Lenny Kravitz got “it.” More than Phil Ramone (Hot Streets, Chicago 13), Tom Dowd (Chicago XIV), Ron Nevison (Chicago 19, Twenty 1), Chas Sanford (19), Peter Wolf (Stone of Sisyphus) – or even David Foster (Chicago 16–18). There’s something utterly magical about “The Only One” from 1997’s red The Heart of Chicago collection.
“The Only One” sounds more like classic Chicago than just about any other original material the band had recorded since 1977’s Chicago XI. It might have been a ballad, but the horns were integral (thanks to the song being co-written with James Pankow) rather than a mere afterthought as they had felt during the David Foster and some of the post-David Foster years.
The vocal harmonies are tight, much as they had been during the Champlin/Cetera vocal magic of Chicago 16 and Chicago 17. But I’d argue that the way those vocals danced around the horns set this song apart from that more celebrated material. I’d go so far as to argue Lenny Kravitz understood Chicago better than any producer since James William Guercio, and arguably understood them more than they understood themselves at that point in their career.
That’s why, as brilliant a song as “The Only One” is, it’s also incredibly frustrating. Chicago finally found a producer who understood and appreciated them, who knew how to get the best out of them – and they only got him for a single song! Ironically named, “The Only One” is frustrating because it keeps you wanting and wishing for more.
As brilliant and exceptional as “The Only One” was, the other four bonus tracks Chicago would record through the late ’90s were rather pedestrian and yawn-inducing by comparison. As Bill Champlin sang on his 1992 solo album, it was “the same old song, thinking they can’t go wrong – caught up in the past and barely tryin.'”
Thank you Lenny Kravitz for wringing out one more great original song by Chicago. I wish you’d stuck around for a whole album, but you tapped into that magic and brought out the best in this band. “The Only One” reminds us all what Chicago is capable of.
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