Anyone tuning into the 70s is sure to know of the band Chic. Chic was known to produce some great disco records. And their second studio album by the American R & B band has their signature style written all over it. Everything about it is just fun and groovy. Lose yourself to dance.

Undoubtedly, one of CHIC's best record and a classic within the disco scene with one of the most influential and memorable songs Le Freak, the album comes packaged with 7 other great rhythmic, lush tracks, and it does what disco does best and that is getting everyone up on their feet and having a party with the music.

Le Freak topped the US Hot 100 chart, US R&B, and US Club Play in October 1978 selling six million copies in the US. The album also contains the hit single I Want Your Love (number 5 R&B, number 7 Pop, number 4 UK.

The band was formed by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edward in 1972. The other original band members included drummer Tony Thompson and lead vocalists Norma Jean Wright and Luci Martin.

The album starts off with two absolute bangers Chic Cheer and Le Freak. It then moves on to some other disco songs Happy Man and At Last I am Free, which are also joyous to listen to, with another topper being I Want your Love. This trackwas ashimmering gem in its full 6:45 mix, and it is arguably the Chic Organization Ltd's greatest work, for when it breaks to the guitar, chased by the horns and then the strings, the group create something truly mesmeric.

‘C'est Chic’ is one of the best albums of the 70s. Its disco touch made Chic more popular than their wildest dreams surely even the band would never have imagined the success they got after their song Le Freak hit it off.

The story of Le Freak and how the song actually came to be. As an all black band, the group write this song after they had failed on New Year’s eve of 1977 to meet Grace Jones at New York's nightclub Studio 54. The original refrain "Aaa, fuck off", intended for the doormen of Studio 54, was replaced that night with "Aaa, freak out", after trying a version with "Aaa, freak off. The resulting single was a great success for it was well known that Chic always had some deep meaning in all their songs, and Le Freak was no exception.

Leaders Bernard Edwards (bass) and Nile Rodgers (guitar) had been leading double lives for the previous few years, acting as disco session sidemen while playing in blues-rocking new-wave combos at night with their drummer Tony Thompson. They knew how to play and to put on a show – which is what ‘C'est Chic’ is.

They’ve also been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 11 times. On the other hand, they’ve never been inducted, and their albums are more likely to show up in a bargain bin than on a record collector’s most-wanted list. Chic is usually written off with a single word: disco.

Even today, this album released in 1978 is one of Chic's best album (even though ‘Risqué’ their third album was to some extent a hit too) but it is a bright, shining example of what mass-produced, intelligent dance music should be. The album is still irresistible. Give it a spin.

Release date: 1978

Duration: 41.23

Label: Atlantic

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira