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We Are Family

Sister Sledge

1979

We Are Family
Album Summary

We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music", and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.47

Votes

15386

Genres

  • Pop
  • Funk
  • Soul

Reviews

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Jul 11 2021
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4

I first met the Sledge sisters whilst backpacking around Papua New Guinea. Each evening one of them would approach me in private and scream "We Are Family" in my face for up to two hours. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have forced them to have that orgy in front of their grandparents, but what's a boy to do?

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Mar 09 2022
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5

This is also the best Chic album. You can hear Nile Rodgers and his funky-ass guitar all over it. It's impossible for me to be subjective about some music, and that's especially the case for this album's title track. I used to always associate it with the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates and their sabotaging of the song for their pennant run. That was until 1996, when it was played as the last song at 1:00 AM at our wedding reception. Even though the party was ending, there were close to 20 of members of my family who immediately took to the dance floor to jam out to some Sister Sledge. Thankfully someone had the wherewithal to video tape the moment, and I can still watch my Uncles and Aunts, brothers and sisters, and my 80 year-old grandmother joyfully tearing up a rug to "We Are Family". It's one of my favorite moments of the entire night. My marriage may not have lasted, but "We Are Family" certainly has.

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Aug 16 2023
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5

I used to be a sniffy about disco. It was not serious music, not very cred, too formula driven, etc. In nearly 30 years of mulling over these issues, I have come to the viewpoint that I was pretty much wrong on all counts. The “Disco sucks” movement was largely based in racist and homophobic resentment of anyone having fun without straight white men being in charge. Ideas of musical cred are also based in an exclusionary viewpoint by largely entitlement straight white guys (most critics) trying to gatekeep “good” music. So, now I am talking to all my white, straight, male homies: all of those criticism miss the point that disco is enormous fun. It is absolutely built from the ground up for dancing (which is awesome), and largely attuned to the tastes of women and gay men. And if you’re looking for a fun night out, you can’t beat dancing with a group of women and/or gay men. They know how to how to have a good time out on the floor, and, if you’re lucky, they’ll let you tag along. If you think you’re cool by shunning disco, you are a fool and missing out. I have been DJing parties a bit lately (with my mate Peter), and there is nothing as amazing as getting a room full of people to dance, and, to really get the dancing going, you need some disco. As to the accusation that disco is formulaic, I refer you to Sturgeon’s Law: “ninety percent of everything is crap". There is a lot of crap disco out there, but this Sister Sledge album is the gold standard. Produced by Chic at the height of their powers, I would argue that “We Are Family”, “Lost in Music” and “He’s the Greatest Dancer” are among the greatest disco songs ever. With the exception of the lackluster ballad “Somebody Loves Me”, the rest of the album tracks are excellent. I particularly enjoy “Thinking of You”. The band is tight and lays down a great groove, the tunes are memorable, and the vocal performances and harmonies are terrific (maybe not quite to the standard of contemporaries like the Pointer Sisters or Labelle, but still really strong). This is a consistently slick, groovy and (above all) fun album, that ranks amongst the best disco of all time, and should be celebrated.

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Apr 09 2022
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5

04/08/2022 Bops on bops on bops! The girls just wont quit! Listened on Spotify, and the final 3 tracks are 24 mins of extended disco remixes, and I honestly unlocked a new level of homosexual after listening.

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Oct 04 2022
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5

This album is funky, it swings. It makes me want to sing and dance. The vocals are incredible and the instruments are clear and good. This is music.

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Jan 13 2021
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5

He's The Greatest Dancer - An absolute Banger! Infectious beat that gets your hips moving and your foot tappin. Lost In Music - Fun Disco song that's easy to dance to. Almost like a marching song for disco. Could see a lot of clapping going on to this song. Somebody Love Me - Great love song that I'd never heard before. Gives me 10cc's vibes. Hauntingly beautiful and sweet. Thinking Of You - That Bass walk is fuckin solid. Mixed with Niles Rodgers guitar riff carries this gem to be another Banger of a disco classic. We Are Family - Obvious gold standard of Disco. Song about unification produced to perfection. The hi hat is the backbone that the bass riff bounces along as the piano and strings hi five each other in celebration each time they tip toe along this fantastic groove. Easier To Love - Slowing it down after the roof raiser before the Sledge Sister ease you in to a harmonic hammock. Your body sways with the comforting beat of the bongos and the soothing strings. You're a Friend To Me - Wow slowing it down even more. Um not too sure how I feel about this one... It's fine, the strings are nice. Definitely the weakest of the bunch. One More Time - Fun little song to wrap the album up with. Songs like unused rhythms from their bangers but it's fun enough. The little guitar solo was fun.

