Kool & The Gang: Open Sesame - 1976

By 1976 disco was beginning to make its presence known and this is one of the best albums to exemplify that. Quite a bit of the band's funk of previous years had given way to a slicker, smoother soul sound.

The band go all Earth, Wind & Fire on the mystical, Eastern-influenced Open Sesame (Part 1), while Gift Of Love combines laid-back soul balladry with some serious wah-wah funky guitar breaks. Little Children has an initial Michael Jackson-esque sweet soul vocal before it breaks out into a Parliament-style chunky funk chorus. 

All Night Long is a brassy, upbeat piece of of disco-oriented funk featuring an absolutely killer Isley Brothers-style guitar solo. Whisper Softly is one of those typically laid-back mid-seventies soundtrack-sounding light soul grooves. Super Band gives us some lively, brassy funk while L-O-V-E slows the pace down for a soulful ballad while retaining the trademark brass. Sunshine is melodically rhythmic in a classy disco meets Earth, Wind & Fire sort of way, enhanced by some nice flute backing and Open Sesame (Part 2) continues where Part 1 left off. 

I prefer the more raw funk of the previous two albums that I have covered but the more commercial direction that the group would soon be taking was becoming clear on this one. For many, this is the more preferable side of Kool & The Gang - they opt for the poppier as opposed to the funky. I think I will always go for the funk. 

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