Music Review

Group Portrait

EW's GRADE
C

Details Lead Performance: Chicago; Genres: Reissues, Rock

Wow! A Chicago boxed set! Four CDs! Takes us back to the '70s! A time when group members' names and personalities weren't as important as corporate band logos and albums with creative covers! And what covers they were! In fact, 14 are reproduced (in color) in the 51-page booklet from Group Portrait! Remember the chocolate-bar jacket of Chicago X? Excellent! You also get 63 tracks of increasingly watered-down big-band rock, with such milestones of the genre as ''Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?,'' ''Saturday in the Park,'' and ''Baby, What a Big Surprise''! Horn sections, Peter Cetera's mealy-mouthed vocals, and more horn sections! Plus a bunch of obscure album tracks and in-depth liner notes detailing the making of each of Chicago's Columbia albums! Perfect for singing along while you're washing the dishes or vacuuming! In fact, we're humming ''Make Me Smile'' right now! Oh no! C

Originally posted Dec 20, 1991 Published in issue #97 Dec 20, 1991 Order article reprints

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