Forever (Kool & the Gang album)

Forever
Studio album by Kool and the Gang
Released	November 3, 1986
Genre	AC Urban Dance-pop
Length	48:59
Label	Mercury
Producer	Kool and the Gang, Khalis Bayyan, I.B.M.C.
Kool and the Gang chronology
Emergency (1984) Forever (1986) Sweat (1989)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Forever is the seventeenth studio album by the funk band Kool and the Gang, released in 1986. The album included two major hits on the US Hot 100 Chart: "Victory" (US #10, R&B #2) and "Stone Love" (US #10, R&B #4). Two further singles, "Holiday" and "Special Way" were also released from the album; the former reached the top ten on the R&B Chart, the latter hit reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.^[2]

After this album, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor would leave the group for a solo career. He would return in 1996 for the State of Affairs album.

Track listing

Side 1
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Victory"	James "J.T." Taylor, Khalis Bayyan	4:37
2.	"I.B.M.C."	Taylor, Bayyan	4:14
3.	"Stone Love"	Charles Smith, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:37
4.	"Forever"	Dwania Kyles, Taylor, Bayyan	5:03

Side 2
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Holiday"	Curtis Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:12
2.	"Peacemaker"	George Brown, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:35
3.	"Broadway"	Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	3:40
4.	"Special Way"	Kyles, Brown, Taylor, Kendall Stubbs, Bayyan	5:26
5.	"God's Country"	Gary Curtis Culpepper, Taylor	5:04

Personnel

• Bass – Robert "Kool" Bell
• Drums – George Brown
• Guitar – Charles Smith
• Saxophone, keyboards – Khalis Bayyan
• Keyboards – Curtis "Fitz" Williams
• Vocals, percussion – James "J.T." Taylor
• Alto saxophone – Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas
• Trombone – Clifford Adams
• Trumpet – Michael Ray, Robert "Spike" Mickens
• Additional musicians – Alex Williams, Kendal Stubbs, Mark Attalla
• Backing vocals – Barbara Hernandez, Bert Clardy, Jeff Clardy, Kendal Stubbs, Lisa Foster, Starleana Young
• Drum programming – Kendal Stubbs
• Synthesizer and creative software programmed by – Randy Weber

Production Recorded by – Alex Williams, I.B.M.C. Group Processing, Jay Biolic, Kendal Stubbs, Khalis Bayyan, Peter Ibrahim Duarte, Randy Weber Engineer – Kendal Stubbs Assistant engineers – Peter Ibrahim Duarte, Roger Talkov Second engineer - Hit Factory – Craig Vogel Mixed by – Kendal Stubbs, Khalis Bayyan Mastered by – Herb "Pump" Powers, Jr. Producer – I.B.M.C. Group Processing, Khalis Bayyan, Kool & the Gang Executive producer – Gabe Vigorito

Art Art direction – Bill Levy Art design – George Corsillo Cover photography – Gil Gilbert Fashions by – Carl Davis for Lemans Designs Make up – Rosalyn Burns-Brock

References

1. Hanson, Amy. "Kool & the Gang: Forever > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
2. "Forever > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 31 October 2011.

• Kool & The Gang – Forever at Discogs (list of releases)