Best Earth, Wind & Fire album in over 20 years. Been listening to an advance copy all weekend. I can't say enough about the cuts "Pure Gold" and "Loves Dance". Pick this up Tuesday, if you love EWF you won't be disappionted.
[Edited 9/17/05 19:53pm]

intha916 said:

That's good to hear. This month must be "old school" month with releases by George Clinto and PFAS, Paul McCartney, The Stones, and EWF.

Looks like you can preview the album on EWF's site.

http://www.earthwindandfire.com/

Did Love Together make the final cut?

1. Lovely People feat. Will-I-Am of the Black Eyed Peas
2. Pure Gold
3. A Talking Voice Interlude
4. Love's Dance
5. Show Me the Way feat. Raphael Saadiq
6. This Is How I Feel feat. Big Boi, Kelly Rowland and Sleepy Brown
7. Work it Out
8. Pass You By
9. The One
10. Elevated feat. Floetry
11. Liberation
12. To You feat. Brian McKnight
13. Bonus Track: The Way You Move feat. Kenny G

Also got an advance copy and am really diggin' this one...

OMG!

I'm soooo excited...how's the Jam & Lewis track?

badujunkie said:

Both Jam and Lewis tracks are good. I'd even go so far to call "Pure Gold" a classic. The other song that's really getting to me is the Brian McKnight track "To You". It sounds like that cut was taken right from the "I Am" album. This album gets better with each listen.

newpowersoul said:

Doesn't look like "The One" is going to make the official release. Too bad because it's a nice track.

newpowersoul said:

I can't see past the hate just becuz of this crappy track.

Just saw an ad on TV for this CD, gotta pick it up and check it out.

If you buy this CD from Target,you will get two bonus tracks.One of these is a song called "Autumn".

Oweeehhhhh... !!! My cousin, workmate and musical partner in crime just brought me a copy here to the office!!
I'm dying, really... damit, I wanna have a listen NOW!!

well, maybe I can have a quick spin at lunchbreak

I saw EW&F in concert a few weeks ago,and they performed several tracks from the new album.One of the songs,"Lovely People", is excellent....a feel-good party jam.They also performed "Pure Gold" (the current single) and "The Way You Move".

newpowersoul said:

If you buy the CD at Circuit City,they will give you a free CD single of "Autumn",an outtake from the album.

Tiny review of this in yesterday's Observer Music Monthly magazine (UK):

Earth, Wind & Fire: 'Illumination'

Their 23rd album! And an all-star cast contributes, including Big Boi from Outkast, Raphael Saadiq and Floetry. But it's the seasoned grooves that still work a rare magic.

This is what the CD cover looks like

AntonioFargas said:

It's on the UK version, at the beginning of the album. I'm not sure if it's part of the Target deal.....



...

PFunkjazz said:

I have no idea why that song is on there. It seems so out of place on this album. They do list it as a bonus track but still. But don't let that scare you off the album. If you are a fan of EWF and don't pick this up, you'll be sorry.

DavidEye said:

I'm really diggin this. This whole thing is like a dream come true for us EWF fans. I never thought they would come back this strong.

intha916 said:

Raphael Saddiq. He's got that Children of Production band that does PFunk covers.
hmmm yeah. I'll def check it now!

intha916 said:

Cool! I can't wait to pick this up in a few hours.I have to admit,when I saw the tracklist and all the "guest" producers/artists,I was thinking that it wouldn't sound like a real EW&F album.I thought it would be a hip-hop sounding project intended to appeal to a younger crowd.I'm happy that they came back strong!

Just picked up my retail copy. "The One" did make the final album. I saw a track list over the weekend that left it off. I glad cause I really dig that track. Any way, it's nice to have liner notes for this album at last. How lovely is it to see "Jerry Hey - Horn Arrangements"

I got it too. I'm liking it.

Too much e-drums and not enough guitar solos (entire too much to much keyboard guitar, too). Songs are mostly solid (but I can't stand that "Kenny G faggot funk") and Maurice sounds great and there's some kalimba and the horns are back to swoopin' and swirlin' (thanks to Jery Hey arrangements).

What the hell does Ralph Johnson do?

Ralph plays percussion on a couple of tracks but that's about it. Not that he's really needed seeing as both Maurcie and Phillip are drummers too. But I'm happy they trimmed the official band down to 4 original members. It just gives the group a face old time EWF fans can relate to.

I'm also really surprised (pleasantly) that Maurice did as much vocal work as he did. These last few weeks, I assumed they had another cat or Phillip singing like him. it makes the songs even more special knowing it's Maurice on almost all the tracks.

I do not like that track with Floetry.
Like that Kenny G crapfest, it should be on
their album; not an Earth Wind & Fire album.

PFunkjazz said:

Then we are right in line. Because Those are the two tracks I'm not feeling either. But two out of 13 tracks is very good. I think the album is tracked very well too. The album starts off very strong, slows down a little in the middle and then finishes strong with the instrumental and Brian McKnight's track. I'm not even going to count the Kenny G shit since it's a bonus track.

DavidEye said:

Are you freakin' serious?
I hate when artists do that crap
That's such a corporate sell-out deal.
It's not very fan-friendly.

PFunkjazz said:

That's the same thing I wondered when skimming the credits

DavidEye said:

I bought it from Target and don't have any extras on mine