Forever (Kool & the Gang album)
1986 studio album by Kool & the Gang
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Forever is the seventeenth studio album by the funk band Kool & the Gang, released in 1986. The album included two major hits on the US Hot 100 Chart: "Victory" (US #10, R&B #2) and "Stone Love" (US #10, R&B #4). Three additional singles charted, "Holiday" reached the top ten on the R&B Chart, "Special Way" reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[3] and "Peacemaker" was released in international markets and charted at #20 in New Zealand.
- Quiet Sound Studios
- The Hit Factory (New York, NY)
- Larrabee Sound Studios (North Hollywood, California)
- Record Plant (Los Angeles, California)
| Forever | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 3, 1986 | |||
| Recorded | October 1985–August 1986 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 48:59 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer |
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| Kool & the Gang chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Forever | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Stereo Review | (favourable)[2] |
After this album, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor left the group to pursue a solo career. He returned in 1996 for the State of Affairs album.
Reception
David Quantick of NME said, " two thirds of the time, Kool And The Gang are not terribly interesting. Forever is one of those thirds. It contains some lovely harmonising on the title track, some very vague hopes for peace and love, and about one decent song, a reasonably active affair called "Holiday" which bounces along happily and advises us once more to celebrate. This record is not excessively striking and soon I shall have forgotten it."[4]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Victory" | James "J.T." Taylor, Khalis Bayyan | 4:37 |
| 2. | "I.B.M.C." | Taylor, Bayyan | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Stone Love" | Charles Smith, Taylor, Kool & the Gang | 4:37 |
| 4. | "Forever" | Dwania Kyles, Taylor, Bayyan | 5:03 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Holiday" | Curtis Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Peacemaker" | George Brown, Taylor, Kool & the Gang | 4:35 |
| 3. | "Broadway" | Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang | 3:40 |
| 4. | "Special Way" | Kyles, Brown, Taylor, Kendall Stubbs, Bayyan | 5:26 |
| 5. | "God's Country" | Gary Curtis Culpepper, Taylor | 5:04 |
Personnel
Kool & The Gang
- James "J.T." Taylor – all vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 8), lead vocals (2, 5, 6, 9), percussion
- Khalis Bayyan – keyboards, saxophone
- Curtis "Fitz" Williams – keyboards
- Charles Smith – guitars
- Robert "Kool" Bell – bass
- George Brown – drums
- Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone
- Clifford Adams – trombone
- Robert "Spike" Mickens – trumpet
- Michael Ray – trumpet
Additional musicians
- Randy Taylor-Weber – synthesizer programming, creative software programming
- Mark Attalla – instruments
- Kendal Stubbs – instruments, drum programming, backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Alex Williams – instruments
- Bert Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Jeff Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Lisa Foster – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Barbara Hernandez – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Starleana Young – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
- Kool & the Gang – backing vocals (6)
Production
- Gabe Vigorito – executive producer
- Kool & the Gang – producers
- Khalis Bayyan – producer, mixing
- I.B.M.C. Group (Khalis Bayyan, Peter Duarte, Meekaaeel Muhammad, Kendal Stubbs and Randy Taylor/Weber) – producers, recording
- Jay Biolic – recording
- Alex Williams – recording
- Craig Vogel – second engineer
- Peter Duarte – assistant engineer
- Roger Talkov – assistant engineer
- Kendal Stubbs – mixing
- Herb Powers Jr. – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs (New York, NY)
- Bill Levy – art direction
- George Corsillo – design
- Gil Gilbert – cover photography
- Carl Davis for Lemans Designs – fashions
- Rosalyn Burns-Brock – make-up
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[5] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[6] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[7] | Gold | 500,000^ |
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* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||