Customer Reviews

Kool & the Gang

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

 

 

YOU KNOW I FIND IT TO BE SO DISCOURAGING AND JUST PLAIN AGGRIVATING WHEN YOU HAVE CLASSIC ALBUMS SUCH AS KOOL AND THE GANG'S DEBUT ALBUM AND SPIRIT OF THE BOOGIE AND THEY ARE NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE IN STORES OR ONLINE. I'VE BEEN A BIG OF THEIR MUSIC FOR A LONG TIME AND I THINK IT'S A SHAME THAT THESE ALBUMS AND COUNTLESS OTHER ALBUMS AREN'T AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC AS WE MAY WANT THEM TO BE. MAYBE IN TIME AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE SUCH AS MYSELF MAKING ENOUGH REQUESTS, HOPEFULLY THESE "TREASURES" WILL ONE DAY BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND RELEASE THESE ALBUMS. WE ARE BEING DEPRIVED SUCH GREAT MUSIC.

Great album from start to finish. If you are into jazz, funk, soul, rock, or anything that has real people playing real instruments this is required listening. Unfortunately this cd is out of print, but the wait for a used copy of your own is definitely worth it.

Let me cut to the chase. This is one of the funkiest albums EVER!!! I grew up in the 80's listening to Kool and the Gang hits "Joanna", "Cherish" and "Celebrate". I had no clue about their earliest works. When I heard this album, I was quite simply blown away. 9 instrumentals (the CD has an extra song in "Let the Music Take Your Mind"), and all of them are crazy funky. This is a funk and hip hop lovers dream. Just about every song on here has been sampled, and this is a showcase of jazz and funk. If you grew up thinking all Kool and the Gang music was like "Joanna", you have no idea what you're missing. You have to check this album out. If you ever met me, you would definitely thank me for recommending this album.

I wasn't going to submit a review until I read the review that said this was not Kool and the Gang's first LP. But I wanted to set the record straight - this is their first LP and it is "ghetto jazz" at it's very best - all ground-breaking funky instrumentals. I have it on vinyl and bought it back-in-the-day when I was young and kool myself. For a first album by anyone, I think it's superb and the best work they've ever done. I was sorry they had to go mainstream to make money and leave this wonderful type of music behind. It is truly a treasure - and as one of my friend's say, it's one of my "stranded island" albums. Get it if you can, and enjoy what I think is truly the best of Kool and the Gang!

This is an excellent album of soulful, jazzy instrumentals that introduced the world to K&TG. The title cut is a joyful number that reminds one of a Black college marching band rocking the stands at the football field. "Breeze and Soul" and "Sea of Tranquility" (the latter recently remade by D'Angelo with vocals added) are perfect background themes for a sunny day with some friends at a picnic in the park. Someone else has described K&TG's music during this pre-J.T. Taylor era as "Ghetto Jazz." In the most positive sense of the word, that's an accurate description of this lovely, soulful, and VERY funky music. An underrated classic that will put some "pep in your step and glide to your stride."

Do not beleive what you have read in the reviews on here for this title. This title is NOT the original recording from the 60's. It is a live recording from 1993.

The other reviewer had a nice review of Kool & the Gang's first album, aptly titled Kool & the Gang. I agree with everything that reviewer said, except that this is the wrong album. This appears to be some greatest hits collection of 80s Kool stuff, not the great Ghetto Jazz of the early 70s. So buy the original Kool & the Gang, not this greatist hits knock-off