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Subtitled - Only The Beginning. Double disc with 39 hit singles spanning Chicago's complete 35-year history. Including the #1 singles 'If You Leave Me Now,' 'Hard To Say I'm Sorry' and 'Look Away'. Booklet features detailed liner notes by Bill DeYoung. Rhino Records. Slipcase. 2002.
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Reviews:
All The Best of Chicago!
The CD's sound fantastic, and contain everything you could hope for from Chicago and then some. What a bargain!
More Than Expected
This cd was even more then I expected. So many songs I had forgotten. Great cd.
Nice compilation
All the tracks you could possibly hope for in a 'best of' compilation, are here. I had serious doubts about the quality of the remastering carried out by Rhino in 2002. Apparently there are more recent upgrade releases but none with the same faultless track listing as this one. This collection is great for someone who has heard all the hits and is looking to dig a little deeper into the Chicago back catalogue.
Excellent 2-disc Chicago Compilation
I'll get to the reason why only 4 stars for "Only the Beginning" shortly.
First off, if you are in the market for a two disc "best of" collection for Chicago THIS is the one to get. Please avoid the more recent The Best Of Chicago 40th Anniversary. Yes, it's slightly less expensive but the cost savings are not worth the sacrifice in terms of the classic material that is not included at all ("Take Me Back to Chicago", "Alive Again", "Happy Man", "Free", "I'm a Man", "Dialog (Part I & II)", "Lowdown") or is presented in horribly edited versions ("Questions 67 & 68", "25 Or 6 To 4","Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is", "Make Me Smile", "Wishing You Were Here" and "Beginnings"). Some folks state that it's nice to have the "single" versions, but please keep in mind that the members of the group hated the single edits and with good reason. On "40th Anniversary" you even get short-changed on the later material as two of the livelier hits from that "power-ballad" era are omitted ("Stay the Night" and "Along Comes a Woman") so you're left with mostly the ballads. Even the version of "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" loses its horn-powered "Get Away" ending. For me there's just no comparison: "Only the Beginning" beats out the "40th Anniversary" set hands down!
So why only 4 stars? Well first off, even this collection has left off what I consider some critical early material such as FM radio and concert favorite "Mongonucleosis" from VII, "Harry Truman" from VIII, and "Gone Long Gone" from "Hot Streets". And while most Chicago fans agree that XIII and XIV are probably Chicago's two weakest efforts from their Columbia days "Thunder and Lightning" should have been given the nod as their last Columbia-era hit.
Lastly, and this is really a matter of personal taste, the last two thirds of the second disc are pretty tough to get through. For the most-part it's one '80s power ballad after another with only tracks like "Stay the Night" and "Along Comes a Woman" to liven things up. Too bad other worthy, horn-driven numbers like "We Can Stop the Hurtin'" or "Please Hold On" from XVII or even the controversial remake of "25 or 6 to 4" from XVIII weren't included. Chicago could still rock in the '80s, you'd just never know it from what was released as singles.
Still, short of picking up a copy the out of print Group Portrait (which is a ***** set, by the way!) or the later Rhino Chicago Box (Bonus DVD) this is the way to go for a best of. The sound is great for the most part and all the music on disc one and almost the first half of disc two is perfect.
It's Grrrrreat!
The best collection of Chicago out. I had forgot they had so many hits. You can't go wrong with this cd.
