This is the first cut on the album. The title is a nod to Paris born avant garde composer Edgard Varèse (American pronunciation: ED*grd vr*EZ), who also happened to be Zappa's biggest influence. The song, as Dan noted, has a heavy prog influence. It sounds nothing like Varèse (think in the vein of Frank's most atonal and percussive passages for a better picture). Robert Lamm has said the idea behind the song is how great it would be if music as free as that of Varèse could be put on the air by radio programmers and be accepted by the listening public. Lamm had been introduced to Varèse through the liner notes on Zappa's Freak Out (the modern day composer refuses to die). He mentioned it to Terry Kath, who was intrigued enough to buy some Varèse LPs, which they, and a few other band members, listened to over and over. This was before Chicago had even recorded their first album, and Lamm found it a very freeing and inspirational experience in terms of what was musically possible for them. I personally found that anecdote quite relatable as that's how I felt upon discovering Zappa.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Cool info, thanks HisboiLRoi!

Holy smokes those horns were on FIIIIRE!! The trade-offs from sax to trombone to trumpet were like they were playing chase musically. I could definitely hear some jazz fusion in this song. Don't think I've ever heard this before so I'm glad I tuned in. Thanks for the reaction & commentary SAD.When you see the stank face and smiles coming from our 2 fearless reactors, you know it's a banger! 😆

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for watching Shoutin Chuck! 🔥

@lamarravery4094

5 ай бұрын

There was a lot of jazzy tunes on this album. Goodbye is very jazzy. Lot of protest songs too. Dialogue and State of the Union.

Reminds me of Frank Zappa with all the abrupt chord changes.

I was 13 years old when I bought this album and played this song right out of the gate. It made me appreciate hearing albums from beginning to end to try and appreciate the journey and flavor the band is trying to create.

Never have I enjoyed this song more than today. All those other times, I was too young to truly appreciate how great this treasure is. This song grabs your soul, somehow.

@lindaloe

Жыл бұрын

The More I Listen To A HIT BY VARESE The More I ❤️ 😍 💖 ❣️ 💕 💘 ❤️ LOVE IT!!

@jackarmstrong1838

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. This is a song I just passed by in my early 20's when I heard it. Shame on me.

Bobby Lamm wrote most of the songs on V, which I personally consider their best album. This track just explodes this album right out of the gate.

@willard2729

Жыл бұрын

He wrote 8/10 on this magnificent achievement of a record

@lindaloe

Жыл бұрын

I LOVE# V. ITS AN AMAZING ALBUM!! A HIT BY VARESE!! LOVE THIS 🎵 🎶 🎵 SONG!! ROBERT IS A BARITONE.

Chicago V - one of my favorites and the first single LP they released (all previous studio albums were double)! My dad surprised me with this album when it was released. We had speakers in the ceiling of our dining room connected to our phonograph (anyone even hear that term) player! The cut, While the City Sleeps, has wind blowing at the start and I peaked outside thinking it was windy - then, I heard the instruments and thought, "Is the garage band down the street rehearsing?"...then, I heard the vocals and yelled out, "Dad, you got me the new Chicago album!" This is an incredible playlist of songs with a variety of styles. It's one of my favorite of all their albums...Saturday in The Park, Dialogue (parts I and II), and Hit by Varese which by the way is first cut on side 1, are some of my picks!!

@willard2729

Жыл бұрын

I picked this as my last pick when joining the Columbia record club in September/October 1972 When the box of albums arrived I put on Chicago V because it was least known to me I put on side 2 in case I hated it. Ie, I’d hear Saturday In The Park and be done with it Within the first 20 seconds of While The City Sleeps I was hooked for life Chicago V is my desert island album and I knew it right away

Such an underrated Chicago song. Love this

I had forgotten how much I enjoy this song. It saddens me to think of Walt no longer in the lineup due to alzheimers.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Shout out to Walt❤️!

@willard2729

Жыл бұрын

I generally try not to think about Walt bc it makes me so sad. I watched Electra glide in blue the other night and there was Walt in his loose lips sink ships t-shirt

@thecat600

Жыл бұрын

@@willard2729 😔

@jimphelps6947

Жыл бұрын

@@willard2729 The same t-shirt that he'd wore in the group poster that was included with the 1970's issue lp box set of "Live At Carnegie Hall."

@lindaloe

Жыл бұрын

I WAS SO SAD TO HEAR ABOUT WALT. WILL ALWAYS MISS HAVING HIM IN THE BAND I HEARD THAT WALT HAS GREAT DOCTORS SO HES IN GREAT CARE.

