“Where Were You,” the last songwriting collaboration with Rascal Flatts star Jay DeMarcus on 2006’s Chicago XXX, stands out for what’s not there: A gaggle of hired-hand sessions guys meant to bolster Chicago musically.
Guitarist Dann Huff, who appeared on both the preceding “90 Degrees and Freezing” and the following “Already Gone,” is nowhere to be found. Drummers John Brockman and Steve Brewster, who sat in during four of the previous seven songs on Chicago XXX, yield to Tris Imboden. Trombonist James Pankow handles the horn arrangements, just like the good old days.
Singers Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff, who co-wrote the song with DeMarcus, are back with a familiar intertwining of gruff and tenor voices that has powered Chicago songs since the days of Peter Cetera and Terry Kath. Would this be the moment where Chicago began wrestling back a bit of artistic license?
“Where Were You” lives up to that promise, as best it can. There’s a noticeably more organic groove, though that’s of course relative to this time, this place and this producer. It’s more about the feel of things, as road-tested bandmates move back to the fore. The horns punch a little harder, providing ready fuel for the counterpoint vocals – in particular, Champlin’s hang-dog yowl.
Sure, it’s too polished, too compressed, too modern. Champlin is the only grit here, and he’s occasionally overwhelmed while trying so hard to produce a pearl. But “Where Were You” wasn’t going to break the mold on an album governed by these issues. How could it?
DeMarcus’ obvious goal as producer was to reanimate the sleek power-ballad successes of 1988’s Chicago 19, even if there was no reasonable expectation that radio would respond the same way almost two decades later. The knack that DeMarcus’ band already had for sending songs up the country charts, however, simply wasn’t transferrable – no matter how many extra players, extra verses and extra hooks he brought in.
He kept trying. But so far into a 13-song cycle, it was easy to wonder when Chicago was going to take centerstage on their own album. Chicago XXX seemed to be getting away from them entirely. Instead, “Where Were You” provided a rare hint at what might’ve been.
It’s only a half-measure success, to be sure, but that has come to serve as a welcome respite with a band so deep into its final act. We now know that there won’t be many more.
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