We Are Family

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

🕺Tastes like rusty cum.

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.

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.

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.

I tried. Disco sucks.

Good pick to start this 1001 days

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.

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.

Meh...

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.

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.

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

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.

disco. nice beat. loved the album.

Some massive bangers in this album and a good vibe overall

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. 🕺🕺🕺🪩🪩🪩

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.

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.

An enjoyable disco romp

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.

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.

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.

#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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Amazing album, every song is great. some classic songs on here!

Solid funky album

Is there anything more perfect than the opening of Thinking of You?

Some big tunes on here

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

Stunning. Amazing. Love this album.

Great funk album!

How much more cool can it get!

Greatest dancer might be one of the greatest songs ever

classics

Banger central 🕺🏻

pretty good. old vibes i liked it a lot

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

Who doesn't love some motown/disco

One of the all time greats

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

Really enjoyed this album

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.

Another disco classic

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

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.

Heerlijk funky, no skips

Wat was dit genieten

I'm not very well-versed in disco but I'm digging this album. Amazing vocal performances and the instrumentals are incredibly layered and catchy.

adored it!

Cool!

SO BOUNCY!!!! luvved it. best song was the opening lwk "he's the greatest dancer"! i luved it....and the sisters!!!! it was fab

Delicious soul & disco vocal register.

Phenomenal.

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.

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

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!

Great album all the way through!

Classic disco

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

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 :)

Fucking mega album

Worth five stars just for the guitar. Classic album.

Surprisingly good!

Chic in all but name and therefore utter shining perfection.

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

Disco will never die.

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.

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.

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

No skips. Iconic.

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

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.

ALL of these songs are amazing! Classic!

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.

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

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

Partyyyy

Awesome!

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

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!

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

Clasic, dance... Dance...

Full of bangers!

Brilliant

cool

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

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

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

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

Solid pop, listens like a best of.

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