The leftover “When Will the World Be Like Lovers” was originally recorded during sessions for 1986’s Chicago 18, but didn’t officially arrive until Robert Lamm included a much more subtle version on his 1993 solo album Life is Good in My Neighborhood.
Co-written with David Foster and Tom Keane, Chicago’s take on “When Will the World Be Like Lovers” should have been better than it is, because a little bit of the old Lamm resurfaced – the one who wrote social-commentary songs. Unfortunately, Robert Lamm’s good intentions were wasted because of the execution on this track.
I don’t care what anybody else says, Chicago’s then-new tenor Jason Scheff will never be Peter Cetera, and his singing here proves it. He shares lead vocals with Lamm and Bill Champlin and, as usual for the time period, their singing is way too melodramatic.
Very densely arranged and recorded, Chicago simply has too much going on here. The music was also recorded at top volume, which makes this track even more unpleasant. Despite its volume, “When Will the World Be Like Lovers” doesn’t rock hard and, unless I’m mistaken, the only real instrument on the session is guest Michael Landau’s guitar.
In the end, it’s everything that is wrong with their post-Peter Cetera material: Chicago continued to pursue a style of music that didn’t work in order to stay relevant, but relevancy doesn’t suit everyone. The group used to be a jazz-rock band with horns, but “When Will the World Be Like Lovers” is just another noisy, over-the-top power ballad.
I think I’ll stop here or I’ll have to tell you what I really think of this song and Chicago 18. It wouldn’t be until I heard parts of the belated-released Stone of Sisyphus that Chicago again offered any hints of what they were – or what this band could have been again, if they didn’t let commerce get in the way of art.
The really sad news is that things got even worse on the next two Chicago albums.
