Chicago "The Chicago Story: Complete Greatest Hits"

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning is a double greatest hits album by the American band Chicago, their twenty-seventh album overall. Released in 2002, this collection marked the beginning of a long-term partnership with Rhino Entertainment which, between 2002 and 2005, would remaster and re-release Chicago's 1969–1980 Columbia Records catalog.

In Europe, a greatest hits compilation was released as The Chicago Story: Complete Greatest Hits with a different track listing.

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning combines almost all of Chicago's greatest successes from their entire recording career up to that point, excerpting material from all of their regular studio albums with the exception of 1979's Chicago 13 and 1980's Chicago XIV. Several songs appear in an edited form, including "I'm a Man", which is missing the Danny Seraphine drum solo, and "Dialogue (Part I & II)", which is presented in its shortened single version. There is a new edit of “Make Me Smile”—which bridges the namesake part and the “Now More Than Ever” part of the “Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon” together as in the original single, but without omitting the full intro or guitar solo of the former or the full outro of the latter,—and a new version of “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”—which is a stereo version of the original single, including all but the free-form piano intro.

Track listing

Disc 1

1. "Make Me Smile" (James Pankow) – 4:26 (From the album Chicago)
2. "25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm) – 4:50 (From the album Chicago)
3. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Lamm) – 3:20 (From the album Chicago Transit Authority)
4. "Beginnings" (Lamm) – 6:26 (From the album Chicago Transit Authority)
5. GH edit
6. "Questions 67 and 68" (Lamm) – 4:52 (From the album Chicago Transit Authority)
7. "I'm a Man" (Jimmy Miller, Steve Winwood) – 5:44 (From the album Chicago Transit Authority)
8. "Colour My World" (Pankow) – 3:00 (From the album Chicago)
9. "Free" (Lamm) – 2:17 (From the album Chicago III)
10. "Lowdown" (Peter Cetera, Danny Seraphine) – 3:34 (From the album Chicago III)
11. "Saturday in the Park" (Lamm) – 3:56 (From the album Chicago V)
12. "Dialogue (Part I & II)" (Lamm) – 5:00 (From the album Chicago V)
13. Single version
14. "Just You 'n' Me" (Pankow) – 3:42 (From the album Chicago VI)
15. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (Cetera, Pankow) – 4:14 (From the album Chicago VI)
16. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (Pankow) – 4:29 (From the album Chicago VII)
17. "Wishing You Were Here" (Cetera) – 4:36 (From the album Chicago VII)
18. "Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) – 4:02 (From the album Chicago VII)
19. "Happy Man" (Cetera) – 3:15 (From the album Chicago VII)
20. Edited version from 1981's Greatest Hits, Volume II
21. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" (Lamm) – 3:00 (From the album Chicago X)
22. "If You Leave Me Now" (Cetera) – 3:57 (From the album Chicago X)

Disc 1 length: 75:20

Disc 2

1. "Old Days" (Pankow) – 3:31 (From the album Chicago VIII)
2. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Cetera) – 3:06 (From the album Chicago XI)
3. "Take Me Back to Chicago" (Seraphine, David Wolinski) – 2:57 (From the album Chicago XI)
4. "Alive Again" (Pankow) – 4:04 (From the album Hot Streets)
5. "No Tell Lover" (Cetera, Loughnane, Seraphine) – 4:13 (From the album Hot Streets)
6. "Love Me Tomorrow" (Cetera, David Foster) – 3:58 (From the album Chicago 16)
7. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" (Cetera, Foster, Lamm) – 5:05 (From the album Chicago 16)
8. "Stay the Night" (Cetera, Foster) – 3:50 (From the album Chicago 17)
9. "Hard Habit to Break" (Steve Kipner, John Parker) – 4:45 (From the album Chicago 17)
10. "You're the Inspiration" (Cetera, Foster) – 3:49 (From the album Chicago 17)
11. "Along Comes a Woman" (Cetera, Mark Goldenberg) – 3:47 (From the album Chicago 17)
12. "Will You Still Love Me?" (David Foster, Tom Keane, Richard Baskin) – 4:12 (From the album Chicago 18)
13. "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (Randy Goodrum, Kipner) – 3:51 (From the album Chicago 18)
14. "Look Away" (Diane Warren) – 4:00 (From the album Chicago 19)
15. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Jason Scheff, Bobby Caldwell, Chas Sandford) – 4:14 (From the album Chicago 19)
16. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (Warren, Albert Hammond) – 3:57 (From the album Chicago 19)
17. "We Can Last Forever" (Scheff, John Dexter) – 3:44 (From the album Chicago 19)
18. "You're Not Alone" (Jim Scott)[2] – 4:00 (From the album Chicago 19)
19. "Chasin' the Wind" (Warren) – 4:18 (From the album Twenty 1)
20. "Sing, Sing, Sing" – with the Gipsy Kings (Louis Prima) – 3:20 (From the album Night and Day: Big Band)

