nd33 said:

After TTWOTW they were too polished to turn back. It just got slicker and slicker. By the time of I AM it was hopeless. Still a great band, but recent records are not to my tastes and most would agree they're unnecessary to appreciate the band. Stick with the early albums: HEAD TO SKY DAYS & TIME, OPEN OUR EYES NEED OF LOVE

its my dad''s favorite band so naturally passed on to me, i borrowed some cds from him. he has all their songs and records, nothing can beat the vinyl sound, a personal favorite is "in the stone", what an awesome track and that intro is crazy, i used to ahve that turned up super loud. Another song that i went crazy with when I first heard it was "jupiter"'

shining star
fantasy
keep your head to the sky
reasons
let''s groove
september
fantasy
after the love has gone

i love all the hits but also their older stuff and lesser known latin vibe tracks. to me the best band ever.

PFunkjazz said:

Interesting analysis, PFunk.....

I wonder what you think on this.....

Alot of people "blame" Maurice for moving the band to a more Pop (aka "slick") tilt in their music....however, I was wondering whether you think that maybe Mr. Charles Stepney might take some blame...after all, he was the one who introduced Maurice to the lush strings and more polished approach that started to become noticeable in TTWOTW and afterwards...

Also....interesting to note that Maurice was no longer on the drums after Open Our Eyes....Fred came in....Maurice's style was more funky, whereas Fred was precise....that also could be a contributing factor?????
[Edited 10/27/08 11:16am]

My first recollection of EWF was the That's The Way Of The World. As a child growing up in the seventies, that song touched me like no other. Whenever I was down, Keep You Head To The Sky was so inspiring. Shining Star gave me confidence like no other and Reasons (live version) showed me how powerful music can be when you have positive lyrics paired with excellent musicianship. So sad these type of songs are not marketable (so they say).
[Edited 10/23/08 17:53pm]

Some of the greatest music ever laid on vinyl...

Faves include:

Devotion
TTWOTW
Fantasy
Mighty Mighty
September
Pride

and that honestly only scratches the surface....


I think the greatest compliment to an artist is no matter how prolific and time-tested their music is, that it is near to impossible to improve on their tunes.

EWF stands out to me as one of those quintessential groups for which it just does not seem possible to remake their music and improve on it.....I listened to Interpretations, and the countless Jazz artists who have remade thier songs, and while some do justice to the original I just dont think that any have been able to put their own stamp on the songs.

The musicianship is of such a high standard that you can listen to each piece, brass, bass, percussion, vocals and wonder just how close to perfect the music is.

Fantasy, for me, is one of those songs that is as close to perfect as music gets...production, strings, whatever.....Classes could be taught on how intricate it gets....

And I have not even started on the message in the music.....Maurice was so in tune with his desire to make great music that it is no surprise the success they had....and the best part is that EWF is still out there and doing it well.....high profile gigs and great concerts....you can truly be proud to be fan all those many years after it all began.
[Edited 10/23/08 11:13am]

My favorite song is Imagination.


The pure heavenly soul of P's falcetto and the lovely angel like background vocals just compliment his screams at the end. Its ...like a journey.

All classic EW&F tunes had these signature elements...

~Great uplifting songs
~The balance between Maurice's macho and Phillip's more delicate vocals
~The uplifting lyrics
~The harmonies
~The sharp horn section
~The rhythm section arrangements, especially the guitar parts.

...which made them such a great band.

And as a musician, I am so amazed by the ability of getting such a big group of people to unify on a project and make it sound so effortless.

I think Fantasy has to be the one that really ingrained itself on my psyche as a kid. I must have been 4-5 years old, but I remembered it well when I bought the greatest hits later on.

There were others, too, like September, That's the Way... They were such fun, beautiful, interesting, unique songs. Not many artists can create a whole world in a song like those.

And as a musician, I am so amazed by the ability of getting such a big group of people to unify on a project and make it sound so effortless. Something like Shining Star has so many crazy changes. Who thought of them? It always felt like a band creation, though I know MW was pretty much the mastermind.