20th Century Masters - The Best of Kool & the Gang: The DVD Collection

Kool and the Gang's charming, sophisticated yet populist R&B hits from the 1980s are captured here in fine, music video form, though the full story of their power as a live act is best represented on the DVD Kool and the Gang: Live from House of Blues. This collection finds the fascinating video for "Cherish," both a romantic and philosophical song suggestively set in a Utopian afterlife on a beach. "Joanna," possibly the sweetest music video ever, finds the group gracefully serenading a middle-aged waitress as she recalls tender years of being wooed in the 1950s. "Let's Go Dancing (Ooh, La, La, La)" is a funky, fun tale of a street party, while the dance groove "Get Down on It" offers early-'80s video fun with overlapping images. Finally, "Celebration" remains an optimistic, upbeat dance anthem and the closest we get to an actual stage performance by the Gang. --Tom Keogh