Search - Kool & the Gang :: Music Is the Message

One of the funkiest records ever!

Toby | London | 10/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A diamond in the rough

Toby | 01/25/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

Make no mistake -- THE best K&G release.

djsoulsister | New Orleans, LA United States | 10/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."