This, not Live at Carnegie Hall, is the live album to get if you want to hear early-period Chicago at its best. Recorded over a three-night run in June 1972 in Osaka, Japan, the Magnificent Seven run through many of their early hits balanced with a few songs from the newly-released Chicago V album. Yes, there was a time when rock tours were used to promote new albums. Seems like a long time ago.

What makes this superior to the Carnegie Hall album? The sound, for one - the horns sound much better, the vocals aren't muffled, and it's easier to hear the bass. There are fewer long guitar solos or flute improvs, as the band pretty much sticks to the recorded versions of the songs (probably because the songs are so well arranged in the first place). And, it includes live versions of four V songs: the hits "Saturday in the Park" and "Dialogue" along with two of my favorite album cuts, "A Hit By Varese" (which includes one of trombonist James Pankow's goofiest solos) and "State of the Union." They also play "A Song for Richard And His Friends" with an overly-long Terry Kath "space" section, and an early version of "Mississippi Delta City Blues" which isn't all that different from the one that would be recorded on Chicago XI. Deadheads will recognize this practice of premiering a song live long before it was recorded.

There's a great performance of the whole "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" suite, which most of you probably know as "Make Me Smile" with a bunch of other stuff in the middle. They've wisely replaced the silly "Anxiety's Moment" chant from Carnegie Hall with a bass and organ solo. Speaking of bass solos, the encore "I'm a Man" features a rare solo by Peter Cetera, who I believe is the most underrated musician in the band. Listen also to what he plays under the V songs to see why.

The low points of the album include a dull and sluggish "Beginnings"- it sounds as if they were already tired of the song - and the very harsh "Free," which I've never liked. But let's not dwell on those - instead, marvel in Robert Lamm's solo, which includes what sounds like a prepared piano, and incorporates some themes from "Fancy Colours" (not on this album). Enjoy Robert's enthusiasm on the newer songs, and his great B-3 organ playing on "Richard." Enjoy Robert, period. This was his time!

And no review of this album is complete without mentioning that Peter sings "Lowdown" and "Questions 67 and 68" phonetically in Japanese! I've always wondered exactly how those translations went, and how hard it was to learn.

This album is unfortunately difficult to find on CD in the United States, but it is definitely worth your time if you can find it. Fortunately, with all the net services, you don't have to go all the way to the Land of the Rising Sun to hear these rising stars. Sayonara!