23 tracks · 71 min
Chicago III is the third album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1971. It was the band's third consecutive double album of new studio material in less than two years. In the wake of Chicago's enormous worldwide success, Chicago spent almost all of 1970 on the road, an exhaustive undertaking. When the band came to record Chicago III at the end of the year - which producer James William Guercio had already determined would be another double, they were physically drained. Their long hours on the road gave the principal songwriters, Robert Lamm, Terry Kath and James Pankow, much food for thought, resulting in more serious subject matter, which contrasted with the positivity of their first two sets. Lamm documented his homesickness in the "Travel Suite", while Pankow bemoaned the winning battle of industry over nature in the instrumental "Elegy" suite, (an issue Lamm also touches upon in "Mother"). While Kath's multi-part "An Hour In The Shower" provides a reprieve from the sobering explorations elsewhere, Chicago III was undeniably the result of a band who had seen the flip side of the world over the last several months. Chicago III is also notable for its variety of…
