Light of Worlds is regarded as Kool & the Gang's most spiritual and sophisticated work, produced in the wake of the success of their previous album, Wild and Peaceful.

While it was their seventh album of original material, the band considered Light of Worlds their ninth LP (counting two compilations), and therefore consciously chose nine songs for the album to represent the then nine planets in the Solar System.

The album contains rock-inspired funk set to jazz-informed playing with afrobeat influences and a tinge of analogue synthesizing.

"Summer Madness" was later released as a single, with a follow-up titled "Winter Sadness" in Kool & the Gang's Spirit of the Boogie a year later.

In 1991, the Hip-Hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince sampled elements of "Summer Madness" for their song "Summertime".