''Celebrate!'' is the twelfth studio album by American band Kool & the Gang. Released on September 29, 1980, the album reached No. 1 on the US R&B chart and #10 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album produced perhaps Kool & the Gang's most recognizable hit song, the #1 chart-topper, "

Celebration Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...

", which still receives heavy play today over four decades later.

Critical reception

Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times called Celebration "the band's mostly excellent new album."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of the Village Voice gave a C- grade saying "It says something for these funk pioneers that unlike

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, George Clinton, and the

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire (Ohio Players song), Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of t ...

they've adapted painlessly, nay profitably, to disco: a number-one single leads their Deodato-produced album into the top ten. What it says is that their funk was as bland as you suspected." With a 3 out of 5 stars review Amy Hanson of Allmusic found that "Celebrate itself marked the end of an era for Kool & the Gang, as the band would slip even farther from their funk roots and adopted dance grooves into the realms of smooth soul. But what a way to go!" ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that the follow-up single to "Celebration", "Take It to the Top" was appropriately named and that it has "wonderful harmonies, vigorous strings & a snappy beat."

Track listing

Personnel

*Bass – Robert "Kool" Bell *Lead guitar – Charles Smith *Keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals – Ronald Bell *Drums, percussion, backing vocals – George Brown *Lead and backing vocals – James "J.T." Taylor *Alto saxophone – Dennis Thomas *Trumpet, backing vocals – Robert Mickens *Keyboards, backing vocals – Earl Toon, Jr. *Keyboards – Kevin Bell *Additional keyboards – Adam Epolito *Backing vocals – Cedric Toon, Meekaeel Muhammad, Robert Bell, Coffee, Something Sweet *Orchestra arranged and conducted by – Eumir Deodato ;Production *Recording engineer – Jim Bonnefond *Assistant engineers – Bobby Cohen, Clif Hodsdon, Jeff Kawalex, Joe DeAngelis, Jullian Robertson, Kenny Robb *Mixed by – Eumir Deodato, Jim Bonnefond, Gabe Vigorito *Mastered by – Tom Coyne *Producer – Eumir Deodato *Associate producer – Kool & The Gang *CD Mastering - Joe Gastwirt *CD Remastering - Joe Gastwirt

Certifications

References

* Kool & the Gang albums 1980 albums De-Lite Records albums Albums produced by Eumir Deodato {{1980s-album-stub