I Am

Nice funky album with Boogie Wonderland as a highlight, but also some forgettable songs.

Good in places, dragged in others. Still worth a listen.

Superbly played disco funk. More disco than the funk of the book's chosen EW&F album.

A very funky disco-album. A bit too much of the same after a while, but still fun

Don't mind these guys. Cool album. 3/5.

Not really a disco-kinda-guy, but still I must say that this is some timeless music. Very well done.

It's a fun boogie wonderland. Not my favorite type of music, but enjoyable to listen to. 3 stars.

Groovy baby

Solid

This is a fun, vibrant offering. It may be a bit too commercial sounding for me but one can't deny these guys are tight and skilled musicians with a knack for writing happy, brassy, funky tunes.

Polished & passable disco funk I suppose but it's all a bit tired and vapid. Good as it is, Boogie Wonderland can't carry the rest of the album

I was so sure that “That’s the Way of the World” was going to be my last album on the original list. When I got towards the end of the list, I did all the math, compiled a list of remaining albums and the day before I finished, I was 99% sure that it was going to be the last one generated. Imagine my surprise when it was actually the Mamas and the Papas. You see, “That’s the Way of the World” left such a small impact on me that I forgot I listened to it in the first 100 records. I didn’t even write a review for it. In one ear and out the other, I suppose. So when I saw the reviews here saying that this is the album that should’ve been on the list, I was cautiously optimistic. Well, my cautious optimism soured pretty quickly, sorry to say. Not because it’s disco(ish), but because it’s slick and glossy - which is a hallmark of disco, I suppose - but there’s more to it than just that…it comes across as tepid. Maybe I’ve been influenced by George Clinton’s assessment of the band on the Funkadelic track “Let’s Take it to the Stage”: “Earth, Hot Air and No Fire”. Maybe that’s unfair, but outside of one track, “Let Your Feelings Show”, the heat just wasn’t there for me. I get that they’re different bands; that Earth, Wind and Fire was probably catering to a more mainstream audience than Clinton and that might account for the less aggressive attitude in their brand of Funk. …and don’t get me started on “Rock That!”, which feels like it might possibly be an answer song to “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock” from Funkadelic’s 1978 LP, One Nation Under A Groove? Am I just inventing beef between these two bands at this point? I think I might be. I guess my point is, this record didn’t really move me in the way I would hope a funk record would.

Not my thing

The smoother side of disco funk of the late 70s

A whole album was a bit much.

harmonious but conventional, a lot of sound and disco rhythm of the time.

Yes, it's all very nice and very well played. But it's just too slick and soft for my taste.