Released in 1978, just as
disco
began to peak,
C'est Chic
and its pair of dancefloor anthems,
"Le Freak"
and
"I Want Your Love,"
put
Chic
at the top of that dizzying peak. The right album at the right time,
is essentially a rehash of
, the group's so-so self-titled debut from a year earlier. That first album also boasted a pair of floor-filling anthems,
"Dance Dance Dance"
"Everybody Dance,"
and, like
, it filled itself out with a mix of
ballads
. So, essentially,
does everything its predecessor did, except it does so masterfully: each side similarly gets its timeless floor-filler (
"Le Freak,"
"I Want Your Love"
),
quiet storm
come-down (
"Savoir Faire,"
"At Last I Am Free"
), feel-good album track (
"Happy Man,"
"Sometimes You Win"
), and moody album capper (
"Chic Cheer,"
"[Funny] Bone"
). Producers
Bernard Edwards
Nile Rodgers
were quite a savvy pair and knew that
was as much a formula as anything. As evidenced here, they definitely had their fingers on the pulse of the moment, and used their perceptive touch to craft one of the few truly great
albums. In fact, you could even argue that
very well may be the definitive
album. After all, countless artists scored dancefloor hits, but few could deliver an album this solid, and nearly as few could deliver one this epochal as well.
embodies everything wonderful and excessive about
at its pixilated peak. It's anything but subtle with its at-the-disco dancefloor mania and after-the-disco bedroom balladry, and
Edwards
Rodgers
are anything but whimsical with their
-
ballad
album sequencing and pseudo-jet-set Euro poshness.
would follow
with
"Good Times,"
the group's crowning achievement, but never again would
assemble an album as perfectly calculated as
. ~ Jason Birchmeier