Chicago 18

Chicago 18 is the fifteenth studio album by the American rock band Chicago, released on September 29, 1986. This album is the first without original vocalist Peter Cetera, and the first to feature Jason Scheff on bass guitar and vocals.

With Cetera having been fired by the band in 1985 because he wanted to record a solo album, Chicago eventually hired Scheff to fill Cetera's position as vocalist and bassist. With Scheff and Bill Champlin, who had joined the band in 1981, the most prominent voices in Chicago now belonged to its two newest recruits.

Chicago again hired producer David Foster to create a followup to Chicago 17.

The band recorded an updated, high-tech remake of their classic "25 or 6 to 4" (#48). Scheff recalled when he asked Foster on the way he should sing the song, the latter responded: "Just like Cetera." The following singles, "Will You Still Love Me?" (#3) and "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (#17) became hits. Scheff was lead vocalist on all three releases. The album also features a brief instrumental horn riff, Pankow's "Free Flight."

Despite the success of its predecessor, Chicago 18 ultimately only went gold, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Top 200 charts.

Reception
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.

Track listing
Notes:
 * 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.
 * "Free Flight", a short unlisted instrumental composed by James Pankow, appears at the beginning of "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now".
 * David Boruff plays saxophone on "Forever" instead of Walter Parazaider.

Chicago

 * Bill Champlin – keyboards, vocals
 * 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

 * David Foster – keyboards, additional arrangements, brass contributions
 * Tom Keane – keyboards, backing vocals
 * Michael Boddicker – synthesizer programming
 * David Boruff – synthesizer programming, tenor saxophone on "Forever"
 * Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer programming
 * Bo Tomlyn – synthesizer programming
 * Michael Landau – guitars
 * Howard "Buzz" Feiten – guitars
 * Steve Lukather – guitars
 * Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements on "If She Would Have Been Faithful...", "Will You Still Love Me?", and "I Believe"
 * Jules Chaikin – string contractor
 * Gerald Vinci – concertmaster
 * Betty Joyce – kids choir contractor on "One More Day"
 * Jon 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 and Bettina Bush – kids choir on "One More Day"

Production

 * Produced by David Foster
 * Engineered and Mixed by Humberto Gatica
 * Recorded at Chartmaker Studios (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