Mention Kool and the Gang and everybody's image is of J.T. Taylor, the lean, youthful singer who fronted the band between 1979 and 1988. Taylor's hold on on the band was so complete that most people assumed he was Kool instead of the band's leader, bass player Robert "Kool" Bell. Taylor's vocals were smooth, well polished and always, always upbeat.

But before Taylor's arrival the band had another incarnation as a leading soul band, boasting a handful of Top 40 hits as well as many lesser hits bubbling under the Top 100. This band had no lead singer. They used a large variety of horns to propel their music and held it together with Bell's strutting baseline as they took turns singing as needed.

As a missing link between the proto-funk of James Brown and Sly Stone and the full-blown sound of Parliament and Funkadelic, this album is absolutely indispensible.

Sometimes you have to go far and wide to find real funk. Sometimes it's right in front of your damn nose.
Kool and the Gang practically perfected funk music. Take the rawness of the James Brown sound and the polish of Parliament and you have K and the G distilled.

In utopia everyone would own this album.

Kool & the Gang are simply the band that the beatles failed to be. Some of the tracks on here are some of the greatest funk, soul and sumptous disco sounds ever to be recorded. From the uplifting anthem of Celebration to the sentimental mush of Cherish through to the oh so risque innuendo of Get Down on it, they're all here. Pick it up and listen and 'Ooh La La La - Lets Go Dancing' !!!

This is it- if you love the funk. I'm the Robot from Lost in sPace waving jointless arms and intoning, "STOP. GO NO FURTHER."

Real funk, like real women, be hard to come by. This is the Spot. Only Kool and the Gang can do strings as funky as this- strings I say! Hey now- it's got Jungle Boogie. Bang. It's got the blissed out funk. It's got breakdowns the likes of which you have never heard! It's got the banging instrumentals (Chocolate Buttermilk, Give it up). It's got the laid back mellowness (Summer Madness- revamped by the fresh prince half a generation ago for 'summertime,' and immortalized in Rocky a generation and a half ago). IT"S GOT THEM DRUMS- the hop, skip and a bump, slamminest, bamminest beatfest. And the bass to wedge a pneumatic drill into your hips. It's got the kind of sax that could percolate the La Brea Tar Pits into some lavalamp waterbed of funk! Just stretch out on `em and nod along with those sabre tooth tiger skeletons! Yeah cat!

One minor thang- many of the songs are the shorter versions. Oh well. Can't have it all.

Anyway. This is the best of Kool and the Gang before JJ Taylor drove the band into the everlovin' ground. (Think Cherish. Think Celebrate. Think Joanna- my wife's middle name is Joanna. I still hate that name. Mr. Taylor's saccharine ass music done ruined my wife's middle name for me).

Buy it for the drums. And the sax. and the bass. And the cowbells. Just buy this damn album. Don't make me beg! And don't listen only to the five samples that amazon has allowed to be up in here. they won't do much for you, the better tracks are the later ones.

And hey- If you love hip hop, or if you own Paul's Boutique, the Beasties best frikkin album and maybe the world's as well- I can place at least ten samples to this album. Check it out!!!!!!!

This is the best best album where you can see from where Kool and the gang came from i advice you people this is the album if you are a hard core Jazz and funk love like me,so what are you waiting for buy it.$$$$

Jungle Boogie, Hollywood Swinging, Spirit of The Boogie, Funky Stuff are on here. This will remind the listener that Kool and the Gang were kickin' it long before James Taylor joined up with them.

I`ve had this CD for 7 years,bought it at a local retail store,and I love it! This is an excellent compilation CD and there isnt a bad track on it. There is some outstanding horn playing on this colection! I tell ya,they just dont make music like this anymore! No wonder I continue to live in the 70s! Check out Ronald Bell`s cool synthesizer work on "summer madness"!

Not much words necessary. The only thing that really defines funk 4 me are THIS album and the "James Brown Funky people" 1&2.
- No party-funk, no softish Meters.. Just funk-funk. The Cameo-album in the series is Ok too.

Man, if you like groove music, JUST PICK THIS UP. You WILL NOT be sorry. The best part about it is that 7 or so songs will keep you coming back from first listen, but the rest of em grow on you BIG TIME, so soon you'll be spinning the entire disc for all the luscious textures, melodies, grooves and subtleties that make a great album a great album. Wish they were getting the entire catalog in shape, cuz there's definitely more magic in the vaults. Old skool Kool is the way to go. Put this on at your next BBQ or party and show folks there's more to the Gang than Jungle Boogie (tho that is obviously a standout). An absolute must have.

