In an era when even the Rolling Stones went disco ("Miss You"), it perhaps comes as no surprise that Chicago--in the search for fresh material--turned to Bee Gee territory themselves. The recently re-mastered Rhino re-release of Chicago 13 has given me a chance to re-evaluate one of Chicago's most unpopular collections, and I've found that it's the disco album that isn't.

Admittedly, "13" is a better set than the previous year's dreadful "Hot Streets," but that's not saying much. This attempt to update their classic jazz-rock sound suffers from the too-many-cooks syndrome.

Much of the blame must fall on guitarist/vocalist Donnie Dacus. The single "Must Have Been Crazy" is a Dacus tune, featuring his trademark strained vocals and rhymes--it's as bad a song as Chicago's ever been associated with. The upside is that CHICAGO 13 marks his departure from the group.

"Street Player" is the opener; as the only overtly disco tune, it is famously lame, and even a guest appearance by famed trumpet master Maynard Ferguson can't save it. Still, one song with a disco-influence does not a disco album make, and "13" should not be unfairly categorized on the basis of "Street Player" alone.

Sadly lame, too, however, are Pete Cetera's "Mama Take," Bobby Lamm's "Paradise Alley," and Jimmy Pankow's "Runaway" (the worst Pankow song ever).

There are some bright spots. Cetera groans convincingly on the bluesy "Aloha Mama." Lee Loughnane and Walt Parazaider contribute "Window Dreaming," the best tune on the CD by far (it even showcases a decent Dacus guitar solo)! "Loser With a Broken Heart" proves that not ALL Cetera ballads are bad. And percussionist Laudir de Oliveira makes his writing debut with the latin-influenced "Life Is What It Is," a nice surprise (though it features a surprisingly sub-par Pankow trombone solo).

The Rhino remaster features two bonus tracks: the single edit of "Street Player," and a Dacus tune called "Closer to You" which blows "Must've Been Crazy" away (why wasn't THIS ONE picked instead?). The liner notes are briefer here than on previous Rhino re-releases; perhaps the band really had little to say.

All things considered, CHICAGO 13 undoubtedly documents a group in decline. While its reputation as a disco set is very much unwarrented, it is still worthwhile only for die-hard fans...and even then only as a curiosity.

"Chicago 13" is sometimes referred to as the band's "disco album".
True, the disc, originally released in 1979 at the height of the disco era finds Chicago dipping into the disco idiom. However, aside from the opener, "Street Player", none of the album's other tracks have anything resembling a disco groove.
"Street Player" is really a great tune and should not be boxed into the term, "disco". The track features some excellent percussion tracks (with jazz artist Airto guest starring) and a hot trumpet solo (with jazz artist Maynard Ferguson also guest starring). Trombonist Jimmy Pankow's horn chart on "Street Player" stands as one of his best works as well on this tune written by drummer Danny Seraphine.
There are some excellent songs on "Chicago 13" including Bobby Lamm's snappy "Reruns", the uptempo latin-styled "Life is What It Is" (written by percussionist Laudir De Oliveira) and Jimmy Pankow's "Runaway".
The only problem with this recording is the production value. Following in the footsteps of 1978's "Hot Streets" (the band's first album without guitarist and founding member Terry Kath), the approach of producer Phil Ramone to recording this American superband just doesn't click. Like he did on "Hot Streets", Ramone again uses a lot of reverb on the recorded tracks, making the overall sound very thin. Also, the vocals do not involve a lot of harmony arrangement, thus, the classic Chicago vocal sound, so beautifully evident in their first nine studio recordings (produced by James William Guercio) is sorely missing.
"Chicago 13" is still a good album with a great deal of melody permeating the songwriting as we had come to expect from the group over the years. The performances are solid and the horns are in fine form.
The bonus track on this 2003 re-issue is the club mix of "Street Player", which is pretty cool.
A worthwhile purchase.