Wow, This is soul/jazz/funk cookin Gil & Brian style
This is a wonderful release from the magnificent Gil Scott Heron, Brian Jackson collaboration. These guys have created a new level of excellence in the soul/funk/jazz genre that is hard to surpass. I love the live version of The Bottle, it gives so much more grunt than the studio version. 17th Street live makes you wanna holler and clap your hands, even when driving, so it can be dangerous. Timeless - all rappers, you owe these guys!

Decent but not the best
When compared to other Scott-Heron discs, this one falls just short. Still, a great artist with much to say. As poignant today as ever.

Gil at his very best
Although Gil Scott-Heron has created several strong studio albums, his best being The First Minute of a New Day, and one of the most influential songs in music with "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", it's on the It's Your World album where the artist peaked in all aspects of the game. Divided equally between stellar studio tracks and killer performances from a live show in Boston, this is Gil Scott-Heron and the Midnight Band at their very best.

The album starts off with the soulful "It's Your World", which is carried by its snappy horn lines and a very catchy chorus. "Possum Slim" is a very funky tune featuring a memorable keyboard riff ala Stevie Wonder and a killer sax solo from Bilal Sunni-Ali. "New York City" is Scott-Heron's tribute to the city itself, featuring a smooth jazz arrangement which unexpectedly changes to salsa for a brief period before returning to its original theme. Then the live tracks begin and they're all fantastic. "17th Street" features great vocals from Scott-Heron and melodic flute playing throughout from Brian Jackson. "Trane", whose music was written by Alice Coltrane, features a great solo from Sunni-Ali as well as a great percussion workout near its close. "Must Be Something", with Sunni-Ali's excellent sax work, is much jazzier than the original. "Home Is Where The Hatred Is", featuring an extended melodic piano solo from Jackson and Victor Brown's accompanying vocals, make this a much stronger version than the original. "Bicentennial Blues" is arguably Scott-Heron's best spoken word performance. Using both words of the title as an analogy throughout the piece, it is an intelligent and accurate portrayal of the political corruptness of the 1970's which saw the gap between the rich and poor continuing to widen, something which is still very real today. The ultimate live version of "The Bottle" follows and features an extended solo from the rhythm section with Scott-Heron improvising throughout. "Sharing" is a great ballad with soaring emotional vocals from Brown that brings the album to a close. All told, Gil Scott-Heron and the Midnight Band are at the top of their game on It's Your World. Highly recommended.

A Treasue
wow, how can you describe the output of Gil and Brian in a few words??? Of all the releases, this one is the strongest and timeless in my opinion, as well as several others by Gil and Brian. This is solid soul/funk/jazz/rock!!! This one features new studio tunes as well as a few live renditions of classic material including a 12 minute version of Home is where the hatred is. A lot of these two artist's work feature social and political statements of the time, this album only features a few songs as commentaries but the music just smokes, man, can they play!!!! Make sure you check this one out!!! Then try to find Bridges, another timeless album!!! Enjoy

Release Secrets! Release Secrets!
His 1978 Album, 'Secrets' is far and away his best commerical LP. He stays real, but gets so funky that you can't sit still. 'Three miles down,' a song that shoots right at the Taft-Hartly Act still rings in my head. 'Madison Ave' is a another song that I have sung to my kids to explain how advertising jingles effect us all. As Gil said, 'They can sell sand to man living a desert. They can tuna to the chicken of the sea...'

Release Secrets. It's overdue.