| "Brand New Love Affair" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byChicago | ||||
| from the albumChicago VIII | ||||
| B-side | "Hideaway" | |||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:35 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | James Pankow | |||
| Chicago singles chronology | ||||
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"Brand New Love Affair" sometimes alternatively listed as "Brand New Love Affair (Parts I and II)", is a song written byJames Pankow for the groupChicago and recorded for their albumChicago VIII. The song was the third single released from the album and peaked at No. 61 on the USBillboard Hot 100[1] and No. 43 on the USCash Box Top 100.[2] The single edit was truncated from the album version and features afade into the second section.[3]
GuitaristTerry Kath sings the first half while bassistPeter Cetera sings the second half. KeyboardistRobert Lamm played the distinctiveFender Rhodes electric piano on the song.
Billboard characterized "Brand New Love Affair" as a "slow moody ballad" that "picks up strongly about half way through". They felt that the song's "ballad format here is an effective change for the group".[3]Cash Box said that the song "sounds like a brand new standard" with a "Ray Charles style painful/mature/emotional vocal."[4]Record World also noted the Ray Charles influence and called it a "brand new direction for the band, as stunning as it is adventurous."[5]
Patrick Williams provided the orchestration on both parts of the song
