** 1/2 Village People, “Can’t Stop the...

** 1/2 Village People, “Can’t Stop the Music: The Motion Picture Soundtrack,” Mercury. It’s only recently that we could look back at the disco era with a straight face and describe it as culturally significant. With 20 years to erase the haze of the bright balls, platform shoes and syncopating beat, we can now tip our hat to parts of the disco phenomenon that remain with us--John Travolta, the whole hip-hop movement . . . and the Village People.

In a wild way, the group’s forthright persona made it the gay N.W.A., saluting gay icons with the same aggressive bravado that the Compton rappers applied to urban hustlers and gangbangers. Even the simplest party tunes were infused with elements of gay empowerment.

Musically, little of “Can’t Stop the Music” survives the years. What does work are the deeper messages within such songs as “Liberation,” “The Sound of the City” and “Magic Night.” Amid the electric drums, strings and flamboyant musical embellishments of these recordings, the Village People express the joy of an anything-goes excess that would soon come crashing down.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).