Disc 2 total length: 75:21

Track listing (Europe and Australia)

Disc 1

1. "If You Leave Me Now" (Cetera) – 3:57
2. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Cetera, Foster, Lamm) – 3:51
3. "You're the Inspiration" (Cetera, Foster) – 3:49
4. "Hard Habit to Break" (Kipner, Parker) – 4:45
5. "Will You Still Love Me?" (Foster, Keane, Baskin) – 4:12
6. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Cetera) – 3:06
7. "Look Away" (Warren) – 4:00
8. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Scheff, Caldwell, Sandford) – 4:14
9. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (Warren, Hammond) – 3:57
10. "Love Me Tomorrow" (Cetera, Foster) – 3:58
11. "Just You 'n' Me" (Pankow) – 3:42
12. "Happy Man" (Cetera) – 3:15
13. "You're Not Alone" (Scott) – 4:00
14. "Chasin' the Wind" (Warren) – 4:18
15. "Wishing You Were Here" (Cetera) – 4:36
16. "No Tell Lover" (Cetera, Loughnane, Seraphine) – 4:13
17. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (Pankow) – 4:29
18. "Colour My World" (Pankow) – 3:00
19. "You Come to My Senses" (Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg) – 3:48 (From the album Twenty 1)
20. "We Can Last Forever" (Scheff, Dexter) – 3:44

Disc 2

1. "25 or 6 to 4" (Lamm) – 4:50
2. "Saturday in the Park" (Lamm) – 3:56
3. "Questions 67 and 68" (Lamm) – 4:52
4. Same edit as American issue
5. "I'm a Man" (Miller, Winwood) – 5:44
6. Same edit as American issue
7. "Stay the Night" (Cetera, Foster) – 3:50
8. "Only You" (Foster, Pankow) – 3:54
9. Originally issued on Chicago 17
10. "Dialogue (Part I & II)" (Lamm) – 5:00
11. "Old Days" (Pankow) – 3:31
12. "Beginnings" (Lamm) – 6:26
13. Same edit as American issue
14. "Lowdown" (Cetera, Seraphine) – 3:34
15. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" (Lamm) – 3:00
16. "Call on Me" (Loughnane) – 4:02
17. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (Cetera, Pankow) – 4:14
18. "Take Me Back to Chicago" (Seraphine, Wolinski) – 2:57
19. "Sing, Sing, Sing" – with the Gipsy Kings (Prima) – 3:20
20. "Along Comes a Woman" (Cetera, Goldenberg) – 3:47
21. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Lamm) – 3:20
22. "Make Me Smile" (Pankow) – 4:26
23. "Street Player" (Seraphine, Wolinski) – 4:22 (From the album Chicago 13)

Chicago – production on "Alive Again" and "No Tell Lover", compilation production

David Donnelly – remastering

Bruce Fairbairn – production on "Sing, Sing, Sing"

David Foster – production from Chicago 16 to Chicago 18

James William Guercio – production from The Chicago Transit Authority to Chicago XI

Lee Loughnane – remastering

Jeff Magid – remastering

David McLees – compilation production

Ron Nevison – production from Chicago 19 to Twenty 1

Phil Ramone – production on "Alive Again" and "No Tell Lover"

Chas Sandford – production on "What Kind of Man Would I Be?"

Chicago "The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary"

The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary is a double greatest hits album, and the thirty-first album overall, by American rock band Chicago, released by Rhino Records on October 2, 2007. It consists of two discs containing 30 of Chicago's top 40 singles. It is the fourth compilation of past hits released by their label since beginning of the decade. Most of the songs on this compilation are presented as their shorter length radio-single edits, as opposed to the album versions. It also features "Love Will Come Back" without Rascal Flatts' vocals.

The 39 tracks of The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning holds all the tracks of 40th Anniversary except for the tracks 13-15 on disc 2.

Although no indication is given on the discs or the cover, the album could also be considered as Chicago XXXI (31) in their canon, as it is preceded by Chicago XXX (30) in 2006, and followed by Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus in 2008. This is further emphasized by the display of albums on the band's website.

Track listing

Disc One

1. "Questions 67 & 68" (Single version) Robert Lamm Chicago Transit Authority, 1969 3:26
2. "25 or 6 to 4" (Single version) Lamm Chicago, 1970 2:52
3. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Promo single version) Lamm Chicago Transit Authority 2:45
4. "Make Me Smile" (Single version) James Pankow Chicago 2:59
5. "Beginnings" (Single version) Lamm Chicago Transit Authority 2:48
6. "Colour My World" Pankow Chicago 3:02
7. "Saturday in the Park" Lamm Chicago V, 1972 3:56
8. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" Pankow/Peter Cetera Chicago VI, 1973 4:14
9. "Just You 'n' Me" Pankow Chicago VI 3:42
10. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (Single version) Pankow Chicago VII, 1974 4:18
11. "Call on Me" Lee Loughnane Chicago VII 4:01
12. "Wishing You Were Here" (Single version) Cetera Chicago VII 3:00
13. "Old Days" Pankow Chicago VIII, 1975 3:30
14. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" Lamm Chicago X, 1976 3:00
15. "If You Leave Me Now" Cetera Chicago X 3:56

