The Very Best Of: Only the Beginning

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning
Greatest hits album by Chicago
Released	July 2, 2002
Recorded	January 27, 1969 - late January 1995
Genre	Rock/Adult Contemporary, Classic rock, soft rock, jazz rock, pop rock
Length	2:37:44
Label	Rhino
Producer	James William Guercio, Phil Ramone, Chicago, David Foster, Ron Nevison, Chas Sandford and Bruce Fairbairn
Chicago chronology
Chicago XXVI: Live in Concert (1999) The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning (2002) The Box (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning is a two-CD greatest hits album by American rock band Chicago. Released in 2002, this collection marked the beginning of a long-term partnership with Rhino Records which, between 2002 and 2005, would go on to remaster and re-release Chicago's 1969–1980 Columbia Records catalogue.

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning is notable for combining almost all of Chicago's greatest successes from their entire recording career up to that point, excerpting material from all of their regular studio albums bar 1979's Chicago 13 and Chicago XIV from 1980. Generally considered the definitive Chicago retrospective, The Very Best of: Only the Beginning has proven a lucrative seller, reaching #38 in the US — where it went double platinum, and providing Chicago with their highest UK position since 1970, peaking at #11. Several songs appear in an edited form, presumably to allow the band to include more songs on the CD. Most notable are "I'm a Man", which is missing the Danny Seraphine drum solo, and "Dialogue (Part I & II)", which is presented in its shortened single version.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Make Me Smile" (James Pankow) – 4:26
   • New Edit
2. "25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm) – 4:50
   • Tracks 1-2 originally issued on 1970's Chicago II
3. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Robert Lamm) – 3:20
4. "Beginnings" (Robert Lamm) – 6:26
5. "Questions 67 and 68" (Robert Lamm) – 4:52
6. "I'm a Man" (Jimmy Miller/Steve Winwood) – 5:44
   • New Edit
   • Tracks 3-6 originally issued on 1969's The Chicago Transit Authority
7. "Colour My World" (James Pankow) – 3:00
   • Originally issued on 1970's Chicago II
8. "Free" (Robert Lamm) – 2:17
9. "Lowdown" (Peter Cetera/Danny Seraphine) – 3:34
   • Tracks 8-9 originally issued on 1971's Chicago III
10. "Saturday in the Park" (Robert Lamm) – 3:56
11. "Dialogue (Part I & II)" (Robert Lamm) – 5:00
    • Single Version
    • Tracks 10-11 originally issued on 1972's Chicago V
12. "Just You 'n' Me" (James Pankow) – 3:42
13. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (Peter Cetera/James Pankow) – 4:14
    • Tracks 12-13 originally issued on 1973's Chicago VI
14. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (James Pankow) – 4:29
15. "Wishing You Were Here" (Peter Cetera) – 4:36
16. "Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) – 4:02
17. "Happy Man" (Peter Cetera) – 3:15
    • Edit from 1981's Greatest Hits, Volume II
    • Tracks 14-17 originally issued on 1974's Chicago VII
18. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" (Robert Lamm) – 3:00
19. "If You Leave Me Now" (Peter Cetera) – 3:57
    • Tracks 18-19 originally issued on 1976's Chicago X

Disc two

1. "Old Days" (James Pankow) – 3:31
   • Originally issued on 1975's Chicago VIII
2. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Peter Cetera) – 3:06
3. "Take Me Back to Chicago" (Danny Seraphine/David Wolinski) – 2:57
   • Single Version
   • Tracks 2-3 originally issued on 1977's Chicago XI
4. "Alive Again" (James Pankow) – 4:04
5. "No Tell Lover" (Peter Cetera/Lee Loughnane/Danny Seraphine) – 4:13
   • Tracks 4-5 originally issued on 1978's Hot Streets
6. "Love Me Tomorrow" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:58
   • Single Version
7. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away" (Peter Cetera/David Foster/Robert Lamm) – 5:05
   • Tracks 6-7 originally issued on 1982's Chicago 16
8. "Stay the Night" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:50
9. "Hard Habit to Break" (Steve Kipner/John Parker) – 4:45
10. "You're the Inspiration" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:49
11. "Along Comes a Woman" (Peter Cetera/Mark Goldenberg) – 3:47
    • Single Version
    • Tracks 8-11 originally issued on 1984's Chicago 17
12. "Will You Still Love Me?" (David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin) – 4:12
    • Single Version
13. "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (Randy Goodrum/Steve Kipner) – 3:51
    • Tracks 12-13 originally issued on 1986's Chicago 18
14. "Look Away" (Diane Warren) – 4:00
    • Single Version
15. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Jason Scheff/Bobby Caldwell/Chas Sandford) – 4:14
    • Single Version
16. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (Diane Warren/Albert Hammond) – 3:57
17. "We Can Last Forever" (Jason Scheff/John Dexter) – 3:44
    • Single Version
18. "You're Not Alone" (Jim Scott) – 4:00
    • Single Version
    • Tracks 14-18 originally issued on 1988's Chicago 19
19. "Chasin' the Wind" (Diane Warren) – 4:18
    • Originally issued on 1991's Twenty 1
20. "Sing, Sing, Sing" - with the Gipsy Kings (Louis Prima) – 3:20
    • Originally issued on 1995's Night and Day: Big Band

