Chicago VIII

Chicago VIII is the seventh studio album by American rock band Chicago, released on March 24, 1975 by Columbia Records. Following the experimental jazz/pop stylings of Chicago VII, the band returned to a more streamlined rock-based sound on this follow-up.

Background
After five consecutive years of constant activity, the members of Chicago were feeling drained as they came to record Chicago VIII at producer James William Guercio's Caribou Ranch in Colorado in the summer of 1974. While the variety in styles explored on Chicago VIII were reminiscent of Chicago VI, this particular album had a more distinct rock feel, as exemplified on Peter Cetera's "Anyway You Want" (later covered by Canadian singer Charity Brown) and "Hideaway", as well as Terry Kath's Hendrix tribute "Oh, Thank You Great Spirit" and James Pankow's hit "Old Days" (#5). The ballad "Brand New Love Affair, Part I & II" charted at #61.

Preceded by Lamm's "Harry Truman" (#13) as lead single, Chicago VIII was held over for release until March 1975 as Chicago VII was still riding high in the charts. While it easily reached #1 in the US, the album had a lukewarm critical reception — still commonly considered, by some, as one of their weakest albums from the original lineup, resulting in the briefest chart stay of any Chicago album thus far. It was also the first album to feature session percussionist Laudir de Oliveira as a full-fledged band member rather than merely a sideman, the first addition to the original lineup.

Inside the original LP package was an iron-on t-shirt decal of the album cover and a poster of the band in a station wagon being pulled over by a policeman.

On The RPM Canada charts, confusion endured when the LP was mis-identified during its chart run as Chicago VII; the catalog number listed proved it was really VIII.

This album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. In 2002, Chicago VIII was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records with two unreleased songs: "Sixth Sense" (an instrumental, or possibly a backing track) by Kath and "Bright Eyes" by Lamm, as well as a version of "Satin Doll" recorded for a Dick Clark's "Rockin' New Year's Eve" special - all as bonus tracks.

Personnel
Chicago
 * Peter Cetera – bass, lead and backing vocals
 * Terry Kath – electric and acoustic guitars, lead and backing vocals
 * Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals
 * Lee Loughnane – trumpet, backing vocals
 * James Pankow – trombone, brass arrangements
 * Walter Parazaider – saxophones, flute, clarinet
 * Danny Seraphine – drums
 * Laudir de Oliveira – percussion

Additional personnel
 * Caribou Kitchenettes – vocal chorus on "Harry Truman" (John Carsello, Donna Conroy, Laudir de Oliveira, Bob Eberhardt, Steve Fagin, Kristy Ferguson, Linda Greene, Lee Loughnane, Brandy Maitland, Katherine Ogden, James Pankow, Walter Parazaider, Joanne Rocconi, Richard Torres and Angele Warner)
 * String orchestrations on "Brand New Love Affair", "Oh, Thank You Great Spirit", "Long Time No See" and "Old Days" – Patrick Williams

Production

 * James William Guercio – producer
 * Wayne Tarnowski – engineer
 * Jeff Guercio – engineer
 * Mark Guercio – engineer
 * Phil Ramone – mixing
 * John Berg – cover design
 * Nick Fasciano – cover design
 * Anthony Maggiore – artwork and handwriting
 * Reid Miles – poster photography