Disc Two

1. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" Cetera Chicago XI, 1977 3:06
2. "No Tell Lover" (Single version) Loughnane/Danny Seraphine/Cetera Hot Streets, 1978 3:50
3. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Single version) Cetera/David Foster Chicago 16, 1982 3:41
4. "Love Me Tomorrow" (Single version) Cetera/Foster Chicago 16 3:58
5. "Hard Habit to Break" Cetera/Foster Chicago 17, 1984 4:45
6. "You're the Inspiration" Cetera/Foster Chicago 17 3:48
7. "Will You Still Love Me?" (Single version) Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin Chicago 18, 1986 4:13
8. "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." Steve Kipner/Randy Goodrum Chicago 18 3:51
9. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" Albert Hammond/Diane Warren Chicago 19, 1988 3:54
10. "Look Away" (Single version) Warren Chicago 19 4:00
11. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Single version) Jason Scheff, Chas Sandford, Bobby Caldwell Chicago 19 4:19
12. "You're Not Alone" (Single version) Jim Scott Chicago 19 4:00
13. "Here in My Heart" Glen Ballard/James Newton Howard The Heart of Chicago 1967–1997, 1997 4:20
14. "Feel" (Horn section mix) Danny Orton/Blair Daly Chicago XXX, 2006 4:31
15. "Love Will Come Back" Scheff/Jay DeMarcus/Sandford Chicago XXX 3:43

Producer – Jay DeMarcus, David Foster, James William Guercio, James Newton Howard, Ron Nevison, Phil Ramone, Chas Sandford, Mike Engstrom, Cheryl Pawelski

Album cover design – Mark Paul Rosenmeier

Design – Joshua Banker, Don Jr. Garlock, Vincent Gonzales, Jim Jamitis, Jean Krikorian, Arnaud Leger, Al Mainwaring, Craig Stevens, Ashley Underwood

Photography – Jimmy Katz

Remastering – David Donnelly

Liner notes – Bill DeYoung

Product Manager – Mike Engstrom

Project assistant – Scott Webber

Supervisor – Jeff Magid

Editorial Supervision – Vanessa Atkins, Sheryl Farber

Annotation – Steve Woolard

Chicago "Look Away (Single & Video)"

"Look Away" is a 1988 power ballad by American rock band Chicago. Written by Diane Warren, produced by Ron Nevison, and with Bill Champlin on lead vocals, it is the second single from the band's album Chicago 19. "Look Away" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in December 1988, matching the chart success of the group's "If You Leave Me Now" (1976) and "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (1982). "Look Away" is Chicago's seventh song to have peaked at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart as well as the No. 1 song on the 1989 year-end Billboard Hot 100 chart, even though it never held the No. 1 spot at all in 1989.

The song is the band's only No. 1 single following the 1985 departure of Peter Cetera.

Chicago "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love (Single & Video)"

"I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" is a hit song written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago 19 (1988), with Bill Champlin singing lead vocals. It is the first Chicago single to feature Champlin performing all lead vocals himself. The first single released from Chicago 19, it reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The B-side of the single was "I Stand Up" written by Robert Lamm and Gerard McMahon. The song was featured in the Netflix original movie Death Note, which is based on the anime of the same name.

Chicago "Will You Still Love Me? (Single & Video)"

"Will You Still Love Me?" is a song recorded by the American rock band Chicago for their fifteenth studio album Chicago 18 (1986). The song was written by David Foster, Tom Keane and Richard Baskin, and produced by Foster.

The second single released from the Chicago 18 album, it reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1987, and also at number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

The song was Chicago's first top-ten hit following the departure of Peter Cetera, and it featured new singer and bassist Jason Scheff on lead vocals. One of the song's co-writers, Tom Keane had previously fronted the early 1980s band Keane, for which Jason Scheff played bass.

Chicago "Baby, What A Big Surprise (Single & Video)"

"Baby, What a Big Surprise" is a power ballad written by Peter Cetera for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago XI (1977), with Cetera singing lead vocals. The first single released from the album reached number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys and Cetera's brother, Tim Cetera, provided additional backing vocals on the recording while saxophonist Walt Parazaider plays flute on the distinctive introduction and trumpeter Lee Loughnane plays a piccolo trumpet.

Although Chicago XI yielded two more minor singles, "Baby, What a Big Surprise" was Chicago's last top ten single before the accidental death of guitarist Terry Kath, and was also their last Top Ten single produced by James William Guercio.

Cash Box said that "frequent repetition drives the memorable chorus home, while classically influenced strings, brass and vocals lend a stately touch."

Cetera re-recorded the song as a solo artist for his 1997 album You're the Inspiration: A Collection.