Twenty 1
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''Twenty 1'' is the seventeenth studio album (and twenty-first overall) by the American band
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Released on January 29, 1991, it was their first album of the 1990s. ''Twenty 1'' spent eleven weeks on the American ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at position No. 66, and did not chart in the UK.


Production

The production of ''Twenty 1'' saw a significant personnel reconfiguration. The recent departure of founding drummer
Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer, and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from ...
had made way for the band's "great new drummer"
Tris Imboden Gregory Tristan "Tris" Imboden (born July 27, 1951) is an American rock and jazz drummer. As a performer, he has been in studio sessions and on tour with some of the most notable and highest-selling musicians of all time. He was the drummer fo ...
. Session player John Keane played the majority of this album's drum tracks. Their touring guitarist since 1986,
Dawayne Bailey Dawayne Bailey is an American guitarist who has toured and recorded with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Véronique Sanson, and Chicago. Bailey was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas. While still attending Manhattan High School in Kansas ...
, performed as an extra guitarist for ''Twenty 1''s sessions. The band retained producer Ron Nevison, who'd already done '' Chicago 19''. According to Nevison, work on the album was somewhat fragmented, with the band members rarely being in the studio together, and with work continuing with session musicians while the band was on tour. The fragmentation was furthered when
Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...
was assigned to mix the final version of the album without Nevison's input. Although the music for ''Twenty 1'' was considered commercially viable, the shifting of popular musical trends toward the impending
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
movement is said to have lost Chicago some valuable radio support. Nevison maintains that if his original mixes had been used, he'd have been much happier and the album could have theoretically been more successful: "It all would have worked if they’d left it alone. I promise you." The single "Chasin' the Wind" peaked at No. 39 and ''Twenty 1'' peaked at #66 during its eleven-week period on the charts, making it their second least successful non-greatest hits album, only behind '' Chicago XIV''. For what was intended to be the band's twenty-second album, '' Stone of Sisyphus'', Chicago hired producer
Peter Wolf Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of The J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist. Early life and education Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946, in the Bronx ...
to develop what could be considered a more ambitious and experimental effort. That 1994 release was indefinitely postponed, and then finally released more than fourteen years later on June 17, 2008 as ''Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus''. A demo "Love Is Forever" from the ''Twenty 1'' sessions was included on the ''Sisyphus'' release. Three singles were released: "Chasin' the Wind" (
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
"Only Time Can Heal the Wounded") in January 1991, "Explain It to My Heart" (B-side "God Save The Queen") in April 1991, and "You Come to My Senses" (B-side "Who Do You Love") in August 1991. ''Twenty 1'' would be Chicago's last full-length album release of original songs until '' Chicago XXX'' in 2006.


Reception

''Twenty 1'' spent eleven weeks on the American ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at position No. 66, and did not chart in the UK.


Track listing

''The 2009 remaster features the single edit of "Explain It to My Heart" as a bonus track'' Unreleased: *"Love Is Forever" was recorded during the ''Twenty 1'' sessions and later released as a bonus track on '' Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus''. *"Secrets of the Heart" remained unreleased, circulating unofficially online. This song was replaced by "Explain It to My Heart" on the final track list. *"Holdin' On" has been found online in demo form. This was recorded in 1988 with Bill Champlin's wife, Tamara, on lead vocals and Dawayne Bailey on guitars. "Holdin' On" was originally intended for ''Chicago 19''.


Personnel


Chicago

*
Dawayne Bailey Dawayne Bailey is an American guitarist who has toured and recorded with Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Véronique Sanson, and Chicago. Bailey was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas. While still attending Manhattan High School in Kansas ...
– guitars, backing vocals *
Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1 ...
– keyboards, lead and backing vocals, brass arrangements (11) *
Tris Imboden Gregory Tristan "Tris" Imboden (born July 27, 1951) is an American rock and jazz drummer. As a performer, he has been in studio sessions and on tour with some of the most notable and highest-selling musicians of all time. He was the drummer fo ...
– drums, percussion *
Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his songwriting, vocals, and keyboard melodies, most significantly on the band's debut studio album, ''Chic ...
– keyboards, lead and backing vocals, brass arrangements (6) *
Lee Loughnane Lee David Loughnane (pronounced LOCK-nain; born October 21, 1946) is an American trumpeter, flugelhorn player, vocalist, and songwriter who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/wo ...
– trumpet,
flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...
, backing vocals, brass arrangements (1–9, 11, 12) *
James Pankow James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947) is an American trombone player, songwriter, and brass instrument arranger who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his brass arrangements, and for being one-third of Chi ...
– trombone, backing vocals, brass arrangements (1–9, 12) *
Walter Parazaider Walter Parazaider (born March 14, 1945) is an American woodwind musician who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for being one-third of Chicago's brass/woodwind section alongside Lee Loughnane and James Pankow. Para ...
– woodwinds, backing vocals *
Jason Scheff Jason Randolph Scheff (born April 16, 1962) is an American bassist, singer, and songwriter who was a frontman for the American rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1985 to 2016. Replacing former lead vocalist Peter Cetera, Scheff was the longe ...
– bass, lead and backing vocals


Additional personnel

* Robbie Buchanan – keyboards * Tom Keane – keyboards * Efrain Toro – keyboards *
Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, singer, and film music composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff ...
– keyboard programming *
David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...
– acoustic piano *
Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...
– guitars * John Keane – drums *
Stephen "Doc" Kupka Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the ...
– baritone saxophone *
Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...
– brass arrangements (10) * Dennis Matkosky – co-brass arrangements (11)


Production

* Humberto Gatica – producer and engineer track No. 1, mixing * Ron Nevison – producer and engineer tracks Nos. 2–12 * Jim Mitchell – assistant engineer * Jeff Poe – assistant engineer * Alex Rodriguez – additional engineer * Recorded at
Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...
(Hollywood, CA); Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, CA); Ground Control Studios (Santa Monica, CA). * Deandra Miller – production assistant * Chris Cuffaro – photography * Kosh Brooks Design – art direction, design


Charts


References

{{Authority control Chicago (band) albums 1991 albums Albums produced by Humberto Gatica Albums produced by Ron Nevison Full Moon Records albums Reprise Records albums