THE VERY BEST OF: ONLY THE BEGINNING

Generally I agree with Sheavy that "best of" compilations for progressive rock bands are a joke. They are neither satisfying nor able to represent bands with long discogs of lengthy songs. This could also be the case for Chicago for many fans but not this one. I was a never a fan of Chicago's albums or their more serious work that got them on this site. As a young kid in the 70s Chicago for me were a "hits" band. They were on pop radio and album rock radio constantly and thus their singles became part of the soundtrack of my youth. And they wrote such excellent, memorable pop music. Some people find their singles cheesy but I really don't. I think they had a unique sound and were always high quality. As such I'd been looking for some time for a good collection of their popular songs. This is the best one I've found. Without getting into box sets and big dollars, "Only the Beginning" manages to collect all of the songs I wanted to have on two discs.

Disc one covers the early 70s and features all of their best known songs from the first album through one my favorite obscurities "If you leave me now", which brings me right back to being a little kid with my transistor radio. Disc two begins with two more of my favorite gems "Old Days" and "Baby what a big surprise", which again, are period markers for someone my age. Disc two soon takes a sharp turn into their hugely successful 80s era when the band hit their second boom in popularity. All of those MTV era hits are there such as "Stay the Night", "Hard habit to break", and "Along comes a woman." I stopped paying attention by this point and so the late 80s tracks that finish disc two mean little to me. But for the first disc and one-half of the second, this collection fit the bill perfectly. If you are a "hits" type fan of Chicago as I am, take a look at the track list and see if this doesn't cover it nicely for you. If you're a fan of their longer jams and full albums then obviously you have no need for this.

Comes with a nice and informative booklet, with bio and detailed credits.

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