Chicago 18

Chicago 18 is the fifteenth studio album by the American band Chicago, released on September 29, 1986. This album is the first without cofounding member Peter Cetera. This is also the first album to feature Jason Scheff on bass guitar and vocals.

Chicago 18
Studio album by Chicago
Released	September 29, 1986
Recorded	March–September 1986
Genre	Rock
Length	45:19
Label	Full Moon/Warner Bros.
Producer	David Foster
Chicago chronology
Chicago 17 (1984) Chicago 18 (1986) Chicago 19 (1988)
Singles from Chicago 18
"25 or 6 to 4" / "One More Day" Released: October 1986 "Will You Still Love Me?" Released: October 1986 "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." Released: March 1987 "Niagara Falls" Released: June 1987

With Cetera having quit the band in 1985 in favor of a solo career, Chicago eventually hired Jason Scheff to fill Cetera's position as vocalist and bassist. The most used voices in Chicago now belonged to its two newest recruits, Scheff and Bill Champlin, who had joined the band in 1981.

Chicago again hired producer David Foster to create a soft rock followup to Chicago 17.

The band recorded an updated high-tech remake of their hit classic "25 or 6 to 4" (#48). Scheff recalled how when he asked Foster how he should sing the song, Foster responded "just like Cetera." Then, "Will You Still Love Me?" (#3) and "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (#17) became hits. Scheff is lead vocalist on all three releases. The album features a brief instrumental horn riff, Pankow's "Free Flight." Chicago 18 ultimately went gold, peaking at #35.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

Chicago 18 (Full Moon/Warner Bros. 25509) reached gold status and #35 in the US during a chart stay of 45 weeks. It did not chart in the UK.

Track listing

Side One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
1.	"Niagara Falls"	Steve Kipner/Bobby Caldwell	Scheff with Bill Champlin	3:43
2.	"Forever"	Robert Lamm/Bill Gable	Lamm	5:17
3.	"If She Would Have Been Faithful..."	Kipner/Randy Goodrum	Scheff with Champlin	3:51
4.	"25 or 6 to 4"	Robert Lamm	Scheff with Champlin	4:20
5.	"Will You Still Love Me"	David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin	Scheff with Champlin	5:44

Side Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
6.	"Over and Over"	Lamm/James Newton Howard/Steve Lukather	Lamm	4:20
7.	"It's Alright"	Bill Champlin/Foster	Champlin	4:29
8.	"Free Flight"	Pankow	instrumental	0:25
9.	"Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now"	Scheff/Buzz Feiten	Scheff	4:25
10.	"I Believe"	Champlin	Champlin, with Scheff	4:20
11.	"One More Day"	Pankow/Carmen Grillo	Lamm, Champlin, Scheff	4:13

A re-recorded version of "When Will the World Be Like Lovers?" (Robert Lamm/Tom Keane/David Foster) appears on Robert Lamm's 1995 solo album Life Is Good In My Neighborhood. The original recorded version from the Chicago 18 sessions also appears online.

Personnel

Chicago

• Bill Champlin – keyboards, vocals[2]
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, vocals
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet
• James Pankow – trombone, brass arrangements
• Walter Parazaider – woodwinds
• Jason Scheff – bass, vocals
• Danny Seraphine – drums, drum programming
• Vocal arrangements by Chicago, Bill Champlin, and David Foster

Additional musicians

• Michael Landau – guitar[2]
• Howard "Buzz" Feiten – guitar
• Steve Lukather – guitar
• David Foster – keyboards, additional arrangements, and brass contributions
• Tom Keane – keyboards, backing vocals
• Bo Tomlyn – synthesizer programming
• Rhett Lawrence – synthesizer programming
• David Boruff – synthesizer programming
• Michael Boddicker – synthesizer programming
• Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements on "If She Would Have Been Faithful...", "Will You Still Love Me?", and "I Believe"
• Jules Chakin – string contractor
• Gerald Vinci – concertmaster
• Betty Joyce – kids choir contractor on "One More Day"
• John Joyce – kids choir conductor on "One More Day"
• Rebecca Clinger, Christopher Leach, Julie Leach, Myhanh Tran, Peter Wade, Jason Pasol, Brandon Roberts, Alitzah Wiener, Betty Joyce, Laurie Parazaider, Felicia Parazaider, Melody Wright and Bettina Bush – kids choir on "One More Day"

Production

• Produced by David Foster[2]
• Engineered and Mixed by Humberto Gatica
• Recorded at Chartmaker Studios (Malibu, CA) and Lion Share Recording Studio (Los Angeles, CA), assisted by Claudio Ordenes and Ray Pyle.
• Horn Sessions recorded at Skyline Recording Company (Malibu, CA), assisted by Britt Bacon and David Garfield.
• Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studio, assisted by Laura Livingston.
• Originally mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
• CDD Pre-mastering by WCI Record Group
• Art Direction – Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff
• Design – Hugh Brown and Jeri McManus
• Album Cover (Mosaic) – Maria Sarno
• Photography – Hugh Brown
• Stylist/Wardrobe – Kali Korn
• Group Photography – Guy Webster

References

1. Chicago 18 at AllMusic
2. All credits from CD booklet.

Further reading

• Deriso, Nick (September 29, 2014). "Danny Seraphine, Bill Champlin on the complicated legacy of Chicago 18". Something Else!. Retrieved September 1, 2017.