Artist: Kool & the Gang
Title: Wild and Peaceful
Year: 1973
Label: De-Lite
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
Flwrpt Rating of this Record: 4.75/5.0
Review
One of the most consistent bands in the history of music, Kool & the Gang deliver a great LP once again! The album is primarily a funk, party type of vibe, however, the jazz element is brought to life in the title track “Wild & Peaceful” (which happens to be an AMAZING piece of music). The thing that always sticks out most about this groups music, is their unique ability to arrange songs, sounds simple…but its not. The way the music is written and performed is a thing of beauty, it’s timeless music, it’s special music. This is easily one of my favorite albums from these guys. Enjoy…
Check out the sound!
Hollywood Swinging
Jungle Boogie
Funky Stuff
Wild and Peaceful
Design
I absolutely love this cover! The painting has an intentionally abstracted perspective, but a really unique illustration style overall. It also takes the title of the LP very seriously…the composition is made up of several wild animals (animals that typically cannot co-exist), living together peacefully within their environment. The colors are sort of dim overall, but that adds a nice warmth to the piece…which works very nicely with the title track (which I’ve uploaded for your listening pleasure above). Another really nice element is the choice of type! Seeing as though the art is pretty busy, the type needed to find a way to live on the page…the protruding knockout lettering did the trick. Adding a slight arch to the type helps it stand on its own as well. Minor detail like that can go a long way…it’s all about detail, ALWAYS.
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Additional info on Kool & the Gang
Obscure Discovery: Albino Gorilla.
Artist: Albino Gorilla
Title: Detroit 1984
Year: 1970
Label: Kama Sutra
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)
I actually don’t like the music on this LP, however, I chose to post the album cover and tell you a little about the group.
Albino Gorilla was a studio project, they’re not a real group, just a bunch of Detroit studio musicians and vocalists who came together and produced this album. The entire record, with the exception of the instrumental interludes, are covers of Motown Records material (Psychadelic Shack, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, etc.). Although I appreciate the originality of the cover music, I wasn’t thrilled with their execution. To remake hit songs, and fail at making them sounding as good, defeats the purpose.
What makes this album worth adding to the collection, however, is the cover art and the pure intrigue. Simple, but very bold typography, a cool punch-out production technique (which allows for the Gorilla to be lifted up and used as a flap, giving the appearance of a die-cut flap), and finally, just the overall illustration of the albino gorilla, and the subtle silhouette of a very dark and desolate inner city Detroit in the background. I was totally drawn to this LP! Even more drawn in due to the fact that there is not much information floating around about this album…its mysterious vibe still has me. It’s also really cool that they decided to release this rare album under the name of a SUPER RARE existence of a gorilla, the albino gorilla.
I just wish the music was as good as the album cover.
This record was sampled by a few producers, and actually made for some pretty dope hip-hop records, check one of them out below…
Pete Rock – For the People