Search - Kool & the Gang :: Kool and the Gang - Gold

"All Of A Sudden On Came The Lights...And The People Started

Mark Barry at Reckless Records, Lon | UK | 11/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 2005 2CD 31-track compilation covers the years 1970 to 1986 of the supergroup "Kool & The Gang". It boasts top-quality remasters of very hard to find funk and soul rarities from the Seventies on Disc 1 with their infectious Eighties soft soul and disco material on Disc 2. Here's a detailed breakdown of "Gold" - all catalogue numbers are US...



Disc 1 (71:45 minutes):

1. Kool & The Gang

2. Kool's Back Again

[1 and 2 are from the LP "Kool & The Gang", January 1970 on De-Lite 2003]

3. Let The Music Take Your Mind

[3 is from the LP "Best Of", September 1971 on De-Lite 2009]

4. Funky Man

5. Who's Gonna Take The Weight

[4 and 5 are from the LP "Live At The Sex Machine", January 1971 on de-Lite 2008]

6. Love The Life You Live

7. Funky Stuff

8. Jungle Boogie

9. Hollywood Swinging

[6 to 9 are from the LP "Wild And Peaceful", October 1973 on De-Lite 2013]

10. Higher Plane

11. Rhyme Tyme People

12. Summer Madness

[10 to 12 are from the LP "Light Of Worlds", October 1974 on De-Lite 2014]

13. Spirit of The Boogie

14. Caribbean Festival

[13 and 14 are from the LP "Spirit Of The Boogie", August 1975 on De-Lite 2016]

15. Love And Understanding (Come Together)

[15 is from the LP "Love And Understanding", March 1976 on De-Lite 2018]

16. Open Sesame

[16 is from the LP "Open Sesame", November 1976 on De-Lite 2023]



Disc 2 (68:07 minutes):

1. Ladies Night

2. Too Hot

[1 and 2 are from the LP "Ladies Night", September 1979 on De-Lite 9513]

3. Celebration

4. Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)

5. Get Down On It

[3 to 5 are from the LP "Something Special", October 1981 on De-Lite 8502]

6. Big Fun

7. Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La La)

[6 and 7 are from the LP "As One", October 1982 on De-Lite 8505]

8. Joanna

9. Tonight (AOR Mix)

[8 and 9 are from the LP "In The Heart", December 1983 on De-Lite 8508]

10. Misled

11. Fresh

12. Cherish

13. Emergency

[10 to 13 are from the LP "Emergency", December 1984 on De-Lite 822943]

14. Victory

15. Stone Love

[14 and 15 are from the LP "Forever", December 1986 on Mercury 830398]



The original tapes have been remastered by one of Universal's top engineers SUHA GUR and the sound quality is SUPERB - really clean and full of funky power - every track a revelation. The 20-page booklet has liners notes called "Audio Graffiti" by CLEVELAND BROWN, detailed track-by-track credits and pictures of Robert "Kool" Bell and the different line-ups of his American band throughout the years.



Musically it's very much a tale of two cities - Disc 1 being entirely funky and soulful like THE METERS, while Disc 2 is Disco and 80's Soul commercial like Lionel Richie - and well - Kool & The Gang! Admittedly, the quality of songs on Disc 2 tapers off a bit towards the end, but it will surprise many listeners and soul lovers just how good the whole 2 discs hang together. And now the music has the remaster it has always deserved.



Listening to these floor-filling tunes will remind many of the days back when soul was lighthearted and made you want to party and hit the nightclub. And the sound quality is just ACE.



This is a great addition to Universal's "Gold" series that seems to have gone unfairly unnoticed - and it's cheap as chips too - highly recommended!"