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Mar 16 2021
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3

Enjoy the instrumentation and smooth production but as the album goes on I start to lose interest. Some nice tracks but as an album it doesn't hold tigether for me.

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Jan 14 2021
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2

This was a rough one for me. I did admittedly listen to it at the end of the day which may have colored how I felt about it but it was repetitive and just felt like it took forever to finish.

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Feb 11 2022
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5

This feels like you're wrapped in a warm, fuzzy blanket travelling on the grooviest spaceship around. The spaceship is shaped and lit like a lava lamp. What a refreshing and gorgeous album to listen to, especially in 2022 when it feels like we all need some warmth. Liked almost all of this except for the title track, which I've heard 450 million times in my life and is now on my DNL (Do Not Listen) list.

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Jan 13 2021
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5

Good pick to start this 1001 days

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Oct 13 2023
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3

When the material works, this is really good. "We Are Family" is enduring and easily the best track. Hard not to sing along. The upbeat, feel-good, self-empowering messages are all welcome, nothing wrong with a positive message in the music (and god, what a stark contrast from the Alice In Chains album), but too often, this gets trite (and I hope and pray, oh please let the children play, all this killing each other, you should be loving your brother) and that significantly diminishes the impact of the album for me. It sounds great — Nile Rodgers must not have gotten any sleep in the '70-80s. Dude is all over the place. Pleasant enough, and brilliant in spots, but as a whole, it's a down-the-middle affair.

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Oct 13 2023
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4

This was a great listen. Well-written songs. Amazing bass lines. Great singing and production. I've really been enjoying disco the past few years. I can't believe how great the genre is, and this is a choice example of it. Is it a 5-star album? Hmmm... maybe? But today I'm going with a 4 because not every song grabbed me.

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Jun 15 2021
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2

For the most part this was pretty good. I think some of the song were a bit repetitive and drawn out. I'm torn between giving this a 2 or 3, so I would give it a 2.5 if possible.

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May 21 2021
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2

Not into this album at all. Just not my thing. Not a big fan of disco.

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Apr 04 2022
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2

Disco is the worst. But the guys from Chic did a decent job writing an album for the ladies of Sister Sledge considering that they never even met them before writing it. See that?! THAT sentence is part of the problem with disco. One artist was asked by their label to write an ENTIRE ALBUM for another artist that they'd never even met. That's bullshit and I hate it. While the songs are alright (for disco), the whole idea of the album is enough to kill a star. Disco is the worst.

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Sep 16 2020
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5

disco. nice beat. loved the album.

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Sep 05 2022
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5

Some massive bangers in this album and a good vibe overall

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Aug 01 2024
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5

We Are Family ‘Just let me staple the vicar’ The sort of album I would have been a bit sniffy about in my younger days, but now it's the sort of album I really appreciate. Of course Nile Rogers and Bernard Fowler are a fantastic songwriting and production team. The whole record sounds great, but Nile’s guitar sound and Bernard’s bass sound in particular are so good - the bright, clean and rhythmic against the deep, warm and melodic is such a great, contrasting combination. Bernard Fowler would absolutely be in my top ten favourite bassists As well as that the Nile Rogers - Bernard Fowler - Tony Thompson playing axis is absolutely superb, and the sororal voices are excellent too, harmonising and blending as only siblings can. I guess He’s the Greatest Dancer, after being sampled by Will Smith, and We Are Family might be seen as slightly jokey, novelty disco records, but they are so much more than that, they are fantastic bits of pop song writing, full of hooks, big choruses and killer grooves, and ultimately they are just joyous bits of pop music. Lost in Music and Thinking of You are also superb of course, Thinking of You’s hypnotic groove is so satisfying and addictive, the swirling strings against the repeating chug of the guitar while being driven forward by the bass. That may well broadly be the Chic template, but it doesn’t matter when it's done as superbly as this. I’m less familiar with the other album tracks, but I really liked Somebody to Love and Easier to Love as lower tempo, lower key songs to contrast and counterpoint the 4 big bangers. Somebody to Love is a actually great 70s soul ballad, with less of the obvious Chic elements and with great vocals and harmonies. You’re a Friend to Me is really great, a real grower, getting better with every listen. Again a slower tempo track, but with the weight and dynamism of the uptempo songs. The bass is fantastic, particularly that repeating climb. One More Time perhaps feels a bit too Chic by numbers, not quite reaching the heights of the big songs, although the piano pattern is very good and I really like the slightly un-Nile Rogers-like guitar solo. I’m right on the cusp of 4 and 5. It really is a fantastic 40 minutes of disco pop satisfaction, but I’m not sure it's quite in the top bracket of albums. The 4 big songs are absolute bangers and they are well supported by the other songs, but it is probably a bit two tiered. A 5 would also give it a chance at a podium place, as in the final reckoning I think it would be worthy of a bronze (assuming you both don’t hate it). Hmm, tricky. It’s a beautiful sunny day, the album makes me happy with its joyfulness and I’m visualising Dan in his tiny pants by a Croatian pool, so I’ll let all that get the better of me and go 5. 🛷🛷🛷🛷🛷 Playlist submission: Toss up between Thinking of You and We Are Family, I’ll go We Are Family for its pure joyous disco pop infectiousness.

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May 06 2024
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5

I absolutely love this. Impossible not to tap your foot or nod your head. Nile Rodgers is excellent, had no idea he was on this album but his guitar sound is instantly recognisable. Love the strings and the tight beats, such a groove. Just makes you feel good. He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost in Music and Thinking of You are incredible. Played this album 4 times on Friday and had a good old boogie in the kitchen. 🕺🕺🕺🪩🪩🪩

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Jul 02 2024
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5

Arguably the best disco record, back to back bangers. Feels a bit like a Chic album, but that can only be said as a compliment. One of my favorite feel good records.

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Dec 05 2023
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4

No. 57/1001 He's the Greatest Dancer 4/5 Lost in Music 4/5 Somebody Loves Me 4/5 Thinking of You 4/5 We are Family 4/5 Easier to Love 4/5 You're a Friend to Me 3/5 One More Time 3/5 Average: 3,75 Songs that are easy to listen to, funky and all around fun.

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Sep 13 2024
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4

#blessed for Sister Sledge. "We Are Family" is easily one of the best disco songs of all time, but unlike many other albums that contain the artist's biggest hit, the rest of the album is solid. There is no dull point. Sure, the other songs are practically nobodies, but they are so smooth and delightful. Several songs are worth going into my regular rotation! Anyway, Nile Rodgers as a producer should surprise exactly no one--and I don't know how I had the audacity to be surprised.

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Sep 06 2024
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4

Was ready to give this a 3 until I listened again on the good speakers and it suddenly made more sense. The drums and keys are consistently solid. The guitar is groovy. The BASS is absolutely nasty in the best way. Not every song is a winner, but the highlights are such jams. Favorites were He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost In Music, We Are Family, and One More Time.

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Oct 14 2023
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4

Man I love disco. This one was fun, some tracks you can't help but bop along to. It wasn't phenomenal but definitely good.

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Sep 29 2023
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3

I mean, it's not bad. I've listened to much MUCH worse in the past month. Great late-70s R&B riffs going on here. You can hear Nile Rodgers all over this record. And while it's a bit repetitive, you can see why it has been sampled so much in the last 40 years.

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Jan 28 2021
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2

Didn't like their style. Too soft and generic sounding.

