Sweat (Kool & the Gang album)

Sweat is the eighteenth studio album by the band Kool & the Gang, released in 1989 following a three-year gap between albums. James "J.T." Taylor, Khalis Bayyan and Robert "Spike" Mickens had departed, and this album showed a refocused band.[1]

Sweat
Studio album by Kool & the Gang
Released	October 1989
Recorded	September 1988-July 1989
Genre	Synth-pop, dance-pop, R&B
Length	52:37
Label	Mercury
Producer	Kool and the Gang, Royal Bayyan, Nick Martinelli, Curtis Williams, Chuckii Booker, George Brown, Charles Smith
Kool & the Gang chronology
Forever (1986) Sweat (1989) Unite (1992)
Singles from Sweat
"Raindrops" Released: 1989 "Never Give Up" Released: 1989

Singles

Both "Raindrops" (peak #27) and "Never Give Up" (peak #74) on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
New York Daily News	(favourable)[4]

Ron Wynn of Allmusic called the album "a completely faceless, aimless record…probably the worst album of their career,".[3] Hugh Wyatt of the New York Daily News called Sweat "one of the year's best recordings".[4]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Sweat"	Bayyan	4:22
2.	"This Is What a Love Can Do"	Bokowski, Varner	4:13
3.	"Never Give Up"	Bellochio, Habeeb	4:42
4.	"You Got My Heart on Fire"	Haynes, Williams	6:29
5.	"Someday"	Bayyan, Martin	4:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Raindrops"	Booker	3:50
2.	"In Your Company"	Booker	5:53
3.	"I'll Follow You Anywhere"	Gazeley, Scher	5:37
4.	"All She Wants to Do Is Dance"	Booker	3:55
5.	"How Can I Get Close to You"	Brown, Thomas	4:22
6.	"You Are the Meaning of Friend"	Block, Smith	5:06

Personnel

• Robert "Kool" Bell - bass
• Dennis Thomas - alto sax, vocals, percussion
• Claydes Charles Smith - guitar
• Sennie "Skip" Martin - vocals, trumpet, percussion (lead on 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11)
• Odeen Mays - vocals, keyboards (lead on 1, 2, 4, 7, 10)
• Larry Gittens - trumpet, vocal, keyboards
• Clifford Adams - trombone, vocals
• George Brown - drums

Charts

Year	Chart	Peak position
1989	German Albums (Offizielle)[5]	28
	Swiss Albums (Hitparade)[6]	30
	US Billboard Top Soul Albums	52

References

1. Kool & The Gang – Sweat at Discogs
2. "Kool & the Gang: Raindrops (Hot Soul Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
3. Wynn, Ron. "Kool & the Gang: Sweat at AllMusic. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
4. Wyatt, Hugh (July 28, 1989). The Gang's still Kool, and still hot. New York Daily News. p. 59.
5. "Kool & the Gang: Sweat". offiziellecharts.de. Offizielle Charts.
6. "Kool and The Gang: Sweat". hitparade.ch. Hitparade.