It's so cool to sit back and listen to my guys! I can almost see myself in a psychedelic-lit room, throwing back a glass of Jack while the hallucinogenics I've ingested run through my pleasure-tickled mind.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

😎nice

My favorite Chicago LP!!! The whole thing is fire 🔥

Firing on all cylinders here for sure! I was on board with Chicago from Transit Authority to Chicago 8 and that was it for me. I kinda moved away from their kind of music but even after Terry died, they played challenging music and Donnie Dacus was no slouch. They morphed into a sappy lounge act band in the 80's and gained a whole new huge audience. But for me, this era that ran through my teen years was MY Chicago!

@thecat600

Жыл бұрын

Ditto

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

We feel you!

@markwideman1572

Жыл бұрын

They definitely DID NOT morph into a sappy lounge band. I would bet you haven't listened to ALL their stuff since Terry

Peter kills it on the bass.

Edgard Varese - that name should be familiar to you by now. Mr. Zappa's favorite composer.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Yep! ❤️

Ah, only a refernce, Zappa could appreciate. Staggers the mind that Chicago went from this to top 40 adult claptrap.Varese was a major influence on Zappa, for in Zappa's musical philosophy, you'll find a lot of Varese-like references. Varese used the term "organized sound," which Zappa used on occassion. Like Zappa, Varèse's had a vision of "sound as living matter" and of "musical space as open rather than bounded". Zappa was always experimenting with sound as music. Varese also used the term "sound-masses" to describe elements of his music. He also thought that "to stubbornly conditioned ears, anything new in music has always been called noise", and he posed the question, "what is music but organized noises?" Zappa was known for pushing the listeners boundaries in a didactic manor. The master in his element.

For those of you who don't know Varese was one of the founders of I believe electronic music. Robert wrote this as a tribute to Edgar Varese.

Robert Lamm dominated Chicago V. Wrote 8 of the 10 songs including this one and sang lead on it as well.

This is Chicago V, their 5th album (their 4th studio album, as their 4th album was a quadruple live album). It came out in July, 1972. This is also their first single album, as their first 3 albums were all doubles, and their 4th was a 4 record set.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info!

@willard2729

Жыл бұрын

Also - spent EIGHT WEEKS at number 1 in 1972. Next longest tenure was four weeks - Honky Chateau by Elton John, I think

@lindaloe

Жыл бұрын

Dident Know # V WAS NO.1 For That Long!! I'm 😊 😃 😀 Happy To Know That MY Favorite Band Achieved That!!

My favorite Chicago song. So killer. There is a guitar track only video of this song where you hear exactly what Terry Kath is playing. It's awesome! Oh, and this song OPENS the "V" album!

" A Hit By Varese" is the 1st song on the LP. You have not done song number 2 which is " All is Well " I think it was good enough to be a single but was never put out as a single. I think it would have been a hit. Also you have not done " While the City Sleeps " which is another Lamm classic deep cut. Finally the last song of the LP is Kath's " Alma Matter" which is definitely different from the rest of the LP and definitely pure Kath. All 3 are worth your time. After all Chicago Wood is on fire !!

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for setting that straight Hugh!

Another awesome review of a great album cut! Y’all are amazing; keep up the great work!!

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for watching MB!

These guys knew how to fuse horns into rock they were a great band

Fabulous!! One of my favorite Chigago pieces.

You guys might listen to Poem Electronique sometime by Edgar Varese. It got Zappa very excited for life. I don't hear any trace of Varese in this Chicago tune, but maybe more progressive is the idea.

Some of Edgard Varese's compositions called for a lion's roar. What they did originally was pull a rope with knots tied in it through a hole in a wooden box.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

How cool! Thanks for the info!

No synths yet. That’s Robert on his Hammond B-3 Organ.

@thecat600

Жыл бұрын

Be thinking of B-3s and Leslies going rou ou ou ound.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Wow!

@shyshift

Жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark that’s a line from Chicago III. Flight 602 (Motorboat To Mars)

loved that, cant remember ever hearing this in the time. So good! Grateful for your channel, its fun. Happy Thanksgiving guys! Peace

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much Steve! Happy Thanksgiving to you!

So you say it sounded progressive ? Have you listened to the lyrics ? Googled Varese ? Keep digging up quality music from the deep past folks. Good work.

Great pick. I didn’t remember this one. Probably too young to appreciate. I was 9th or 10th grade then. Now I’m 63. Hmmmm…….

