After three albums of Pharoah Sanders–influenced spiritual jazz, Mtume used Kiss This World Goodbye to embrace the thick and juicy R&B sound that would bring the group mass appeal. Though the effect of George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic is strongly felt on “Just Funnin’,” “Funky Constellation,” “Kiss the World Goodbye,” and “Metal Flake Mind”—all four superlative tracks—James Mtume and company were reaching for new styles and sounds in R&B. “The Closer I Get to You” boasts the taut and propulsive architecture of late-'70s dance funk, but the group found their true voice in the tantalizingly slow, nearly forlorn balladry of “Closer to the End.” Using the patience and restraint they'd learned playing jazz, the musicians were able to create ballads that were as cavernous and impactful as they were spare. There's so much intoxicating humidity in “This Is Your World” that you can practically watch the steam rising off the song. At the end of the '70s, the entire field of R&B was searching for a new identity; Kiss This World Goodbye was one of the albums that pointed the way forward.