This is the best of the "Best of's" by Kool & The Gang because it captures some of their best work (late 60s-mid 70s).

Being from northern NJ (as are the members of Kool & The Gang), and also just a handful of years younger than the band's members, I know their music and it is near and dear to my heart. I grew up on Kool & The Gang. I had become disheartened with their 80s slick "discoey" sound and felt that they had completely sold out. I think that Kool's younger brother and group saxophonist Ronnie Bell (I think it's Khalis Bayyan now) would agree. He had always said that he preferred the band's jazzier/funkier sound.

Their early stuff was the essence of funk. You read alot about what "experts/critics" say about funk and they always mention James Brown, and rightfully so. But Kool & The Gang was right there with him. (I'd also add Sly & The Family Stone and Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band -- as late 60s funk pioneers.)

James became funky with the seminal "Say it Loud..." in '68 -- and Kool & The Gang broke out in '69 with their self-titled single, then following up with "Kool's Back Again" and "The Gang's Back Again." My only regret with this CD is that none of these cuts is included, nor anything from their '73 "Good Times" LP.

The comparison between James Brown's band, the J.B.'s, and Kool & The Gang are endless. Funky bass, great drums, rapid-fire horns. I think Kool and them might even have a little edge on keyboards and guitar.

All in all, this CD is a must. Also worth seeking out is "Kool and the Gang LIVE at the Sex Machine" from 1971. Raw, live energy with great musicianship.

Before "Joanna", before "Celebration", before "Ladies Night", before any of Kool & the Gang's R&B period, there is this. Without it, it is really impossible to understand what they were all about.

This is truly "The Best of Kool & the Gang" when they were at their funkiest. Until J.T. Taylor came along, the band had no lead singer, and didn't need one. All that was needed was the instruments, and a funky 'tude, which Kool & the Gang had in abundance.

There are no weak tracks among the 16 that are here, but by far, the 4 strongest ones are "Funky Stuff", "Jungle Boogie", "Spirit of the Boogie" and "Summer Madness".

"Funky Stuff" is a syncopated, fun piece, that shows off some of George Brown's off-beat (pun intended) drumming, and is a party-down tune that even KC would have been proud of.

"Jungle Boogie", the monochord guitar riff is there purely for the rhythm and make the tune totally infectious.

"Spirit of the Boogie" and "Summer Madness" hail back to the early days of the synthesizer. "Boogie" utilizes it in a rhythmic fashion, while "Madness" puts it out front in a laid-back solo, further underscoring the easygoing jazz leanings of the tune, arguably the best on the whole album. "Madness" is a live performance which is slower and more deliberate than the original studio take, which found it's way into the "Rocky" film.

If you want to know the state of the funk in the early 70s, this is a must-have.

I was a funk and R&B child. In the 70's, my dad had the good sense to expose me to some stellar stuff...Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Chi-lites, Barry White, Aretha, Marvin, Jackson Five, Soul Brother #1 (of course) and also some lesser know acts such as Bohannon, BT Express, Eric Gale, and Johnny Guitar Watson to name a few. For whatever reason, I don't remember hearing any early Kool & the Gang wafting through the house. Dad was slipping! It wasn't until my early 20's that I picked up this essential collection. Listening to it, I felt utterly ashamed...What took me so long? It was like hip-hop sample headquarters. While listening, I must have yelled out "Hey..I know that bit! " at least half a dozen times. Funk is a played-out term nowadays. Slap bass and/or a heavy beat doesn't necessarily make something funky. Funk is about timing and nuance. It's about exploiting the possibilities. That's why Led Zeppelin (not a funk act) could, at times, be just as funky as say, The Meters (bonafide funk hall-of-famers). I will say this....after James Brown, there is Kool and the Gang. They are second only to him (James even says so in the liner notes and I agree). The only thing Kool and the Gang didn't possess was the secret weapon....James himself. K&TG drummer George Brown is theirs. A canny, dynamic percussionist who is one of the greats...right up there with Maurice White (EW&F), Greg Errico (Sly), Clyde Subbelfield/Jabo Starks (JB drummers) and Harvey Mason (Headhunters). Add to that Kool's lewd, throbbing bass and the most sparkling brass you'll ever hear and you have funk nirvana. Here's one good example among many...When purchased, put on the headphones and turn up "Love the Life You Live." Pay special attention to the last minute and a half, right after the solo rhythm guitar part. It is total bliss. If you're into funk, soul or hip-hop, you cannot be without this. It'll make you cringe every time you hear "Joanna."

