Chicago co-wrote all of the material on 2014’s Chicago XXXVI: Now for the first time since Stone of Sisyphus, as well as co-producing – a first.
“More Will Be Revealed” is a real oddity on this album, as it does feature most of the then-current touring band. Additional musicians are confined to Robert Lamm’s pal Hank Linderman on guitar and current touring woodwinds specialist Ray Herrmann. Original now-retired reed player Walter Parazaider’s health problems find him playing alto sax on only three Chicago XXXVI: Now cuts, but that is hardly a case of laziness on the part of the beloved woodwind musician’s part. His sunny stage persona and enthusiasm are sadly missed amongst the grumpy mannequins now pounding out the same setlist year after year.
The track begins with a percussion drumroll by now-set drummer Walfredo Reyes, an insistent piano chord and a soprano sax flourish from Herrmann very similar to Walter Parazaider’s brief solo on “Just You ‘N’ Me.” Oddly the official video shows Walter miming the soprano solo on alto! The horns kick in like the old days (no pun intended). However, due to the remarkably compressed nature of the album mix, the horns sound like cheesy synth-patches straight out of the 1980s.
The horns on At Carnegie Hall sound state of the art compared to this sad recording, and most of Chicago XXXVI: Now. Trombonist James Pankow needs to stow the gripes about the horn sound on the famous live album after this rubbish.
Keyboardist/vocalist Robert Lamm comes back in a huge way, playing most of the album keyboards with a lead vocal on seven out of 11 tracks in a callback to the 1960s/1970s, when he was the band’s main songwriter. The lyrics of “More Will Be Revealed” find a renewed Lamm singing optimistic lyrics and a “let’s live in today” vibe toward his relationship. He could also be reflecting on the joy of finally making new Chicago music:
“There’s a new beat every moment
A new world every minute
I don’t know where I’m going
But at least at last I’m in it”
Lamm’s horn arrangement is perfect, but the recording mix, yikes! “More Will Be Revealed” ends with some chorale-like horn call and respond and another soprano flourish. Lamm shows that he can still write and arrange great Chicago songs, but it’s a shame the production betrays him.
- Chicago, “Watching All the Colors” (2014): Saturdays in the Park - January 22, 2022
- Chicago, “Love Lives On” from ‘Chicago XXXVI: Now’ (2014): Saturdays in the Park - January 8, 2022
- Chicago, “More Will Be Revealed” from ‘Chicago XXXVI: Now’ (2014): Saturdays in the Park - December 11, 2021
