Customer Reviews

Celebration: The Best Of Kool & The Gang (1979-1987)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This compilation covers 1979-1987, the most successful phase of a long career by a great band. All the hits are here: "Get Down On It", "Celebration", "Fresh", "Cherish", "Misled", "Too Hot", "Joanna", "Ooh La La La", "Tonight" and "Ladies Night" all digitally remastered. For those just looking for a one stop shop of Kool and the Gang, this greatest hits is the perfect purchase. A must have for any rock collector.

Without a doubt, Kool & The Gang are one of my favorite funk/soul artists, if not my favorite. This album covers the late disco era of 1979 all the way up to when pop was going strong in 1987. All of Kool & The Gang's best hits in those years are here on this album. Although Kool & The Gang might not get the credit for it, they were a good versatile group. While you listen to this album, you'll hear songs that have a little bit of disco in them such as "Ladies Night," rocking tunes such as "Tonight" and "Misled," and good ballads such as "Joanna" and "Cherish."

Even though the song "Celebration" is still widely played at various celebratory events such as when a home town NBA team wins a game, Kool & The Gang's other songs and Kool & The Gang themselves don't get the credit they deserve.

I recommend anybody who likes rock or soul from the era of the late 70s to mid 80s to get this album. It's the definitive album for a great group. The booklet with the CD tells a biography of Kool & The Gang and also tells the chart positions on both the R&B and Pop Charts for every song.

The CD is a good complilation of the later works of Kool & The Gang. It compliments the Best of Kool & the Gang 1969-76 CD, so I suggest buying the both of them if you want a comlete collection of CDs that cover Kool & the Gang's career with out overlapping and duplicating tracks. Added bonus: the version of "Cherish" on this CD is the extended track.

This is one of the baddest best of cds this one great it has all of my favorite kool and the gang songs on here and therefore I reccommend anyone whoever likes kool and the gang should buy this album because this is a great best of compilation cd . Some of my favorites on this album are: Misled, Joanna, Fresh, Cherish, Let's Go Dancing, and many other great songs!!!!

Ahhh, I just has to write a review because I saw Kool & the Gang live just last week here in Barcelona. I saw them in Chile in '99, with original singer JT Taylor, and now again. You just can't overlook the fact that their songs have become timeless, and I'm not talking celebration here. It's all about simplicity, groove and unpretentiousness. This was, and is, music to dance to and feel good and they sure know how to accomplish it. At the same time, you have to understand that grooves don't hold themeselves up all by themselves, and you need excellent musicians to "Get down on it" in a serious way. What I saw in Barcelona last week was a show of pure professionality and funk. Only three original members remain, bassist "Kool", the guitarrist and the great lead sax player. Singer JT Taylor set a trademark sound that the actual singers just can't emulate, but in any case they did an excellent job. I am lucky enough to have heard JT on stage and I can say a large part of Kool & the Gangs success is thanks to him, not wanting in any way to downplay the rest of the crew or "Kool's" uncanny knack for writing really funky grooves. Many critics state that K&tG were basically a dance / R&B act with no substance, but fail to point out that they were kicking around for ages plaing jazz and deep-down R&B, like Hollywood Swinging, etc. Anyone remember "Summer Madness?". Then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

In any case, you've got to hear them live to understand that the Kool & the Gang sound lives on, the grooves are still "tight", the horns are "phat" and the crowd goes nuts every song. The best thing is that not only are we 20/30/40 year olds in the audience, but a great number of young teenagers looking to see where all those cool samples they hear come from.

For a last thought, I'd like to say that "Too Hot" and "Joanna" are two really underrated songs that deserve more credit. The first for it's subtle message of a love gone wrong, and the second 'cause its a beautiful love song...

Kool & the Gang are still alive and kicking. They are proverbially: "Too Hot".

It's a great compilation of Kool & the Gangs hits. Although a few hits are missing here: Rocksteady, Summer Madness, Emergency, Be My Lady, Good Time Tonight,... But it is really too hard to collect all their hits in just one CD, 'cause they have soooo many good songs.

This is a great party album. If you were around in the 80s, you'll know at least 80% of these songs, and 100% if you listened to R&B music. From upbeat songs like Celebration to all the ballads, just about everything from this period of Kool and the Gang is here. If you're looking to get all the radio hits on one album, you'll get them here.

As a side, the entire "funk essentials" series is great for these type of collections. If you like this style of music, check out the others.

With infant fraternal twins, my husband and I like to mix up the music to which we expose them...soft stuff for sleep and "bouncy" stuff for play. A ten year age difference between my husband and I makes for an interesting selection of music we can share and music we can't ;^)

This trip down memory lane is fun to "boogie" to with our boys. As we worked our way through the CD, there was the occasional--"I didn't know they did that!" in pleased tones.

Definitely one for the collection!

I was very pleased with this collection. Unlike some of the "Greatest Hits" collections I bought in the past, I found this one to be complete... it had everything I wanted to hear from Kool & The Gang... and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

This edition of Kool & the Gang excelled in the uptempo songs that crossed over to the Pop Charts, and this CD features everything you need to hear from this era. The group changed direction in 1979 when J.T.Taylor came on board for 'Ladies Night'. After that 1979 hit, Kool & the Gang seemed to always be on the charts, and the notable hits are here!

I'd also recommend Kool & the Gang's 1969-1976 Funk Essentials CD (featuring 'Jungle Boogle', 'Open Sesame', 'Summer Madness', and more from the 70s!). This way , you can have the entire Kool & the Gang story. They're much more than 'Ladies Night' & 'Celebration'..they are without question, some of the founding fathers of funk music!