Real People

I so completely disagree with the kick-off album review on this thread. Chic had been so widely copied by so many bands that I remember going to a record store once and asking for the new Chic album. It turns out Chic had not released a new album, but a copycat's song I had heard on the radio was so close to Chic's style that even I, (a die-hard fan) was fooled. By the way, the copycat in that instance was the band called Change. Chic had gotten to the point where they had to get away from their own style just to try to produce something that didn't sound like all their copiers. This album did not have the massive worldwide hits the likes of "Le Freak" and "Good Times", but for anyone who truly loves the Chic sound, this is a step above the rest in the sheer virtuosity that Nile and Nard brought to their instruments and to the production process. If tracks like "Open Up" and "Rebels Are We" did not place Nile Rodgers in the higher echelons of the world's guitar players, then I don't know what will. And the pulsating, driving bass style of the much missed Bernard Edwards is as majestic as ever. The recording sounds lush in a way that always distinguished an expertly produced Chic track. No, this definitely was not the work of a band past its prime; it was a musical statement that in my mind put a clear demarcation line between all the Chic copycats/wannabe's and the true masters. Let's never forget that Chic was no fluke. These guys were seasoned, seriously talented players only operating in a style mistakenly not always held in the highest esteem (disco). With this album, they rewrote the Chic signature emphatically! I miss you guys!

"Open Up" uses a string section in the most elastic, funky, swinging way imagineable. And Nile lets loose with a tasty tasty guitar solo. "Rebels Are We" has a great caper to it, and there couldn't be a catchier, more ironic lyric. Buy these individual cuts. I put those two songs into more mix tapes back in the day than you could shake a skinny tie at.