1.Music Is The Message - 5:45 (Kool & The Gang)
2.Electric Frog (part 1) - 3:34 (Kool & The Gang)
3.Electric Frog (part 2) - 3:02 (Kool & The Gang)
4.Soul Vibrations - 4:42 (Kool & The Gang)
5.Love The Life You Live (part 1) - 3:01 (Kool & The Gang-Gene Redd)
Love The Life You Live (part 2) - 2:48 (Kool & The Gang-Gene Redd)
7.Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) - 3:29 (Thom Bell-Linda Creed)
8.Blowin' With The Wind - 2:32 (Kool & The Gang)
9.Funky Granny - 5:57 (Kool & The Gang-Gene Redd)
Released in July, 1972 this impressive album marked the end of the bands' relationship with Gene Redd and the start of self production.
The album reached #25 R&B (their highest so far to my knowledge) but failed to chart in the pop area and again the album represents a change in style at the end of what I call "the early years" and the beginning of "the golden years".
Kool & The Gang introduce three things into there second studio album since they started these are
1.Self produced tracks - only 5 & 8 were done by Gene Redd,
2.Synthesizers - Kool & The Gang wanted to experiment with these new instruments and
3.This is the first album to contain vocal tracks - real vocal tracks with lyrics that the listener is supposed to be able to hear and can sing themselves.
Although the album and it's contents were not as successful as they could have been at the time with the only hit being "Love The Life You Live" reaching #31 R&B and #107 Pop (a source I have seen states that the B-side was "The Penguin" although I believe due to a more reliable source that parts 1 and 2 make up both sides) most Kool & The Gang fans seem to now consider this nothing less then the normal high standard of Kool & The Gang Music.
Apart from "Love The Life You Live" I have seen sources that inform me that the other releases were "Music Is The Message" (my source tells me that it's two part's made up both sides but since I currently have no evidence that this track has two parts I will do a transposition and say that the B-side was "The Penguin" or that this is the British alternative) another release was "Blowin' With The Wind (the B-side was "Funky Granny" but perhaps this should be transposed) and others that you may no of e-mail the address on the front page to inform me.
Finally as an imaginative band most Kool & The Gang albums in this transition had a theme (or you could easily put one to them the theme to the first album is probably just that - it's a first album, the second perhaps you could apply continuity and the third well how about organization. Ok yes I'm reaching but whether or not you would agree with these three the theme for this album is almost certainly to love your life whatever your age you could argue each tracks place in sending this message for ages but a good deal of these tracks (4,5,8) do seem to be about this and there are also elements on the album that demonstrate a limit/lack of control over your life (1,6,7). OK I may be over interpreting in my search for evidence but I also may not - you decide.
Robert "Kool" Bell - Bass/Vocals
Ronald "Captain" Bell - Tenor Saxophone/Alto Flute/Vocals
Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas - Alto Saxophone/Percussion/Flute/Vocals
Robert "Spike" Mickens - Trumpet/Flugelhorn/Percussion/Vocals
Claydes "X-Man" Smith - Guitar
Richard Westfield (Ricky "Hollywood Rick" West) - Piano/Arp Soloist/Vocals
George "Funky" Brown - Drums/Percussion/Vocals
and also
Assunta Dell' Aquila - Harp
[Renee Conley, Cynthia Huggins, Joan Motley, Beverly Owens - Vocals]
Now continue to (... And) Good Times.