Chicago 18

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Chicago 18
Studio album by Chicago
Released	29 September 1986
Recorded	Spring - Summer 1986
Genre	Adult Contemporary
Length	45:19
Label	Full Moon/Warner Bros.
Producer(s)	David Foster
Professional reviews
All Music Guide (2/5) link
Chicago chronology
Chicago 17 (1984)	Chicago 18 (1986)	Chicago 19 (1988)

Chicago 18 is the eighteenth album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1986. As the successor to 1984's multiplatinum smash hit Chicago 17, this album marked a new era for Chicago: their post-Peter Cetera years.

After Cetera quit the band for a solo career in 1985, Chicago eventually hired Jason Scheff, son of Jerry Scheff (who had backed up Elvis Presley for years), to replace Cetera's high register vocals and bass duties. In a twist of fate, Scheff was discovered after submitting a song demo for consideration on Cetera's second solo album. With Scheff's uncanny ability to replicate his predecessor, Chicago was able to continue. Although founding member Robert Lamm still took an active part in the band, the most used voices in Chicago now belonged to their two newest recruits: Scheff and Bill Champlin, who had joined the band in 1981.

Because their sound was now so rooted in mid-1980s soft rock (ironically, mostly due to Cetera), Chicago again sanctioned the production duties of David Foster to create a familiar follow-up to Chicago 17. After his third consecutive album with them, Chicago would attempt to broaden their sound with new producers on their next project. On Chicago 19, radio would once again embrace ballads, this time from the pen of Diane Warren.

Although the lead single, a scorching high-tech remake of "25 or 6 to 4" (#48) failed to scale the charts, Chicago slipped back into ballad-mode, and the follow-ups "Will You Still Love Me?" (#3) and "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (#17) became major hits. Chicago 18, while still going gold, saw a noticeable drop-off in album sales following Cetera's departure (17 went platinum six times). The album did not fare well on the charts either, peaking at #35. Thus, Chicago emerged as a singles band having major hits, but with merely competent album sales from this point on.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Niagara Falls" (Steve Kipner/Bobby Caldwell) – 3:43
2. "Forever" (Robert Lamm/Bill Gable) – 5:17
3. "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (Steve Kipner/Randy Goodrum) – 3:51
4. "25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm/James Pankow) – 4:20
   • A new recording of the 1970 hit that originally appeared on Chicago II
5. "Will You Still Love Me?" (David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin) – 5:43
6. "Over and Over" (Robert Lamm/James Newton Howard/Steve Lukather) – 4:20
7. "It's Alright" (Bill Champlin/David Foster) – 4:29
8. "Free Flight" (James Pankow) – 0:25
   • An uncredited track
9. "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now" (Jason Scheff/Buzz Feiten) – 4:25
10. "I Believe" (Bill Champlin) – 4:20
11. "One More Day" (James Pankow/Carmen Grillo) – 4:14

Chicago 18 (Full Moon/Warner Bros. 25509) reached #35 in the US during a chart stay of 45 weeks. It did not chart in the UK.

[edit] Personnel

• Bill Champlin - keyboards, vocals
• Robert Lamm - keyboards, vocals
• Lee Loughnane - trumpet
• James Pankow - trombone
• Walter Parazaider - woodwinds
• Jason Scheff - bass, vocals
• Danny Seraphine - drums, percussion

Chicago
Robert Lamm | James Pankow | Lee Loughnane | Walter Parazaider | Bill Champlin Jason Scheff | Tris Imboden | Keith Howland Terry Kath | Peter Cetera | Danny Seraphine | Laudir DeOliveira | Donnie Dacus | Chris Pinnick | Dawayne Bailey
Discography
Studio albums: The Chicago Transit Authority | Chicago | Chicago III | Chicago V | Chicago VI |Chicago VII | Chicago VIII | Chicago X | Chicago XI | Hot Streets | Chicago 13 | Chicago XIV | Chicago 16 | Chicago 17 | Chicago 18 | Chicago 19 | Twenty 1 | Night & Day Big Band | Chicago XXX
Live albums: Chicago at Carnegie Hall | Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert
Compilations: Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits | Greatest Hits, Volume II | Greatest Hits 1982-1989 The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997 | The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume II | The Very Best of: Only the Beginning | Love Songs
Christmas albums: Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album | What's It Gonna Be, Santa?
Unreleased album: Stone of Sisyphus
Box sets: The Box