The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning (Rhino 76170) reached #38 in the US during a chart stay of 25 weeks. It also peaked at #11 in the UK, under the title The Chicago Story: Complete Greatest Hits, and with a different tracklisting.

Track listing (Europe)

Disc one

1. "If You Leave Me Now" (Peter Cetera) – 3:57
2. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" (Peter Cetera/David Foster/Robert Lamm) – 3:51
   • Single Version
3. "You're the Inspiration" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:49
4. "Hard Habit to Break" (Steve Kipne/John Parker) – 4:45
5. "Will You Still Love Me?" (David Foster/Tom Keane/Richard Baskin) – 4:12
6. "Baby, What a Big Surprise" (Peter Cetera) – 3:06
7. "Look Away" (Diane Warren) – 4:00
8. "What Kind of Man Would I Be?" (Jason Scheff/Bobby Caldwell/Chas Sandford) – 4:14
9. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (Diane Warren/Albert Hammond) – 3:57
10. "Love Me Tomorrow" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:58
    • Single Version
11. "Just You 'n' Me" (James Pankow) – 3:42
12. "Happy Man" (Peter Cetera) – 3:15
13. "You're Not Alone" (Jim Scott) – 4:00
14. "Chasin' the Wind" (Diane Warren) – 4:18
15. "Wishing You Were Here" (Peter Cetera) – 4:36
16. "No Tell Lover" (Peter Cetera/Lee Loughnane/Danny Seraphine) – 4:13
17. "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long" (James Pankow) – 4:29
18. "Colour My World" (James Pankow) – 3:00
19. "You Come to My Senses" (Tom Kelly/Billy Steinberg) – 3:48
20. "We Can Last Forever" (Jason Scheff/John Dexter) – 3:44

Disc two

1. "25 or 6 to 4" (Robert Lamm) – 4:50
2. "Saturday in the Park" (Robert Lamm) – 3:56
3. "Questions 67 and 68" (Robert Lamm) – 4:52
4. "I'm a Man" (Jimmy Miller/Steve Winwood) – 5:44
   • Same edit as American Issue
5. "Stay the Night" (Peter Cetera/David Foster) – 3:50
6. "Only You" (David Foster/James Pankow) – 3:54
7. "Dialogue (Part I & II)" (Robert Lamm) – 5:00
   • Single Version
8. "Old Days" (James Pankow) – 3:31
9. "Beginnings" (Robert Lamm) – 6:26
10. "Lowdown" (Peter Cetera/Danny Seraphine) – 3:34
11. "Another Rainy Day in New York City" (Robert Lamm) – 3:00
12. "Call on Me" (Lee Loughnane) – 4:02
13. "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (Peter Cetera/James Pankow) – 4:14
14. "Take Me Back to Chicago" (Danny Seraphine/David Wolinski) – 2:57
15. "Sing, Sing, Sing" - with the Gipsy Kings (Louis Prima) – 3:20
16. "Along Comes a Woman" (Peter Cetera/Mark Goldenberg) – 3:47
17. "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (Robert Lamm) – 3:20
18. "Make Me Smile" (James Pankow) – 4:26
19. "Street Player" (Danny Seraphine/David Wolinski) – 4:22
    • Single Version

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r596406/review