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1981's Raise is another great album,filled with top-notch songs like "I've Had Enough","The Changing Times","Wanna Be With You" and of course,the monster hit single "Let's Groove".
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kitbradley said: EW&F - THE greatest Funk band, ever! Period! Not trying to start debate here, because it's like apples and oranges. But go to Maurice book and read page 125. He knew exactly what time it was. He had no desire to morph into a funk band. | |
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mrwiggles said: kitbradley said: EW&F - THE greatest Funk band, ever! Period! Not trying to start debate here, because it's like apples and oranges. But go to Maurice book and read page 125. He knew exactly what time it was. He had no desire to morph into a funk band. That's what makes EWF special Funk, Latin rhythms, Jazz African rhythms...Gospel..Rock...Soul...R&B..Pop They are not just relegated to one category.... Parliament are what they are... A sci Fi comic book funk band..I love em tho! Especially their 1974-80 era with side groups Bootsy,Parlet.. Brides of Funkenstein... Horny Horns... Sweat Band Mothership Connection is their crowning achievement... Which is my favorite album of theirs Everything just worked on that album.. Now Parliament are definitely on a level by themselves... But definitely not on EWF's Only Kool and the Gang comes close .. Now both EWF and Kools body of works are comparable 1970-87... but EWF did make very good music after 87 staying true to themselves for the most part and Kool was never the same [Edited 3/13/18 23:27pm] | |
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"On Your Face" (1976) | |
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SoulAlive said: "On Your Face" (1976) this is the joint that took me from fan, to damn near idol worship... Al McKay's rhythm guitar playing on this is iconic... thats also my favorite album cover of all time, by anyone... | |
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I Am is such a sensational album....one of those albums where every song could have been a single.My favorites are "In The Stone","Let Your Feelings Show","You And I" and "Can't Let Go".And then you have the two MASSIVE hit singles "Boogie Wonderland" and "After The Love Is Gone"! In 1979,EW&F were at the top of their game,crossing over big time.
"In The Stone" | |
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40 GREATEST EARTH WIND & FIRE SONGS (ALBUM IN CAPS) (in no specific order)
On Your Face (SPIRIT) Cant Let Go (I AM) Turn It Into Something Good (FACES) Jupiter (ALL N ALL) Loves Holiday (ALL N ALL) September (BEST OF EWF Vol 1) Getaway (SPIRIT) Celebrate (GRATITUDE) Mighty Mighty (OPEN OUR EYES) I'd Rather Have You (LAST DAYS & TIME) Sing A Song (GRATITUDE) Sun Goddess (GRATITUDE) Serpentine Fire (ALL N ALL) Imagination (SPIRIT) Thats The Way Of The World (TTWOTW) Shining Star (TTWOTW) See The Light (TTWOTW) Fair But So Uncool (OPEN OUR EYES) Fantasy (ALL N ALL) Side By Side (POWERLIGHT) Keep Your Head To The Sky (HEAD TO THE SKY) Let Me Talk (FACES) Time Is On Your Side (LAST DAYS AND TIME) Drum Song (OPEN OUR EYES) Song In My Heart (FACES) In The Stone (I AM) Sunshine (GRATITUDE) Let Your Feelings Show (I AM) Runnin (ALL N ALL) Boogie Wonderland (I AM) Ive Had Enough (RAISE) Touch (ELECTRIC UNIVERSE) All About Love (TTWOTW) Wait (I AM) You & I (I AM) Pure Gold (ILLUMINATION) Show Me The Way (ILLUMINATION) My Promise (NOW THEN & FOREVER) Earth Wind & Fire (SPIRIT) Burnin Bush (SPIRIT)
[Edited 3/14/18 15:15pm] | |
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This is where we differ on EWF 80's albums. I love the Powerlight album. I like all the songs but Freedom Of Choice. In addition to the 2 great singles from the album I also liked Speed Of Love. I thought Larry Dunn nailed it on the synthesizers. I also like Spread Your Love and the Phillip Bailey ballad Straight From the Heart followed by an tight Kalimba interlude by Maurice. I liked the other ballads too Something Special and the touching album closer Miracles. IMO this was EWF's last great solid album. I didn't care for Electric Universe. It was very un EWF. The top songs for me on this album were Magnetic, Moonwalk, and Electric Nation mainly for Verdine's bass licks. The only thing I liked about Touch was the chord change in the middle. Just a weak album imo and the band seemed tired and ready for a break at this point. Verdine even said so himself that the band needed a break at this point. Larry Dunn was not pleased with this album at all either. Touch The World was a decent album but not great. Side 1 of the album nice. Side 2 not so much other than the album closer Victim Of The Modern Heart. Heritage had it's moments but failed big time with weak collaborations with the Boyz and MC Hammer. Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint | |
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I'll have to listen to Powerlight again...haven't played it in years.I just remember being very underwhelmed by most of it.
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co-sign. also in my book Powerlight is the final chapter of classic EWF, and I like almost everything on it, I find it even more consistent and better flowing than Raise. I played the living hell out of it back in the days. afer that the releases got patchy and inconsistent [Edited 3/15/18 1:05am] Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy! | |
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My opinion about Faces might actually surprise some people
But,when this album is good,it's very good.My favorites are "Share Your Love","Sailaway","Win Or Lose","And Love Goes On" and the title track.
