Kool & the Gang

This breakout album from an R&B juggernaut finds the group exploring the same territory mined by the likes of the JBs and Ohio Players. "Funky Stuff" is slow stirred, jazz-inflected funk, amended by the appropriately-titled "More Funky Stuff." "Jungle Boogie," the group's biggest hit, features indecipherable grunts, repetitive guitar licks and fat, filthy bass lines.

Kool and the Gang have mastered the classic James Brown style so well that their past few
singles are on par with, or superior to, Brown's recent output. Those cuts, coupled with
some fair to middling easy-listening jazz complete the album. "Funky Stuff" harks back to
"Cold Sweat": The horns play simple arrogant riffs against precisely executed rhythm. The
lyrics are jive -- an effective chant of "... can't get enough of that funk stuff," int... More >