Chicago V

A single disc

Chicago V was released on 10 July 1972 and was the first of the band's studio albums to fit on one disc, following three double albums and the four-disc Chicago at Carnegie Hall, which counts as the fourth. It was cut in just over a week, shortly before the Carnegie Hall set came out in late 1971, and held back until the next summer. Eight of its ten songs were written by Lamm alone. Kath wrote and sang the closing Alma Mater, and A Hit by Varese pays tribute to the composer Edgard Varese. It is the last Chicago album without a Cetera composition.

The single Saturday in the Park was the band's biggest hit up to then, at number 3. The album became their first number one, spending nine weeks on top of the American chart and reaching number 24 in the UK. The follow-up, Dialogue (Part I & II), in which Kath and Cetera trade lines on the lead vocal, reached number 24. Ultimate Classic Rock's Dave Swanson called the album a condensing of ideas into a simpler form.