Chicago 18
| Chicago 18 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Chicago | ||||
| Released | September 29, 1986 | |||
| Recorded | March–June 1986 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 45:19 | |||
| Label | Full Moon/Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | David Foster | |||
| Chicago chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Into the Skyline | ||||
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Chicago 18 is the fifteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on September 29, 1986. As the successor to 1984's multiplatinum hit Chicago 17, this album is the first without cofounding member Peter Cetera.
With Cetera having quit the band in 1985 in favor of a solo career, Chicago eventually hired Jason Scheff to fill Cetera's position as vocalist and bassist. The most used voices in Chicago now belonged to its two newest recruits, Scheff and Bill Champlin, who had joined the band in 1981.
Chicago again hired producer David Foster to create a soft rock followup to Chicago 17.
The band recorded an updated high-tech remake of their hit classic "25 or 6 to 4" (#48). Then, "Will You Still Love Me?" (#3) and "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (#17) became hits. Scheff is lead vocalist on all three releases. The album features a brief, a cappella horn riff, Pankow's "Free Flight." Chicago 18 ultimately went gold, peaking at #35.
Track listing
| Side One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocals | Length |
| 1. | "Niagara Falls" | Steve Kipner/Bobby Caldwell | Scheff with Bill Champlin | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Forever" | Robert Lamm/Bill Gable | Lamm | 5:17 |
| 3. | "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." | Kipner/Randy Goodrum | Scheff with Champlin | 3:51 |
| 4. | "25 or 6 to 4" | Lamm/James Pankow | Scheff | 4:20 |
| 5. | "Will You Still Love Me" | David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin | Scheff with Champlin | 5:44 |
| Side Two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocals | Length |
| 6. | "Over and Over" | Lamm/James Newton Howard/Steve Lukather | Lamm | 4:20 |
| 7. | "It's Alright" | Bill Champlin/Foster | Champlin | 4:29 |
| 8. | "Free Flight" | Pankow | instrumental | 0:25 |
| 9. | "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Scheff/Buzz Feiten | Scheff | 4:25 |
| 10. | "I Believe" | Champlin | Champlin, with Scheff | 4:20 |
| 11. | "One More Day" | Pankow/Carmen Grillo | Lamm, Champlin, Scheff | 4:13 |
A re-recorded version of "When Will the World Be Like Lovers?" (Robert Lamm/Tom Keane/David Foster) appears on Robert Lamm's 1995 solo album Life Is Good In My Neighborhood. The original recorded version from the Chicago 18 sessions also appears online.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Chicago 18 (Full Moon/Warner Bros. 25509) reached gold status and #35 in the US during a chart stay of 45 weeks. It did not chart in the UK.
Personnel
- Bill Champlin – keyboards, vocals[2]
- Robert Lamm – keyboards, vocals
- Lee Loughnane – trumpet
- James Pankow – trombone, brass arrangements
- Walter Parazaider – woodwinds
- Jason Scheff – bass, vocals
- Danny Seraphine – drums, drum programming
- Vocal arrangements by Chicago, Bill Champlin, and David Foster
Additional musicians
- Michael Landau – guitar[2]
- Howard "Buzz" Feiten – guitar
- Steve Lukather – guitar
- David Foster – keyboards, additional arrangements, and brass contributions
- Tom Keane – keyboards, background vocals
- Bo Tomlyn – synthesizer programming
- Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer programming
- David Boruff- synthesizer programming
- Michael Boddicker – synthesizer programming
- Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements on "If She Would Have Been Faithful...", "Will You Still Love Me?", and "I Believe"
- Jules Chakin – string contractor
- Gerald Vinci – concertmaster
- Betty Joyce – kids choir contractor on "One More Day"
- John Joyce – kids choir conductor on "One More Day"
- Rebecca Clinger, Christopher Leach, Julie Leach, Myhanh Tran, Peter Wade, Jason Pasol, Brandon Roberts, Alitzah Wiener, Betty Joyce, Laurie Parazaider, Felicia Parazaider, Melody Wright & Bettina Bush – kids choir on "One More Day"
Production
- Produced by David Foster[2]
- Engineered and Mixed by Humberto Gatica
- Recorded at Chart Maker Studio (Malibu, CA) and Lion Share Recording Studio (Los Angeles, CA), assisted by Claudio Ordenes and Ray Pyle
- Horn Sessions recorded at Skyline Recording Company (Malibu, CA), assisted by Britt Bacon and David Garfield
- Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studio, assisted by Laura Livingston
- Originally mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
- CDD Pre-mastering by WCI Record Group
- Art Direction: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff
- Design: Hugh Brown and Jeri McManus
- Album Cover (Mosaic): Maria Sarno
- Photography: Hugh Brown
- Stylist/Wardrobe: Kali Korn
- Group Photography: Guy Webster