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^^ I know what you mean, a bit more variation in sound would hav been possible over 4 album sides. but overall the good to very good songs just pile up to an impressive amount of music Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy! | |
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Faces is the last "EWF sounding" album...in my opinion An amalgamation of 1975-79 sounds.... Maurice and Philip sounded great...The Horns sounded Greater....The Material was strong Everything you loved about EWF is in that album...It's really quintessential.. It's a shame it didnt do as well...Because it's a masterpiece Let Me Talk...Pride...Take it to the sky..You...Sparkle...Share your love..In Time...Song In My Heart And Love Goes On(*my favorite song on the album) Faces- a 7min jazz groove to close the album..
They really didnt need to experiment...If it aint broke dont fix it.lol Coming off a 5 year run of hits and consecutive double platinum albums and grammy awards.. The formula worked like a mutha.. There was some experimentation... The guitar intro to Back on the road was different Let Me Talk didnt sound like anything they made before..Win or Lose didnt either Pride was phenomenal ...the horn riffs on Pride were magnificent Faces was their last great instrumental..and one of their best Philip's best songs in my opinion since the Spirit Album...Sparkle..Win Or Lose..You Went Away which continued on Raise with Evolution Orange and I've Had Enough....
Because it didnt do as well..The direction of EWF changed..A new sounding era began... with Raise,Powerlight and Electric Universe which are like a trilogy to me [Edited 3/15/18 3:09am] [Edited 3/15/18 3:10am] | |
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Yeah, I feel you on that one. Whilte there were some very good tracks, there was also a lot of filler. The first time I had felt like that about an EWF album in a while. But, "Side By Side" is one of my favorite EWF songs. Very underrated and forgotten song. "It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates | |
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yeah, Powerlight is a better lp now, than i remember it being...like phunkdaddy said above, Larry Dunn's keyboard wizardry is on full display all over this album...."Side By Side" was classic EW&F, and Maurice sang the shit outta "Something Special", one of his greatest vocal performances..."Miracles" was cringe music though..."Fall In Love With Me" was one of their last great singles... | |
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Electric Universe wasnt as bad as its reputation...what killed that album, was releasing "Magnetic" as the 1st single...1st joint should have been "Touch" or maybe "Moonwalk"..."Magnetic" was just a horrible song that sounded nothing like EW&F... [Edited 3/15/18 10:58am] | |
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i never understood Maurice's decisions to bring in outside writers and musicians like David Foster, Martin Page, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, and Steve Lukather...not only did it water down the classic EW&F sound, but he ran off core band members who were responsible for their greatness in the first place...when Al McKay and Johnny Graham and Larry Dunn left, they took the magic with them...especially the great Al McKay... | |
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Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder | |
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SoulAlive said:
My opinion about Faces might actually surprise some people
But,when this album is good,it's very good.My favorites are "Share Your Love","Sailaway","Win Or Lose","And Love Goes On" and the title track.
I pulled out the old Faces vinyl last night and spun it entirely. I thought I remembered liking this better than it hit me last night. It did not hit. All the songs started to sound similar and it wore on me. I got bored with it. There is no reason for me to cue it up again. Now I did have Powerlight in the early 80's on a cassette and wore it out until it wouldn't play anymore. Loved Side By Side. [Edited 3/15/18 13:59pm] | |
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The 80s was a tough time for funk bands who were popular in the 70s.The musical landscape was changing,synths and drum machines had taken over,and big bands with horn players were becoming obsolete.Cameo,Kool & The Gang and Bar-Kays were funk bands who were able to successfully adapt to the changes,for a few years at least.I can certainly understand why Maurice felt the need to make some changes.I liked "Magnetic" | |
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if I recall,weren't there some problems with Al McKay? He started skipping shows and causing drama.Maurice talks about it in his book,but I don't remember all of what he said.I gotta pull the book out again | |
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I felt like Powerlight was a let-down after the excellent Raise,an album that I like all the way through. | |
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SoulAlive said:
U if I recall,weren't there some problems with Al McKay? He started skipping shows and causing drama.Maurice talks about it in his book,but I don't remember all of what he said.I gotta pull the book out again Yeah he says he the book McKay was trying to challenge his authority. A couple of the horn guys did too. Then Al missed gig in South America. He said if he didn't let him go then the others might start the same shenanigans. Said he could not treat EWF as a democracy. He had to maintain total control of it was to work. | |
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SoulAlive said:
The 80s was a tough time for funk bands who were popular in the 70s.The musical landscape was changing,synths and drum machines had taken over,and big bands with horn players were becoming obsolete.Cameo,Kool & The Gang and Bar-Kays were funk bands who were able to successfully adapt to the changes,for a few years at least.I can certainly understand why Maurice felt the need to make some changes.I liked "Magnetic" yeah...definitely right about the demise of the funk/r&b bands due to drum machines replacing drums, nd synths replacing horns...(prince's rise to prominence can share some of the blame)...but EWF had done better genre switching songs than Magnetic though..."Boogie Wonderland" (disco), and "Changing Times" (new wave/pop) were much better attempts at crossing over than Magnetic... | |
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mrwiggles said: SoulAlive said:
U if I recall,weren't there some problems with Al McKay? He started skipping shows and causing drama.Maurice talks about it in his book,but I don't remember all of what he said.I gotta pull the book out again Yeah he says he the book McKay was trying to challenge his authority. A couple of the horn guys did too. Then Al missed gig in South America. He said if he didn't let him go then the others might start the same shenanigans. Said he could not treat EWF as a democracy. He had to maintain total control of it was to work. i can dig that, but McKay was too important to their sound and songwriting...even the Emotions fell off after he left camp...he was the man behind joints like "Best Of My Love", "I Dont Wanna Lose Your Love" and "Flowers"...Maurice should have reached a compromise with that brother somehow... | |
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