“Back to You,” a bonus original on 1999’s Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert, is typical of this era: a rather generic love song. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, if you’re a fan of middle-of-the-road pop that lacks any hint of adventurism.
Jason Scheff’s singing is fine for what he is required to do, and so are the horns. You can easily hear their presence but they exist only to let you know that the artist is Chicago. They don’t offer anything captivating at all. If this song was one of the band’s hornless entries, it really wouldn’t matter.
Admittedly, I have a built-in bias against almost anything Chicago released during this period. So, to be fair I listened a second and even a third time, and decided my initial prejudice was accurate. “Back to You” is a song that is just “there.” If it came on the radio, I wouldn’t change the station but I’d have to take a quick dose of that stimulant named “25 or 6 to 4” to motivate me back into my everyday life.
The only unique aspect of this studio track is that Keith Howland got a composing credit along with Robert Lamm. It’s a rare thing for the group’s latter-day guitarist, so it’s a shame he didn’t come up with anything possessing a little more substance. As for Lamm, he’s proven many times over that he is better than this.
