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.

Sweat
Studio album by Kool & the Gang
Released	June 1989
Recorded	September 1988 – March 1989
Genre	New jack swing 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.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

Ron Wynn of AllMusic called the album "a completely faceless, aimless record ... probably the worst album of their career".^[2] Hugh Wyatt of the New York Daily News called Sweat "one of the year's best recordings".^[3]

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
• Ronald "Khalis" Bell – tenor saxophone, keyboards
• Claydes Charles Smith – guitar
• Gary Brown – vocals
• Sennie "Skip" Martin – vocals, trumpet, percussion (lead on 3–9, 11)
• Odeen Mays – vocals, keyboards (lead on 1, 2, 4, 7, 10)
• Larry Gittens – trumpet, vocals, keyboards
• Michael Ray – trumpet
• Clifford Adams – trombone, vocals
• George Brown – keyboards
• Robert "Robbie G" Goble – drums

Charts

Chart performance for Sweat

Chart (1989)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle)[4]	28
French Albums (SNEP)[5]	29
Swiss Albums (Hitparade)[6]	30
US Billboard Top Soul Albums[7]	52