Light of Worlds

Light of Worlds, Kool & the Gang’s fifth album, was released in September of 1974. Light of Worlds was yet another success for the band, falling a year after their previous album, Wild And Peaceful. The album reached the #16 spot on the Billboard R&B Charts, and #63 on the pop charts.

Heralded as the group’s most sophisticated and spiritual work, the album contains rock-inspired funk, jazz, and a small amount of analog synthesizing. For the 9 tracks on the album, Kool & the Gang decided that they would model each track after the 9 planets in the solar system. They also attributed the numbering of the songs to the amount of albums they had released up to that point (Counting all the live albums and compilations they made).

“Summer Madness” is considered the most recognizable song from this album, being widely used in popular culture, film, and as a highly sampled track in music in general. It is also widely loved because of its laid back and smooth melodies using synthesizers. The track was eventually released as a single.