This has probably been touched on indirectly a time or two before, but after playing 25 or 6 to 4 with a buddy of mine I decided to try connecting the dots, as there were a rack of songs I either forgot about or knew from my youth but never realized it was Chicago. It really does feel like a tale of 2, maybe 3 bands. I mean, the same band that made this:

http://youtu.be/uFM6R53gui8 (Will You Still Love Me)

made this:

http://youtu.be/tqsgTQVV4HI (Lowdown)

Hell, I've heard this song since I was a kid and it never crossed my mind this was Chicago too:

http://youtu.be/5qrbm2PGbPk

I've been listening to The Very Best of Chicago, figuring I may as well get someidea of what kind of range the band went through over their 40+ years of existance before trying to listen to their full discography (I think I had CHicago 18 when I was in 6th grade though, which I'm not sure I'm looking forward to reliving just yet). Man, their early shit kicked some ass. My wife came downstairs when I was listening to this:

http://youtu.be/cCpXjh4wt2M (Free)

and asked if it was War. I was like 'No, can you believe it's the same people that did this:

http://youtu.be/idCil0mNhoo (You're The Inspiration)

I was floored.

More in a bit...