Customer Reviews

Music Is the Message

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

 

 

Their best album and one of THE funkiest albums ever!!! (and I am a die hard James Brown/Funkadelic fan)we are talking Supa heavy funk with mental Funkadlic type keyboard and guitar riffs. Think Jungle boogie stomp crossed with Fred Wesley Blow your head mental keyboards, awesome. Electric Frog invented acid house decades early. The walking bass riffs on Soul Vibration are just exquisite the timing is perfect, it's a chilled relaxed number but still kicks (if you can't dance to this tune your ears have either fallen off or you're dead). Love the life you live goes in and out of 70's R n B Funk fusion into early Funkadelic like keyboards, amazing. I have the original vinyl and it's one of my favourite records. If you are looking for an outstanding, exciting funk trip that will blow your mind like when you first heard Give it up or Turnit Loose by Mr Brown then buy it. You will have to buy new shoes though as you'll wear yours out dancing to this.

This album could be their best work musically. Robert sets the tone with great basslines and finishes with thundering horns. Love the life you live might be their best song ever with possible exception to Summer Madness. Music is so groundbreaking especially with their use of synthesizers in Electric Frog. The album ends in furious and hilarious fashion with Funky Granny. Dig that!

THIS IS A MUST I WOULD WAIT UNTIL THE PRICE COMES DOWN GOOD VIBRATION IS THE JOINT SO FUNKY IT IS MUSIC TO YOUR EAR'S AND ALL THE REST YOU KNOW IS HISTORY THIS IS THIER BEST TO ME THIS IS WHAT I CALL GOOD FUNKY MUSIC. I TURNED SOME OF MY FRIENDS ON TO THIS AND THEY WERE LIKE WHO'S THATI SAID KOOL N THE GANG THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A NEW JAM .

When talking about Kool & the Gang, funk/r&b/disco/whatever fans often speak in periods, as the group went through many phases. Whether it was their earliest jazzy groove records of the early 70s, or the ethereal mid 70s period, complete with disco experimentations and the "cartoon character" songs (ala "Jungle Boogie," "Cosmic Energy," "Open Sesame"). Or the late 70s Deodato stuff . . . or the 80s pop and beyond. "Music is the Message" seems to be a bridge of every style that K&G has embraced throughout its career, while keeping its foot in raw funky roots -- never sounding overly commercialized or sappy. This record seems to have been as much at home in the disco as in the juke joint. It's not only my favorite K&G record, but also my fave album of my collection. Here, deep jazzy covers ("Stop, Look, Listen ...") make way for hard funk tunes with heavy percussion, blaring horns and party chants at all tempos ("Soul Vibrations," "Love the Life ..."), turning tight arrangements into hot jam sessions. Even the unusual electronic experiment ("Electric Frog") is one you can groove to. There's even one of those "character" songs ("Funky Granny") and it really gets on the good foot, as the title would suggest. And the title cut is as joyful as any recorded music gets. Don't sleep on this because there were no huge top 40 hit singles. This release will please rare groove and hard funk fans alike, plus all you DJs will discover some beloved breakbeats.

Their best album and one of THE funkiest albums ever!!! (and I am a die hard James Brown/Funkadelic fan)we are talking Supa heavy funk with mental Funkadlic type keyboard and guitar riffs. Think Jungle boogie stomp crossed with Fred Wesley Blow your head mental keyboards, awesome. Electric Frog invented acid house decades early. The walking bass riffs on Soul Vibration are just exquisite the timing is perfect, it's a chilled relaxed number but still kicks (if you can't dance to this tune your ears have either fallen off or you're dead). Love the life you live goes in and out of 70's R n B Funk fusion into early Funkadelic like keyboards, amazing. I have the original vinyl and it's one of my favourite records. If you are looking for an outstanding, exciting funk trip that will blow your mind like when you first heard Give it up or Turnit Loose by Mr Brown then buy it. You will have to buy new shoes though as you'll wear yours out dancing to this.

It is amazing to me that all this kool & the Gang music is available on CD Except, the Four best ones: 1) Music is the message, 2)Good Times, 3)Kool Jazz, 4)Open Sesame
For all those wanna be Acid Jazz Artists who can't keep up with a solid groove, don't mess with these three Lp's. You will be up all night trying to figure these out. Music is the Message is trulty unique for many reasons. But you better not break out your vocoders and try out "The Electric Frog" (Parts 1 & 2), you'll be dizzy afterwards. The title track left a lot of bands during that time in the dust, then there is "Soul Vibrations", the title speaks for itself. "Love the Life You Lead" is a prime Kool & the Gang Vocal that would lay the foundations of the vocals before J.T showed up. The fun Song,"Funky Granny" is a statement of it's own.

And anybody that knows anything about Acid Jazz But, doesn't have The LP "Good Times" really does not know a lot about Instrumental Funk. "North South East West", "Rated X", "Father, Father" just to name a name few of the cuts to set the stage for your ears. Are just amazing Acid Jazz Monuments from a band that would be recognized for their vocal talent. So what I am saying folks is that this lp's are the snit, get wid it or get left behind.


The same goes for the "Kool Jazz" collection. And the "Open Sesame" lp, is a stand alone triumph which crosses vocal funk and Acid Jazz. When you have these in your collection, then you can brag about the rest of your collection. This is Pre Roy Ayers Jazz. These four LP'S are simply the Bomb. Too bad the distributors didn"t know what they had. I am glad I have my complete set. Better get yours, they are getting rarer by the minute.

Check out all my reviews. the name is DJ Warlock, and I can't stop !!!! I can do this all day.

Kool and the gang are/were at their best playing instrumentals. they would set a groove early and play it out until the end of the song - no interruptions. Music is the message is fat with vocals. while this isn't altogether a bad thing, it does seem to throw the groove off at times. i can't help but wonder what a smoker "funky granny" would be if they didn't feel the need to throw in the silly granny voices. i don't even flip over the screams and shouts on tunes like soul vibrations and love the life you live. they're fine, but they don't seem necessary to me. i suppose they do give the tunes a sense of energy though. fortunately, music is the message still has that head noddin' appeal to it. the instrumentation is great and the solos are raw and soulful. plus, electric frog parts 1 and 2 are top notch instrumental funk.