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Dec 13 2021
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2

I was not pleased to see a disco album here. I have a bias. I'm sorry. However I didn't really hate it. I actually liked the funkier parts a bit. My main problem with the album is that some of the songs go on longer than I need them too. The opening track which is a pretty good song otherwise could've tapped out about 2 minutes sooner. I'm on the fence between a 2 and a 3 here. It really should be a 2.5 for me. I'm leaning toward a 3 for being better than I expected...but no it's a 2 because disco sucks. Sorry. Bias wins.

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May 15 2021
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2

Pretty generic and repetitive. Guess I don't find R&B as genre to be particularly appealing beyond a casual listen. The title track was ironically not something I expected lol. // Favs: We Are Family Score: Strong 2

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Aug 05 2021
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1

It's pretty underwhelming. I'm not a fan of disco so I got bored pretty quickly, specially with all the remixes at the end.

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Mar 07 2023
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5

Solid pop, listens like a best of.

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Mar 05 2023
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5

I love this album, defining album of the end of disco.

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Feb 21 2023
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5

Trop bon, disco a letat pure avec guiyare a niles rodgers 5*

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Oct 28 2021
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5

this is already a whole mood and i love it - this makes for great easy listening and grooving

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Feb 14 2023
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5

This one bops. Feels nice to give a good rating.

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Nov 28 2022
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5

Absolutely groovy and good mood songs. Bass lines that make you wanna dance. Big 4.5 / 5

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Nov 01 2021
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5

One of my favourite Sister Sledge / Chic albums. Two out of 8 songs still sound a bit like fillers to me (Somebody Loves Me and Easier To Love) but the other six songs are really great.

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Sep 09 2022
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5

It's a bonus Chic album. There's even an argument to say it's the best Chic album, high praise indeed. You know how songs get overplayed on the radio, you love them for decades and then get sick of them? Well that's not possible here, as these are some of the greatest pop songs even written. Hearing them in their full glory, 5-6 minutes long, just adds to the joy. Annoyingly only the 7" version of We are Family is available on Spotify, you need the record or YouTube for the majestic full 8 minutes (only this one link seems to have the correct tempo) which needs to be experienced. The bass work is simply out of this world. https://youtu.be/FLRvVZ_Q1Iw If you don't like disco, even just a little bit, I just don't think we're going to get along. Absolutely stunning. One of the easiest 5 ratings in this whole project.

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Jul 28 2021
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5

Made me say 'YES'!!! Music from back when I was alive

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Jul 28 2022
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5

Such a classic - remembering when I was younger me and my family would dance to ‘we are family’ how things change

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Jul 01 2022
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5

So many R&B/Disco classics that I would never have found if not for today’s recommendation. ‘Lost In Music’ is by far my favourite, with that smooth riff and heavy bass. ‘One More Time’ finishes on a high, with the symmetry of sounds throughout the album.

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Jan 19 2021
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5

Greatest dancer might be one of the greatest songs ever

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May 09 2022
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5

Chic in all but name and therefore utter shining perfection.

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Apr 11 2023
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5

Oh we love a good funky album here. mellow at certain points too, but full of soul and beautiful vocals.

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Apr 01 2023
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5

Came very close to giving this a 4 for a couple of tracks near the end but upon listening again it's gotta be a 5. This is proper "everything's gone to shit I can't get any work and I don't want to" 70s dystopia disco right here. The escape from reality. Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers is a killer combo, but it's worth remembering that at this point in their career they were making a name for themselves, they're not playing it safe so much as developing a brand. /rant

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Mar 27 2023
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5

i got all my sisters with me, which is easy, because I don't have any

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May 08 2023
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5

Another one where I was delighted when it appeared for me and knew would be 5 stars. Niles Rodgers reckons this is the best Chic team album, and I can't say that I disagree with him. Still filling dancefloors everywhere. You need this record in your life.

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May 19 2021
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5

Who doesn't love some motown/disco

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Feb 10 2023
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5

Absolute classic disco Every song is a must have on any party playlist Up there as one of the greatest disco ablums

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Nov 09 2022
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5

An amazing album. Every song had a groovy bass line, catchy vocals, and was a blast to listen too

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Oct 03 2022
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5

Great album! Can't go wrong with the funk of Nile Rodgers and the steady baselines of Edwards, but together with the Sledge sisters it is just awesome. The remixes on the remastered album were not my thing, but the original album is just perfect!

