Maps of Music

Chicago XXX (2006)

Where the lyrics of Chicago XXX take you, and where it was really made.

This album's US chart run was brief, peaking at number 41, yet it was the last new studio album with vocalist Bill Champlin before he left the band in 2009.

Key places

Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles (2006)

Recording site Westlake Recording Studios — Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles is listed among the sites where the album was recorded. Horn sessions for the album took place in Los Angeles in summer 2005. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sound Stage Studios in Nashville (2006)

Recording site Sound Stage Studios — Sound Stage Studios in Nashville is credited with overdub recording for the album. The same studio is also listed as a mixing site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank (2006)

Recording site The Enterprise (Burbank) — Glenwood Place Studios is listed among the album's recording sites. The point is placed at the city center of Burbank, California, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Chicago XXX: twentieth studio album and thirtieth album overall by the American band Chicago
• Released March 21, 2006
• First album of entirely new material since 1991's Twenty 1
• Eight-year gap from 1998's Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album, the longest between two of the band's studio albums to date
• Produced by Jay DeMarcus

Background

• Jay DeMarcus of the country group Rascal Flatts produced the album, coming to the project through a friendship with bassist-singer Jason Scheff
• Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, with horn sessions in Los Angeles, California, over the summer of 2005
• DeMarcus used several session players on the album
• Last new studio album with long-time vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin before his 2009 departure
• Champlin appeared on the following album, Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus (2008), which consisted of recordings produced in 1993

Recording

• Recording sites listed: Emerald Entertainment and Studio J (Nashville), Glenwood Place Studios (Burbank), Cartee Day Studios (Nashville), Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles)
• Overdubs recorded at Sound Stage Studios, Nashville
• Mixing at Sound Stage Studios (Nashville) and The Music Howse (Atlanta)
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine

Cover

• Photography by Jimmy Katz and Hugh Brown, assisted by Andy Strauss
• Design by Hugh Brown, assisted by Andy Strauss

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967.
• The band described itself as a "rock and roll band with horns" and blended classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop.
• The group first called itself the Big Thing, became Chicago Transit Authority in 1968, and shortened its name to Chicago in 1969.

Members

• The original line-up was Peter Cetera (bass), Terry Kath (guitar), Robert Lamm (keyboards), Lee Loughnane (trumpet), James Pankow (trombone), Walter Parazaider (woodwinds), and Danny Seraphine (drums).
• Lamm, Loughnane, and Pankow have remained constant members since 2009.
• Terry Kath died in 1978 after an accidental gunshot wound.

Career

• The band's debut double album, Chicago Transit Authority (1969), was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
• In 1971 Chicago became the first rock act to sell out a week at Carnegie Hall.
• "If You Leave Me Now" (1976) became the group's first number-one single and won its only Grammy.
• Billboard placed the band among the most successful chart acts in its history, and it has sold more than 100 million records.
• The original line-up was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
• Chicago received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on October 16, 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released March 21, 2006
• Peaked at number 41 in the US during a brief chart stay
• Spawned minor hits 'Feel' and 'Love Will Come Back'
• Spanish-language article lists thirteen tracks, including a hot single mix and a horn section mix of 'Feel'
• Manufactured and marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group company
• Japanese edition distributed by Warner Music Japan Inc.

Reappraisal

• Last new studio album with long-time vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin before his departure in 2009
• Champlin later appeared on Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus (2008), a collection of recordings produced in 1993
• First album of entirely new material since 1991's Twenty 1

Records

• US chart peak: number 41
• Twentieth studio album, thirtieth album overall
• Eight-year gap from Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album (1998), the longest between two of the band's studio albums to date

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Trivia

• Jay DeMarcus came to the project through a friendship with bassist-singer Jason Scheff.
• Rascal Flatts members Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney appear as guest vocalists on track 5.
• Shelly Fairchild sings lead vocal on track 4.
• Chicago XXX was the last new studio album with Bill Champlin before he left in 2009.
• Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus, released in 2008 and featuring Champlin, consisted of recordings produced in 1993.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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