‘Chicago III’ arrived 55 years ago this week as their third consecutive double album in less than two years. Yet Chicago was somehow still pushing the musical envelope.

The gold-selling ‘Chicago 13’ nearly cracked the Billboard Top 20 after arriving 45 years ago – but something was very wrong.

Even 45 years later, ‘Chicago XI’ isn’t their best-loved original-lineup album. Yet, for better or worse, it remains one of the most memorable of the era.

This is the final song from Chicago’s last non-holiday album. If they don’t release another one, it’s really not a bad way to go out.

Robert Lamm’s “Naked In the Garden of Allah” helped balance this LP’s expected modern-era Chicago balladry with a return to more politicized songcraft.

Chicago’s “Watching All the Colors” introduced fans to Lou Pardini, but in the end is just a pleasant little bon-bon, forgotten as soon as it’s over.

Robert Lamm’s “Something’s Coming, I Know” isn’t about taking risks. Instead, it settles for being this Chicago album’s most effortlessly joyous moment.

Once, the Robert Lamm-sung “Free at Last” might have had something to do with freedom’s fight, since he was the fierce political heart of Chicago. Not now.

“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.

Robert Lamm shows that he can still write and arrange great Chicago songs, but it’s a shame the production betrays him.