Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus

Background With the releases of Chicago 18, Chicago 19, and Twenty 1, the band with its new generation of members had accomplished what vocalist and bassist Jason Scheff described as a "new legacy" for the 1990s. The next album, initially assumed to be called Chicago XXII, was conceived out of a desire to rediscover the band's personal, musical, and cultural roots, as an entity existing apart from its ultimately commercially marketed trappings. Scheff reflected, "In a sense, it was the beginning of that spirit ... of making music for the right reasons." The title song and "Bigger Than Elvis" were first released in Canada on the 1995 double CD compilation Overtime (Astral Music). A single edit of "Let's Take A Lifetime" debuted in Europe on the 1996 Arcade Records compilation called The Very Best Of Chicago (a title which would be reused in North America in 2002). Five of the 12 tracks were released in Japan between 1997 and 1998 on the very rare green and gold editions of The Heart of Chicago compilations: "All the Years" (debut), "Bigger Than Elvis", and "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed Again" (debut) all appear on the green-clad The Heart of Chicago 1967-1981, Volume II (Teichiku, 1997), with "The Pull" and "Here with Me (A Candle for the Dark)" appearing on the gold-clad The Heart of Chicago 1982-1998, Volume II (WEA Japan, 1998). In 2003, three tracks from Stone of Sisyphus — "All the Years", "Stone of Sisyphus", and "Bigger Than Elvis" — were officially released in the United States on The Box by Rhino Records. In 2007, the album became a chapter in the book The Greatest Music Never Sold: Secrets of Legendary Lost Albums. Solo versions Keyboardist Robert Lamm previously recorded a solo version of "All the Years" in the early 1990s for his 1993 solo album Life Is Good in My Neighborhood (initially released in Japan by Reprise Records in 1993, it was released in 1995 in the US by Chicago's then label Chicago Records), and a version of "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed (Again)" for his 1999 album In My Head. Keyboard player and guitarist Bill Champlin recorded "Proud of Our Blindness", which was a slightly different lyrical version of "Cry for the Lost", for his 1995 solo album Through It All, whose liner notes included his personal criticism of the major record labels inspired by the controversy of Stone of Sisyphus. Bassist Jason Scheff recorded a solo version of "Mah-Jong" for his 1997 solo album Chauncy. 2008 final release In June 2008, Rhino Records released Stone of Sisyphus with four bonus songs. Officially, the album received the number "XXXII" in the band's album count (following Chicago XXX and The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition). In various catalogs, it has been referenced as Chicago XXX II: Stone of Sisyphus or Stone of Sisyphus: XXXII. One of the songs intended for the 1994 release, "Get on This" (written by Dawayne Bailey, James Pankow, and Walter Parazaider's daughter Felicia), was not included in the 2008 release. No reason for this omission was given by Chicago or Rhino Records. ==Reception==

Doug Collette of Glide Magazine gave 11 stars out of 11 for the album's "wealth of ideas". He declared that "anyone who remembers the invigorating sound of the original Chicago will find Stone of Sisyphus wholly comparable, if perhaps not its complete equal". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic.com gave it 2.5 stars out of 5, saying "judged alongside Chicago's other albums it's flat-out bizarre". Scott Nowlin of the Deseret News gave three out of four stars, describing it as "well-written, well-produced, and fun to hear". Rick Nowlin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a 3.5/4 stars review, hailed "a take no prisoners funk groove ... pretty much throughout", and called the album "adventurous". Legacy During the production of the album, synthesizer maker Ensoniq created a Chicago-branded edition of its Signature Series of CD-ROM for use by professional audio engineers and musicians. The company recorded isolated elements of the essential sound of the band as it was to appear on Stone of Sisyphus. Intended for synthesizer users to create original music inspired by the sound of Chicago, the disc contains "various licks and articulations" which are represented to "sound exactly as it appears on record, using a combination of close and ambient microphones" from the horn section, Hammond B-3 keyboard, drum set, bass guitar, electric guitar, and vocals. The resulting disc contains a bonus audio track by Jason Scheff, titled "Evangeline". Producer Peter Wolf recalls of the mutually beneficial arrangement, "We used a lot of Ensoniq gear on that record. They were the happening keyboard manufacturer, no doubt about it." ==Myth of Sisyphus==

In ancient Greek mythology, King Sisyphus was sentenced to roll an enchanted boulder up a hill, only to stand just before the peak and watch it roll itself back down, and to repeat this action forever. This consigned Sisyphus to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration, and thus it came to pass that pointless or interminable activities are sometimes described as Sisyphean. It is suggested that Sisyphus symbolizes the vain struggle of man in the pursuit of knowledge. The Myth of Sisyphus saw Sisyphus as personifying the absurdity of human life, but concludes "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" as "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart." Another philosophical interpretation involves the politician's quest for power, in itself an "empty thing". In psychological experiments that test how workers respond when the meaning of their task is diminished, the test condition is referred to as the Sisyphusian condition. The two main conclusions of the experiment are that people work harder when they can imagine meaning in their work, and that people underestimate the relationship between meaning and motivation. ==Track listing==

This is the track list, as published in the final 2008 release, Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus. "Get on This" is inexplicably missing. == Personnel ==

Chicago • Robert Lamm – keyboards, lead and backing vocals • Lee Loughnane – trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals • James Pankow – trombone, backing vocals, horn arrangements, horn co-arrangement on "Stone of Sisyphus" • Walter Parazaider – woodwinds, backing vocals • Bill Champlin – keyboards, rhythm guitars, lead and backing vocals • Jason Scheff – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals • Dawayne Bailey – rhythm guitars, lead guitar ("Bigger Than Elvis", "Stone of Sisyphus", "Love is Forever"), lead and backing vocals, horn co-arrangement on "Stone of Sisyphus" • Tris Imboden – drums, percussion, harmonica Additional musicians • Peter Wolf – arrangements, keyboards, keyboard bass • Bruce Gaitsch – guitars • Sheldon Reynolds – guitars • Jerry Scheff – bass guitar on "Bigger Than Elvis" • The Jordanaires – backing vocals on "Bigger Than Elvis" • Joseph Williams – backing vocals on "Let's Take a Lifetime" Production • Produced by Peter Wolf • Engineered by Peter Wolf and Paul Ericksen • Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at Encore Studios, Burbank, California, in 1993 and 1994. • Recorded at Embassy Studios in Simi Valley, California, in 1993. • The Jordanaires recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1993. • Remastered by David Donnelly • Audio Supervisor – Jeff Magid • A&R Supervision – Cheryl Pawelski • Project Assistance – Zach Cowie, Sheryl Farber, Joe Halbardier, Rob Ondarza and Steve Woolard. • Art Direction and Design – Meat & Potatoes, Inc. • Art Supervision – Josh Petker • Liner Notes – Bill DeYoung • Management – Peter Schivarelli ==Charts==