‘Now’ showed Chicago could produce a better album than they have in years when given complete artistic control. But they still had to include a ballad.

“Crazy Happy” is not an avant-garde old-school Chicago piece, but it possesses just enough jazz elements to prove that Robert Lamm still has the goods.

What does it say about the state of this band when Chicago doesn’t even phone it in for the best track on ‘Chicago XXXVI: Now’?

This checks all of Chicago’s boxes, including prominent horns and alternating lead vocals. Where “90 Degrees and Freezing” fails is in the production.

I love the country/rock mixture of this Chicago song. Collaborating with Rascal Flatts in the studio helped take “Long Lost Friend” to another level.

The Jason Scheff co-written “Caroline” seems to be making the same old mistakes, until a key figure from Chicago’s modern era arrives to save the day.

“King of Might Have Been” really wants to go somewhere, and Chicago once again tries with painful obviousness to get it there.

Chicago added three inoffensive new studio songs to this concert recording, and “If I Should Ever Lose You” is the best of a half-hearted bunch.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Chicago’s “Back to You,” if you’re a fan of middle-of-the-road pop that lacks any hint of adventurism.

Chicago’s “Here In My Heart” is special to me, and every time I hear it I reminisce about my last two months of middle school and the broken heart I had.