Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus
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| Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus | |||||
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| Studio album by Chicago | |||||
| Released | June 17, 2008 | ||||
| Recorded | 1993 | ||||
| Genre | Rock/Adult Contemporary | ||||
| Label | Rhino | ||||
| Producer | Peter Wolf | ||||
| Chicago chronology | |||||
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Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus is an upcoming album by Chicago.
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[edit] Demise of Original Album
The album's original release date in the USA was scheduled for March 22, 1994. However, fate intervened to shelve the project before it hit the stores. Warner Bros. Records, Chicago's record company at the time, was displeased with the album, and thus dismissed Sisyphus as being "unreleaseable." This led to an acrimonious split with the band. The band's failure to issue an official press release regarding the album's mothballing and subsequent departure of guitarist Dawayne Bailey left fans to years of rampant debate and conjecture about the events surrounding Sisyphus. Through its official Web site, as well as public discussion forums of past and present band members, the band has actively worked to quell discussion and debate about Sisyphus, while sporadically releasing thematic albums. Recent information has come to light regarding the actual reason for the album's shelving. Band management was negotiating with the label regarding a licensing of the extensive Chicago back catalog. When these talks stalled, the label apparently retaliated by scrapping the project.
A good amount of information about the project, including sound clips and lyrics, can be found on former Chicago guitarist Dawayne Bailey's Web site.
[edit] Post-1994
Like The Beach Boys' Smile, Sisyphus has built a legend of its own. Tracks from the unreleased album have surfaced on bootleg recordings, and even through the Internet. The band seems to have done nothing to stop this, and many of the songs have since appeared on legitimate compilations as well.
On July 9, 1993 the band included "The Pull" in a concert in the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to give the audience a taste of the upcoming album. The title cut and "Bigger Than Elvis" were first released in Canada on the 1995 double CD compilation Overtime (Astral Music). A single edit-version of "Let's Take A Lifetime" debuted in Europe on the 1996 Arcade Records compilation called The Very Best Of Chicago (a title which would be reused in North America in 2002). Five of the 12 tracks were released in Japan between 1997-1998 on the very rare green and gold editions of The Heart of Chicago compilations: "All The Years" (debut), "Bigger Than Elvis", and "Sleeping In The Middle Of The Bed Again" (debut) all appear on the green-clad The Heart of Chicago 1967-1981, Volume II (Teichiku, 1997), with "The Pull" and "Here With Me (A Candle For The Dark)" appearing on the gold-clad The Heart of Chicago 1982-1998, Volume II (WEA Japan, 1998).
Lamm recorded a solo version of "All The Years" for his 1995 solo album Life Is Good In My Neighborhood, and a solo version of "Sleeping In The Middle Of The Bed (Again)" for his 1999 album In My Head. Champlin recorded "Proud Of Our Blindness" for his 1995 solo album Through It All, whose liner notes included his stinging criticism of the major record labels inspired by the row Chicago had with WB over Sisyphus. Jason Scheff recorded a solo version of "Mah-Jong" for his 1997 solo album Chauncy.
In 2003, the group finally allowed three tracks from Sisyphus, "All The Years", the title cut and "Bigger Than Elvis", to be officially released in the U.S. on The Box by Rhino Records (which is ironically owned by the same company that owns WBR).
[edit] 2008 Release
In early May of 2008 [1], Rhino Records announced that the long awaited "Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus" would finally be released - on June 17, 2008. Rhino's press release also says that four additional songs will join eleven of the original dozen tracks. One of the bonus tracks is actually from the "Twenty 1" sessions from three years earlier. The rocker "Get On This" was dropped with no explanation from the label.
[edit] Track listing
- "Stone of Sisyphus"
- "Bigger than Elvis"
- "All The Years"
- "Mah-Jong"
- "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed"
- "Let's Take a Lifetime"
- "The Pull"
- "Here With Me (Candle for the Dark)"
- "Plaid"
- "Cry for the Lost"
- "The Show Must Go On"
- "Love Is Forever" (Demo)
- "Mah-Jong" (Demo)
- "Let's Take A Lifetime" (Demo)
- "Stone Of Sisyphus" (No Rhythm Loop)
[edit] Personnel
- Dawayne Bailey - guitar, lead & backing vocals, horn arranging
- Bill Champlin - keyboards, lead & backing vocals
- Tris Imboden - drums, harmonica
- Robert Lamm - keyboards, lead & backing vocals
- Lee Loughnane - trumpet
- James Pankow - trombone, horn arranging
- Walt Parazaider - woodwinds
- Jason Scheff - bass, lead & backing vocals
- Jerry Scheff - bass on "Bigger Than Elvis"
- The Jordanaires - backing vocals on "Bigger Than Elvis"
- Joseph Williams - backing vocals on "Let's Take A Lifetime"
- Peter Wolf - producer, arranger, keyboard bass, keyboards, arranging, synth "soprano sax" solo on "Let's Take A Lifetime"
- Sheldon Reynolds - guitar
- Bruce Gaitsch - guitar
- Produced by Peter Wolf
- Engineered by Peter Wolf & Paul Ericksen
- Recorded at Embassy Studios in Simi Valley, CA 1993
- The Jordanaires recorded in Nashville, TN in 1993
- Mixed by Tom Lord Alge at Encore Studios, Burbank, CA in 1993 and 1994
[edit] External links
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