That Bill Champlin is a fantastic singer and songwriter is undeniable, with three Grammy Awards under his belt for Earth Wind and Fire’s “After the Love Has Gone,” Lee Ritenour’s “Is It You,” and George Benson’s “Turn Your Love Around.” But he was firing on all cylinders for Chicago’s Stone of Sisyphus album.
His compositions, both on his solo albums and on some of his Chicago contributions, boast the same energy and social consciousness of Robert Lamm’s politically charged material from the band’s first five albums.
“Cry For the Lost” is case in point. Champlin delivers some of his best vocals since before Peter Cetera’s departure – and it’s tough to top those, since Cetera and Champlin brought out the best in one another’s vocals – with the socially conscious lyrics that were peppered throughout Bill Champlin’s Burn Down the Night and Through It All solo albums.
Incidentally, “Cry For the Lost” has a “fraternal twin” on the aforementioned Champlin solo album Through It All called “Proud of Our Blindness.” They boast different sets of lyrics, but both songs have a similar tone and the arrangements are extremely similar, as well. Both songs are well worth listening to.
“Cry For the Lost,” like “The Show Must Go On” from Stone of Sisyphus, leaves listeners wondering why Chicago didn’t lean more heavily on Bill Champlin’s bonafide songwriting chops. Instead, there were 28 years of missed opportunities to grow and try some new things, rather than resting on their laurels.
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