Robert Lamm
became the first member of
Chicago
to release a solo record back in 1974 but he put his extracurricular activities on ice until 1993, when he released
Life Is Good in My Neighborhood
. Another album,
In My Head
, followed in 1999, but it was
Like a Brother
-- a 2000 collaboration with
America
's
Gerry Beckley
and
Carl Wilson
of
the Beach Boys
-- that opened up a streak of laid-back albums stretching into the 2010s.
Time Chill: A Retrospective
focuses on these albums, selecting highlights from 2003's
Subtlety & Passion
, 2004's
Too Many Voices
, 2008's
The Bossa Project
, and 2012's
Living Proof
, adding a bonus track from a reissue of
and a mix from
Robert Lamm Songs: The JVE Remixes
. All of this holds together because
Lamm
specializes in smooth grooves in his solo work, grooves that are surprisingly informed by electronic dance and hip-hop: witness "Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed," which actually includes raps from
. Hints of
can be heard in places that aren't
JVE
's remix of "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" -- they are there in the soaring melodies, Latin rhythms, and jazzy inclinations, but
's work is distinguished by its electronic gleam. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine