Wild & Peaceful [Original recording remastered]

Kool & The Gang | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001E44
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,202 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE album to own in the fall of 1973, July 15, 2002

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wild & Peaceful (Audio CD)

When I was in the 3rd grade in the fall of 1973, this was THE album to own in Black American communities. Before J.T. Taylor arrived and the group became "dull and the bland" to their original core of fans, this album topped the soul charts with back-to-back raw, jazzy and funky hits like "Hollywood Swinging,"" Funky Stuff," "More Funky Stuff" (check the guitar solo), and "Jungle Boogie." An additional treat is the beautiful "Heaven At Once," where Kool Bell has a heart-to-heart talk with his younger brother Wahid to a lovely jazz background. Get this, "Live at the Sex Machine," and their self-titled debut "Kool & The Gang" and you'll see why the orginal version of this group were "Scientists of sound who were mathematically putting it down!"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best album from the greatest funk ensemble ever, May 4, 2004

By 

souldrummer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wild & Peaceful (Audio CD)

Parliament, James Brown, and even Prince earn the headlines for greatest funkateers of all the time, but old testatment Kool and the Gang, pre JT Taylor, was the greatest band of all time. Their horns are tight and reveal the chops that lie underneath the riffs. "Jungle Boogie"'s horn lick is one of the best funk riffs ever. This was the first time they put it all together for an album that has no weaknesses. "Jungle Boogie", "Hollywood Swinging", and "Funky Stuff" are all classic cuts, but I like some of the lesser known tunes as well. "Wild and Peaceful" has a nice jazzy vibe and "Heaven at Once" has one of my favorite lines, "we're scientists of sound, matheamatically putting it down."

Classic funk from a very underappreciated band. The Godfather, James Brown, called Kool and the Gang is second favorite funk band [after his own of course]. Kool and the Gang has a positive message, stellar musicians, and no holds barred thrown it down funk.

Give this a listen and see the best of classic funk.

5 stars [classic album!]

--sd

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pivotal album for Kool and the Gang, December 26, 2001

By 

tehuti (Fullerton, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild & Peaceful (Audio CD)

This album was the one that broke Kool and the Gang through to the mainstream. Unfortuantely it also marked the shift in their style and (in my opinion) the beginning of their decline. Prior to this album they had released a number of "Kool jazz" records that were mostly instrumental but were excellent. Wild and Peaceful was their first really commercial funk records that de-emphasized the jazz element in their sound. Don't get me wrong. I think this is their best album song-for-song. And they did have a string of good records afterward, but I miss the early K&G sound. If you are a fan of K&G today, this is the record that defined their sound going forward. If you'd like to hear how they sounded in the early days check out some of their stuff from the late 60s to 1972.