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May 09 2023
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5

The incredible sound of Chic covered in those perfect Sister Sledge voices? No wonder this album towers over the disco era. Three of the songs on this have been among my favorites since the moment I heard them (He’s The Greatest Dancer, Lost In Music, We are Family). I don’t recall hearing any of the other songs on this, but they were love at first listen. So great!

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Sep 12 2022
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5

ALL of these songs are amazing! Classic!

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Oct 02 2022
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5

Like a greatest hits album, the perfect Chic Organisation album - the trademark sound in full flow, double electric guitar, complex bass parts and beautiful vocals. And, sure, the uptempo tracks are more enjoyable than the ballads but what a party.

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Oct 17 2022
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5

cute love the voices and the sound. great album didnt know them before.

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Jun 28 2022
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5

incredible R&B. The bass, sweepy guitars and strings alone make this a 5. everything else is gravy. End of the album isn't as strong, but not enough to drag this down a star.

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Apr 05 2022
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5

Worth five stars just for the guitar. Classic album.

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Sep 14 2021
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5

2. We Are Family - Sister Sledge. 12 Tracks. What an absolutely stupendous album!!!! Yet this is something I would never actually choose to listen to. I will now! @1001_albums_gen has already been worthwhile. 5/5.

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Jul 04 2022
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5

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: He’s the greatest dancer, Lost in music, Thinking of you, You’re friend to me, One more time

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Oct 14 2022
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5

Wonderful rythms with female voices. I would listen to it again and again

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Jun 23 2022
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5

Definitely a great album to boogie too. Obviously the main song everybody knows, but the other songs in this album are just as good!

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May 15 2021
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5

It's one thing to always hear about how R&B has influenced music and been sampled so much over time, it is another to listen to the albums yourself. I am a big fan of R&B and the voice really adds to the flow, here it is perfect. I have nothing against this album, for uniformity sake I am not including the remixes included in the remaster as well I don't take that as a part of the original album. I find this simple, smooth and sweet, never once boring, never not groovy. Absolutely no qualms with the album. Banger of a closing too. 5/5

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May 09 2023
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5

A few facts about the song We Are Family: 1. It is on my top 10 list of favorite songs. 2. It's one of very few that I can safely claim to know all the words to. 3. The "hey-hey-hey-hey-yah" on the chorus after the first verse is maybe my favorite moment in pop music. 4. I went to a dance convention in 1979 and learned a dance to this song and to this day, every time they sing "I got all my sisters with me," my brain says "brush-hop-step, brush-hop-step" in rhythm. Anyway...it's so great to get a legit, straight-up disco album. The upbeat songs are divinely danceable and the slow jams have lovely lead vocals and rich back-up voices. Moreover, the love grooves lack the faux earnestness that such songs often display, tending to make me more uncomfortable than anything. The ballads on this album were sweet and authentic and just as appealing as the dance tracks. A really great album!

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Feb 27 2022
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5

var ekki með miklar væntingar þar sem mér finnst titillagið vera frekar boring, en allt utan þess á þessari plötu er alveg yndislegt, mjög skemmtilegt að hlusta á þessa plötu (aftur - án aðal lagsins, ég er ekki fan af því). 5 stjörnur svona tbh, easy listening, very nice!

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Mar 10 2022
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5

The vibes on this album are so immaculate. Extremely fun sounds and would be great at house parties.

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Mar 01 2022
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5

Great album all the way through!

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Jan 13 2021
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5

Nile rogers guitar playing is so iconic. Love this disco album

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Feb 11 2022
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5

Kicks off with a fantastic beat, which the Artist Formerly Known As There French Prince wisely sampled for Gettin'Jiggy Wit It. Only gets better from there.

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Mar 15 2022
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5

Really great album, pretty much start to finish. Wasn't the greatest fan of some of the slower songs in between, but liked that it was generally swinging and upbeat :)

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Feb 21 2022
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5

Sister Sledge is a force. Their harmonies are effortless and their melodies are fire. Could listen to this album for hours.

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Jun 23 2021
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5

Stunning. Amazing. Love this album.

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