Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is always so much more to a life than what we perceive on the surface. So much of what we do gets lost in memory, remembered for detail by some, half discussed by those who see the past as more of an explanation of the present than a moment to forget, we are perhaps the keepers of our own memory; but it helps if others also can find a way to locate the missing jigsaw piece which makes the picture whole, the one that removes all doubt that once we were capable of Love, Glory, Honor & Heart.
Peter Cetera’s name will undoubtedly live on, as a successful solo artist and as a member of one of the all-time great ensemble groups, Chicago, but ask modern day audiences, enquire of those who see the world in a different coloured hue as responses to music have changed, just who the man was, and you might be greeted with more than a disconcerting look.
A voice of a generation, one whose music accompanied one of the most endearing films of the 1980s, the enigmatic Karate Kid Part II, Peter Cetera deserves his place by virtue and by sheer ability in the hearts of music lovers, and in the timely released four album box set, Love, Glory, Honor & Heart (The Complete Full Moon & Warner Bros. Recordings: 1981-1992)that voice is given the scale of release that makes the listener treasure exactly what spurred the fan on, that made him the superstar that he remained for many.
To present a person’s work in such a manner could be construed in some quarters as redressing a memory, however, this particular box set is nothing of the sort, it is a celebration of the way that Mr. Cetera found his solo voice after more than a decade as part of Chicago, and whilst the band that spawned hits and aural cool such as 25 or 6 to 4, Saturday In The Park, the phenomenal melancholy attached to If You Leave Me Now, Take Me Back To Chicago, and the soaring Hard To Say I’m Sorry will always be a part of the performers life, it is those early solo albums that sent his name into orbit.
If anything, the seeds of his solo output can be found in some of the later 70s tracks by Chicago, and as the albums Peter Cetera, Solitude/Solitaire, One More Story, and World Falling Down gain traction on the listener’s attention, so the passion of the performer shines exquisitely through.
Perhaps it is with thought and care that we find time to immerse ourselves into the world of one particular performer, kick starting a film marathon where we sit back and devour an actor’s life on screen, read a novelist’s thoughts from their early stumbling right through to their final or most recent release, so we should with a musician or a group sometimes. To do so takes strength of will, it takes courage to resist the opportunity to divert away from the bubble of investigation. Love, Glory, Honor & Heart (The Complete Full Moon & Warner Bros. Recordings: 1981-1992) is such a bubble of beauty and reveal that the honour and the glory of having done so makes the heart soar and the love shine without shadow.
A huge appreciation for the body of work at the listener’s fingers and ears, Love, Glory, Honor & Heart (The Complete Full Moon & Warner Bros. Recordings: 1981-1992) is a recording and release that is greatly valued.
Ian D. Hall