredo Reyes, Jr. – percussion (2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11)
Additional musicians
- Philippe Saisse – keyboards (1)
- Steve Lu – synthesizers (6)
- John Van Eps – synthesizers (11), programming (11), arrangements
- David Williams – guitars (1)
- Michael O'Neil – guitars (1)
- Hank Linderman – guitars (2), backing vocals (10), arrangements
- Tim Pierce – electric guitars (6)
- Verdine White – bass guitar (1)
- Dorian Crozier – drums (1)
- Luis Conte – percussion (1, 6)
- Scheila Gonzalez – baritone saxophone (1), tenor saxophone (1)
- George Shelby – tenor saxophone (1)
- Ray Herrmann – alto saxophone (2), soprano saxophone (2), tenor saxophone (5, 9)
- Larry Klimas – alto saxophone (3, 4, 11)
- Arturo Velasco – trombone (1)
- Nick Lane – horn transcriptions (2, 4, 7, 8, 11), trombone (3, 4)
- Trent Gardner – horn arrangements (3, 4, 5, 10), trombone (5), synthesizers (5)
- Harry Kim – trumpet (1), flugelhorn (1), horn arrangements (1)
- Daniel Fornero – trumpet (1), flugelhorn (1)
- Jeff Babko – horn arrangements (9)
- John McFee – fiddle (10)
Production
- Hank Linderman – coordinating producer, engineer, editing, mixing
- Phil Galdston – additional production and arrangements (Track 2)
- Drew Hester – drum track engineer
- Keith Howland – engineer (Tracks 5 and 9)
- Dave Collins – mastering
- Rick Walsh – additional horn transcriptions
- Robert Lamm and Trent Gardner – art direction
- Trent Gardner with Rigel Blue Agency and Lucky Thirteen Designs – package design and graphics
The band's composers are each respectively credited as each track's "supervising producer".[3]
Charts
| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 56 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] | 100 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 82 |
References
- "'We're just trying to grow the legacy': Sample every song on the forthcoming Chicago XXXVI: Now". Something Else!. April 13, 2014. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- "Something Else! sneak peek: Chicago, "Somethin' Comin,' I Know" and "Watching All the Colors" (2013)". Something Else!. April 4, 2013. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ""Now" Chicago XXXVI Liner Notes". Chicago Records II. April 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- Deriso, Nick. "Chicago offers insight into the construction of new song "Naked In The Garden Of Allah"". Something Else!. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- Chicago XXXVI: Now at AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- Frazier, Preston (January 7, 2014). "One Track Mind: Chicago, "Crazy Happy" (2013)". Something Else!. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- "Billboard 200: 1991: Chicago". Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Chicago – Now - Chicago XXXVI" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- "Swisscharts.com – Chicago – Now - Chicago XXXVI". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- "Chicago Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
External links
- A recording session for “NOW” Chicago XXXVI on YouTube
- Robert Lamm of Chicago on "Friends with Benefits" on 95.9 WATD on YouTube, mentioning the production of NOW
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