Customer Reviews

In the Heart

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Following their 1982 album As One Kool & The Gang made some big changes. First the ended their successful production partnership with Eumir Deodato. Not only that but even though their albums in the early 80's were all very vocal pop oriented this album upped the ante even more,featuring less instrumental solo space for the band itself. It was these qualities that gave some people and critics more ammunition to accuse the band of selling out and abandoning their roots. At the same time the same applies to this album as with their previous three. When the band entered the new decade with JT Taylor on board they expanded,especially into pop a lot more but NEVER truly abandoned their funk roots. The Deodato albums tended toward the "sophistifunk" sound notable at the time. This one in a lot of ways has the same flavor. Not only is it similar in some ways to Deodato's style but there are also flavors of contemporary electro and pop as well,making this a somewhat more varied album for their 80's imput. The title track for example actually embraces the pop-funk-reggae,reaching into the lyrical comparasin between romance and the spiritual that really gave it a special quality that link the band to their musical roots of 70's jazz-funk in that way. Of course "Joanna" and "Tonight" are the big hits on the album,the latter being more my favorite seeing that it has this rock/disco edge and some nice harmonies on it. Probably Taylor harmonizing with himself. "Rollin'","Straight Ahead" and "You Can Do It" are actually a little heftier on the dance funk elements than you might think with their direct bass keyboard riffs,the bands trademark horns still blasting away AND the rhythm guitar still in high priority. There's some vocorder use in the latter as sort of a nod to electro funk era. Also in tune with the times the music is faster rather than the slower crawl of their earlier 80's pop-funk. The ballads "Place For Us","Home Is Where The Heart Is" and "September Love" are by far the most poppy and least R&B oriented tunes on the album-more on the side of the most commercial end of quiet storm as opposed to the more funk oriented slow jam ballad style of earlier. So sure this album is something of a change up but is kind of a transitional album between the bands early and mid 80's sound. And yes: Kool & The Gang DID have two distinct musical periods in the 80's the same as they'd had in the previous decade and this album finds them right in between the two.