Layered brilliance defined early Chicago (Albums 1-7) . This one was emblematic .

God damn! It’s difficult not to cult. All about that bass. And those horns. And those drums. And terry Kath. Etc.

I love your response to this one. It's a favorite that deserves to be experienced. Robert Lamm's lyrics and singing are killer.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

You wouldnt know it from the muaic i have on my channel, but Chicago is one of my favourite bands ever based on their first album until their somethingteenth album in the 80s... You should check out Chicago 14, which could be officially titled as the "last true Chicago album" before the David Foster and Dianne Warren hits came into the picture.

Robert Is Still A Baritone !! Its The First Cut On The Album.

This is the opening track.

Who would guess that ten years after this they'd be recording material like 'Hard To Say I'm Sorry'.

@---wd3hp

6 ай бұрын

In other words, switching from this to later pablum, they SHOULD say I'm sorry.

Robert Lamm in all his funkiness.

It is actually the opening song on the album 🙂

ROBERT.AMAZING SINGER!!

I think the only tracks you have missed are While the City Sleeps (a political song by Robert with some tasty, extended guitar work from Terry and funky bass lines from Peter) and Alma Mater (a soulful Terry vocal and acoustic piece).

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Michael!

It's the first song. All Is Well, While The City Sleeps and Alma Mater are the tracks you have yet to hear from Chicago V. You also have most, if not all, of Chicago VI to go, still a few from VII (like TK's Byblos), two thirds of VIII, all of X and most of XI (You need to revisit Mississippi Delta Blues on XI - much better then the demo you listened to.) You can stop there. Nothing that good happens afterwards... although XIII wasn't too bad. (IX is Greatest Hits). Happy future listening. Cheers!

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for all the info Tim!

OH!! MR.LAMM!!

Pretty good for a Chicago tune. I actually liked it!

Do a background on Edward Varese. One will more clearly understand what Lamm and the band were attempting to achieve here. I think it is a "modern" interpretation of Varese's concept of music and its relation to boundless sound with recurring theme. Just my interpretation of this tribute, if you will, vis a vis the Father of Electronic Sound.

While "Saturday In the Park", "Dialogue", and even, "State of the Union"; receive more attention, this under appreciated gem (which leads off the album) hits the listener over the head with its intensity.

it 's the first track on the album

I assume you've checked out 'Leonid and Friends' on YT? Their studio cuts of Chicago songs (and anything else they do) will blow your minds. Perfection with video.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info Jack!

@lindaloe

11 ай бұрын

No Thank-You!!

Please react to Devil's Sweet from Chicago VII. As jazz as they ever got.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/poJm0NqIgMrIh84.html :)

Same album with Saturday In The Park…. Quite a contrast!!

Glad to see Chicago still getting their flowers on this channel ❤

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks to patrons like you Ben!

Good

Is that Terry Kath singing? amazing .. gotta love a good horn section WFT where did they go?

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

They have a show coming up! Only about three original members though.

@lindaloe

Жыл бұрын

NO ITS ROBERT.

Loved it guys! 🔥🔥🔥 Peter Cetera kills it!!

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching Patrick!

The best Chicago song not released as a single?

@lamarravery4094

5 ай бұрын

It wouldn't have charted, it's too radical not catchy enough. But very ambitious and sophisticated, we can appreciate it.

This is the opening track. No shit.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Wow!

Thoughtful, insightful review. I think Edgar Varèse pronounced his name a bit differently. For a bit of amusement, here is an excerpt from Varèse's "Ionisation" substituted in as theme music for "Sex and the City." kzread.info/dash/bejne/e451spaehMS9p8o.html

Great song wasn’t it?

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely!

Terry's last album.

@johnfoster5295

Жыл бұрын

Chicago XI was Terry's last album. This is Chicago V.

@tomdynes9317

Жыл бұрын

Not by a long shot. He did 5 more Chicago albums after this, one of them a double album.

If you dont know how to move then dont act but be free. Your behaviour is in contrast with the context of the song.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Are there rules to moving to a song now?

@karelvandervelden8819

Жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark OK if you want to put up a mimic show, go ahead.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for allowing us to! #freedom

@thecat600

Жыл бұрын

@@SightAfterDark 🤣 now an air violin 🎻 may have been inappropriate.

Late 60's Blood Sweat & Tears with nothing whatsoever to do with Varese in the song. A cheap trick.

@SightAfterDark

Жыл бұрын

😂

@---wd3hp

6 ай бұрын

Cheaper ignorant comment