If I could recommend anyone a great introduction to the best in mid 70's jazz-funk music than this would be one of the first albums I'd mention. Reason is that throughout this album it not only provides an fine example of that genre of music but The Crusaders' ability to cover a very wide field of textures,melodies,harmonic variations and musicianship while still maintaining a sound that was very distinctly there's. This is an aspect of a sound you'd hear on all the Steely Dan albums of the period along with soon-to-be up and comers Stuff. Across these ten songs you have Joe,Wilton,Stix,Larry and everyone else involved just sinking as deep into the grooves as deep as they can and letting the music flow through like pure liquid sound. That slippery,yet at the same time driving sound is present on the open tune 'Creole" with it's flowing Moog synthesizer textures while at the same time "Hallucinate" offers up a similar flavor with Stix adding a special touch on cymbals and one other thing I'll go into more detail about. On this song and most others on this album Joe Sample's use of Fender Rhodes provides a key element to the sound. The Rhodes was a key ingredient in this genre on a general level and most everyone who used it in this context ended up expanding the range of the music by using it. That made it very interesting I'm sure for the many detractors of the instrument who critisized it for years for having a rigid and inflexible tone. Because of funk's rhythmic complications it really allowed the instrument to take flight and this album is a fine example of that overall. The title track,the dancable "Mellow Out" and the in the pocket funk of "Give It Up","Hot's It" and "Sugar Cane" are all grooves,each just allowing these guys to be themselves and showcase their musical personalities in a vital and entertaining way. On "I Felt The Love","Rainbow Visions" and "Soul Caravan" we begin dealing with tunes with a somewhat lusher,lower tempo to the grooves and allows for the funk (a slower music by definition) to get a little more hot n' humid in addition to some of the clever and pretty improvisational approch to the keyboards. Sample was always influenced by early ragtime players like Scott Joplin and in some ways some of that shows up in a more contemporary funk context;not to mention that influence adds to the funk on it's own anyway. From the first tune to the last this album is the equivilant of pouring solid funk into a a kettle,heating it up and then just letting that hot melted sound flow out. There's no way to overstate the liquid quality of this music and that's a big part of the special place it holds.