Chicago - Manipulation Lyrics

Chris Pinnick for the win.

It's 3rd wave ska 15 years before 3rd wave ska became a thing 😸

Pleasant melody for jazz/funk enthusiasts...unfortunately this formula no longer jived with what the Tavistock Institute was ordering.

Clever cover.

Danny on fire, too!

I agree...should have included Danny in my previous post. Bobby, Danny and Chris Pinnick sound like the only people in the studio who are not on autopilot.

Bobby Lamm may have been fighting personal demons in this period, but he was the only member of the band who recognized that they were sinking into the adult-contemporary mire and tried to extricate them from it. This song kicks ass all over the place, especially with the fiery guitar work of Chris Pinnick. It should have been a hit single and may have helped save them from the David Foster sell-out that was just around the corner.

BlueEyes 1970 Foster Rebooted the Band

This is a good song, and Lamm actually did have some of the better material during this period... e.g. Reruns is my favorite song on 13. However, commercially, Foster and Champlin did save the band from demise. 16 and 17 sold a whole lot of copies

@Dokken Dave Cetera and Foster saved the band, although it cost them their musical integrity.

Being a lifetime Chicago Fan I thought this was the best song on XIV!
Problem started when Peter Cetera took over with his crappie cheesecake songs :(
Robert Lamm was still heavy onto coke

I agree! It was the best song and Chris Pinnick does some wonderful guitar work. I love the brass arrangement as well.

Sadly, Cetera's cheesecake cocktails are somehow superior to what passes as popular "music" over the radio waves today.

Thunder and Lightning is pretty groovy, too. :-)

Doin’ Business is a JAM too! Another one of Bobby’s great punk numbers!

Like the Stranglers meets the Specials; pairing the gurgling, up-front bass-work of the former with the horns-in-a-New-Wave-context of the latter.

I keep hearing how this album was when the band had hit rock bottom. And maybe there was some truth to that. But give these songs a good listen. This collection contains everything a classic Chicago album would have. This tune has some really killer guitar work in the middle and some power packed horns as well. This may not be the most melodic Chicago song recorded but it has some of that old classic fm radio free form style.

David Spuria They Should've have nevered went rock bottom

Even at their "lowest" point in their career (13 and 14), they were still pretty damn awesome

Chris Pinnick is one hell of a player.

Bobby and Chris Pinnick kept Chicago afloat, with great new wave songs like Manipulation and the punky Doin’ Business, both should have been the singles! Too many shlocky “songs” from Peter Primadonna!

David Spuria ... Well said. I love albums like this. Like Harrison's "Dark Horse" or Page & Plant's "Clarksdale". So much to dig into. I do like a lot of 'underdog' albums. Oh and BTW check out the "Funk 49" riff at 1:04! Awesome! This album really needs a decent Remaster or even a remix. It's pretty dry for Chicago, IMHO. :)