To the uninitiated (me), Chicago VII can seem like one of the group’s most impenetrable work. While Chicago has always seemed like two separate bands, one given to funky jazz fusion, the other firmly planted in radio-friendly soft rock, those two groups have always cooperated with eachother, trading off tracks. Here, the two camps are at odds.

Disc one is almost exclusively filled with lengthy jazz instrumentals (phrases like “self-indulgent” and “ill-advised” come to mind), while disc two is composed of some of the best pop songs they’ve put to wax, such as (I’ve Been) Searchin’ for So Long, The Song of the Evergreens, and Wishing You Were Here. But disc two doesn’t do very much to redeem the first set of songs (minus one Peter Cetera song at the very end), and in the end, Chicago VII gives more ammunition to those who deride double albums as sprawling, scatter-brained messes.