Official statement:

not really looking forward to this at all.
Imo, they ruled the 70s as the shining star for the evolution of the R&B genre.

But at this point in time, I see them more as an EWF tribute band.

I'll reserve final judgement unit i've heard it.
But seriously, how can there truly be an EWF without Maurice White?



Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

There really can't be an EWF without Maurice White. Without him, it becomes something else...

There's always a critic in the audience.

The word on this new album is that they are going back to the way they used to record albums in the 70s..ala Thats the Way of the World....record live in studio...live instruments, no BS drum machines, etc....which I am glad for..

Not sure exactly how much Maurice is involved in the album, as I dont know just how much his Parkinson's might have affected his ability to sing effectively these days......I have read he is involved in the production of the new music, and he has made public appearances here and there, has strummed on the Kalimba in on youtube piece I saw recently, but has not sang, so not too sure what he is ableto contribute......

so as said previously I will reserve full judgement until I have heard something....but as FIRE FAN, I am hoping they do the legacy some justice this time even if it is not the original 9 involved....

[Edited 9/4/11 7:06am]

At this point,I'd rather see EW&F focus on projects that pertain to their legacy.Several years ago,Maurice mentioned that he was putting together a coffee table book containing rare EW&F photographs from their entire career.I'd also like to see DVDs featuring concert footage from the 70s.

as for the new CD...if Maurice isn't involved,I won't buy it.

Billmenever said:

There's always a critic in the audience.

Nevertheless EWF has rarely strayed away from what they do best.

We will wait and see what The Phoenix sounds like.

I'm more excited about the 16-disc box set

As a somewhat new fan, I'm interested in if this will be any good. Haven't heard anything new from them that made me want to check out like Prince and 3121 or Sade and Lovers Rock.

SoulAlive said:

I'm more excited about the 16-disc box set

WHAT!

Awhile back,the band mentioned a new album called Yesterday,Today and Tomorrow which was to be a mixture of re-recorded songs from their catalog and some new material....

Earth Wind & Fire announced in a recent interview with Click Track that for the past week they have been working very hard on a new album. They decided to just go back into the studio and not work with computers and focus on driving the creative process from themselves. They are aiming on finishing their album titled "Earth Wind & Fire - Yesterday, Today & Forever" this summer.

"It’s going to have some remixes by some [top] producers of some of the catalog stuff, and some new music as well. And then a couple of songs that were not A-list songs in our catalog that we’ll bring from the “Fire” catalog" says Philip Bailey.

The band is also very interested in Janelle Monae, in fact they love her! Who knows we might see a groovy collaboration between all of them in the future.

I wonder if this project has evolved into The Phoenix.

I guess there might be a positive chance that Maurice will be doing the production and mixing (or a part of it) in order to deliver the classic EWF sound. He contributed in that way to the upcoming box set, and wasn't he involved as well on the studio soundboards for that tribute album from sometime ago, including Dwele, Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, etc?...

[Edited 9/6/11 5:33am]

...

Maurice still sings and produces on their albums, even though his voice is merely a shade of what it used to be --he just doesn't do any touring. Although they're nowhere near the level of their heyday, I've enjoyed a handful of their post-1995 cuts, including the following, from Avatar/In The Name of Love, and Illumination:

Revolution (Just Evolution)

....

[Edited 9/6/11 15:36pm]

Well,the new website has launched but there's no real 'news' on it at all.....or am I missing something?