I was a funk and R&B child. In the 70's, my dad had the good sense to expose me to some stellar stuff...Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Chi-lites, Barry White, Aretha, Marvin, Jackson Five, Soul Brother #1 (of course) and also some lesser know acts such as Bohannon, BT Express, Eric Gale, and Johnny Guitar Watson to name a few. For whatever reason, I don't remember hearing any early Kool & the Gang wafting through the house. Dad was slipping! It wasn't until my early 20's that I picked up this essential collection. Listening to it, I felt utterly ashamed...What took me so long? It was like hip-hop sample headquarters. While listening, I must have yelled out "Hey..I know that bit! " at least half a dozen times. Funk is a played-out term nowadays. Slap bass and/or a heavy beat doesn't necessarily make something funky. Funk is about timing and nuance. It's about exploiting the possibilities. That's why Led Zeppelin (not a funk act) could, at times, be just as funky as say, The Meters (bonafide funk hall-of-famers). I will say this....after James Brown, there is Kool and the Gang. They are second only to him (James even says so in the liner notes and I agree). The only thing Kool and the Gang didn't possess was the secret weapon....James himself. K&TG drummer George Brown is theirs. A canny, dynamic percussionist who is one of the greats...right up there with Maurice White (EW&F), Greg Errico (Sly), Clyde Subbelfield/Jabo Starks (JB drummers) and Harvey Mason (Headhunters). Add to that Kool's lewd, throbbing bass and the most sparkling brass you'll ever hear and you have funk nirvana. Here's one good example among many...When purchased, put on the headphones and turn up "Love the Life You Live." Pay special attention to the last minute and a half, right after the solo rhythm guitar part. It is total bliss. If you're into funk, soul or hip-hop, you cannot be without this. It'll make you cringe every time you hear "Joanna."

This is one of those albums that is de rigeur for one of those great weekend reunions with your pals from the days gone by. It will make you get up and dance, and is more delightful if you have not heard these cuts in a few years (or decades).

Kool and the Gang were as funky as anyone this side of Sly Stone back in their day. This has so much of the better stuff from that time, like "Hollywood Swinging", "Funky Stuff" and my personal favorite, "Who's Gonna Take The Weight" (both parts).

The clapping and whistle which starts "Funky Stuff" is like a clarion call to start a monster, all day (or night) jam. All Hollywood-style swangin'

Forget Kool and The Gang's 80's fluff. This album has some of the funkiest, most danceable songs ever. In these songs, Horns were the lead singers and the heavy bass drove the funk! My only complaint is that the bubbly funk-jazz r&b No 1 Hit -"Higher Plane" is not included on this album. I'd like to know why. There older stuff is mainly jazz and one wishes their were more songs like "Hollywood Swinging" to replace their older songs. "Spirit Of The Boogie" is esp. memorable for using synthesizers in a tasteful way.

like most 70's funk bands this group was a strong self-contained unit.and while they went the wizard of oz of pop world in the 80's that ain't all bad for one major perspective: they did two styles really well.now this collection is far funkier but how many groups can totally change there style and hit bigger than before? so that in it self is tribute to them. but this set with Axes,skins,bass,and horns bumpping hard is a true party to go for any one's crib.

If you like pre-J.T. Kool and the Gang, this has most of what you need. Heavy on the funk, not as slick, just the way I like it. They should've put the studio version of "Summer Madness" on instead of the live version, though.

A must for any fans of the Real Funk( as opposed to today's drum machine driven garbage). I give the pre-Johanna/Cherish Kool & The Gang four stars because "Summer Madness" is dreadful. Otherwise this cd should go right in between Sly & the Family Stone's Anthology and Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" in your seventies funk collection.

For any funk fan this album is a must. Far from the cheesy eighties Kool of 'Celebration' and 'Sarah' this album slams with peppy, funky fun. Greasy skins and scacatto horns get you dancing. Even though the album is a best of, it all works well together. Just press play and enjoy!