"chicago 2002"

Velma Kelly is the sexy vaudeville star who murders her husband and sister after finding them in bed together. Roxie is the wannabe vaudeville star who kills her lover after finding out he was never going to make her famous. Enter Billy Flynn, the greasy lawyer whose goal is not only to have his clients acquitted, but to make them legal legends. Billy, who apparently likes Roxie's angle (He tried to kill me) better than Velma's (I blacked out and can't remember a thing). With help from Matron Mama Morton both women vie for the spot as Illinois's most famed murderess, but there's only room for one legend… "That's Chicago".

A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos (John C. Reilly). Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley (Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron "Mama" Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie's story – or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie's story – all over the gutter press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines.

Murderesses Velma Kelly (a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister after finding them in bed together) and Roxie Hart (who killed her boyfriend when she discovered he wasn't going to make her a star) find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Murderesses Velma Kelly (a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister after finding them in bed together) and Roxie Hart (who killed her boyfriend when she discovered he wasn't going to make her a star) find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Rhino began its elaborate Chicago reissue series in 2002 with The Very Best of Chicago: Only the Beginning, a double-disc set that covers 39 hits from all of Chicago's eras from the early jazzy records, through the soft rock hits sung by Peter Cetera, to the post-Cetera adult contemporary records of the '80s, and beyond. It's the first compilation to cover this much ground, actually 1991's Group Portrait stopped around Cetera's departure and while it may go a little bit further than some would want (a cover of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing" from their 1995 neo-swing album closes the set; it happens to feature the Gipsy Kings on support), it nevertheless is very satisfying, since it rounds up all of the hits, and Chicago were at their very best on their hits.

It's fair to say that most of Chicago's hit singles were love songs, which makes compiling an album like Rhino's 2005 collection Love Songs a bit of an easy task.

It's fair to say that most of Chicago's hit singles were love songs, which makes compiling an album like Rhino's 2005 collection Love Songs a bit of an easy task.

"Chicago VI" is the 5th studio album by American rock band Chicago and was released in 1973. It is the first album to feature percussionist Laudir de Oliveira, who would become a full-fledged member of the band for Chicago VIII. Chicago VI was another commercial success, spending five weeks at #1 in the US. The band would not chart in the UK at all until 1976's Chicago X. The album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. The original U.S. CD release (Columbia CK #32400) was mastered for CD by Joe Gastwirt. In 2002, Chicago VI was remastered and reissued by Rhino Records, with two bonus tracks: a Terry Kath demo called "Beyond All Our Sorrows", and a recording of Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone", taken from the 1973 TV special, Chicago in the Rockies.