Word: rocker
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...before you can dwell on the strength of the first rocker, Chicago comes back with a soft, mellow love song, done with great control and feeling by bassist Peter ("et") Cetera. It may not be their most effective attempt, but sandwiched between two hot, hard-driving numbers it does very well for itself. While Cetera and Dacus, along with pianist Bobby Lamm, do all the vocals, the highlighted instrument in each number varies, with flutes, trombones, guitars, pianos, and even synthesizers snaking their way through the medley of sound. Chicago pieces are rarely dominated by a single performer. However...
They follow this parody with a more serious punk tune, "Don't Blame It on Love," using some fine guitar and percussion work to drive the song along. Caleb Quaye's strong lead guitar dominates both these cuts, which comically oppose John Oates' "Serious Music," a conventional rocker that ponders the durability of pop music. The song uses some creative instrumental bridges playing off a "Rhapsody in Blue" theme...
...passages and solid instrumental work, is a puzzling piece of music. It has almost everything, from a harmless love song called "August Day," written by Sara Allen (the subject of "Sara Smile" and a constant Hall and Oates companion and contributor), to a poor attempt at a Phil Spector rocker, called "The Last Time." There's a great orchestral work in "I Don't Wanna Lose You," a fine tune which may do well as a pop single; but the range and uneveness of the album as a whole make it almost impossible to label the work as a success...
...disc includes the standard rocker, this time a Chuck Berry tune called "Back in the U.S.A." With guitarist Waddy Wachtel supplying the characteristic riffs that made Berry's mid-fifties music so popular, the track has become an AM/FM hit single, a sure-fire get-up-and-boogie rocker. But it lacks the power of "Tumbling Dice" or the throaty intensity of "Heat Wave." The song is thin throughout and doesn't hold its own among the other works on this album...
...almost reminiscent of "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me." Carried along by Russ Kunkel's sure-handed, driving drum beat and a steady Kenny Edwards bass line, Ronstadt displays the power of her sharp, brassy voice in a heavily throaty verse that rises to an upbeat, bold chorus. The bright, '70s rocker contrasts strongly to "Oooh Baby Baby," a mellow Smokey Robinson tune in which Ronstadt uses two male backup vocalists who add a sweet falsetto giving the song a Motown-like sound. The song works quite well; Ronstadt's voice makes her version of the song just different enough from...