RJOrion said:

SoulAlive said:

All throughout the first half of 1987,I was hearing that Earth Wind & Fire had gotten back together and were recording a new album.I was thrilled.They had been gone since 1983 and I was really missing them.Maurice and Philip released solo albums during that time,but I was really longing for another EW&F album.Touch The World was released in the fall of '87 and I think it's a very good album.Highlights include the first single "System Of Survival","You And I","Victim Of The Modern Heart","Here Today And Gone Tomorrow",and "Evil Roy".One track,"Thinking Of You" (which was the second single) features the Emotions on background vocals and it sounds just like old times....classic EW&F sound.Unlike the previous album,Electric Universe,this time around they don't totally abandon their classic sound.They simply update it just a little and the results are very,very impressive.

this lp was out at a bad time in my life...i only remember getting into "System Of Survival" and seeing "Thinking Of You" getting played for the Soul Train Line on TV (thank you Rosie Perez )...i dont even listen to that lp much anymore...dark times...

well,now that those "dark times" are long gone,give it another listen it really is a good album.If I had to choose my favorite 80s album by EW&F,it would either be this one or Raise.

Love their contributions to Deniece Williams & The Emotions' albums the most, but I also love their work with Ramsey Lewis

SoulAlive said:

All throughout the first half of 1987,I was hearing that Earth Wind & Fire had gotten back together and were recording a new album.I was thrilled.They had been gone since 1983 and I was really missing them.Maurice and Philip released solo albums during that time,but I was really longing for another EW&F album.Touch The World was released in the fall of '87 and I think it's a very good album.Highlights include the first single "System Of Survival","You And I","Victim Of The Modern Heart","Here Today And Gone Tomorrow",and "Evil Roy".One track,"Thinking Of You" (which was the second single) features the Emotions on background vocals and it sounds just like old times....classic EW&F sound.Unlike the previous album,Electric Universe,this time around they don't totally abandon their classic sound.They simply update it just a little and the results are very,very impressive.

[Edited 3/18/18 23:23pm]

I would probably rank this as my 3rd favorite EWF album after Raise! and I Am. I have one question that I've been wondering about for like 30 years (can't believe it's been that long since it was released). Does anyone know who Skylark is? He/She/They are credited with writing System of Survival as well as additional background vocals. I remember a Video Soul interview at the time and Donnie Simpson flat-out asked Maurice if Skylark was really Prince. Maurice definitely said that it wasn't.

I think most of us would agree that 1973's Head To The Sky is one of their finest albums "Clover" is my favorite track

How many of you seen the 1975 movie That's The Way Of The World and what do you think of it?

SoulAlive said:

SoulAlive said:

yeah,the movie isn't very good at all.Such a shame that EW&F's brilliant songs weren't used effectively.

The excellent "Wanna Be With You" was the second single from Raise.It's a wonderful song and it even won a Grammy,if I'm not mistaken.

SoulAlive said:

as far as I know,Skylark is a real songwriter/producer....but yeah,he was really mysterious. Don’t know a lot about him.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

1974's Open Our Eyes is one of EW&F's funkiest albums,containing electrifying funk jams like "Mighty Mighty" and "Tee Nine Chee Bit".

Not a very original choice but this song speaks to my soul.

Some of my favorite EWF cuts

Earlier in this thread,I was saying that I wish the Faces album had more surprises,more instrumentals,more jazzy latin/Afro sounds.This song "Runnin",from the All N' All' album,is exactly what I'm talking about.This song is fiery and delicious! It's like a musical gumbo featruing all the essential ingredients.Gets me movin' everytime.

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

as far as I know,Skylark is a real songwriter/producer....but yeah,he was really mysterious. Don’t know a lot about him.

I always wondered about Skylark too. I remember that Video Soul interview with
Maurice too where he said he received the track out of nowhere. I know Larry Blackmon was one of the producers on board at the time but Maurice turned the Blackmon tracks down because they sounded too much like Cameo. I always wondered if Larry pulled a Prince here and went under the pseudonym Skylark.
Some of Larry's best work outside of Cameo was on the two Ca$hflow albums.

Abdul said:

Some of my favorite EWF cuts

this is one of the best songs EVER

SoulAlive said:

Abdul said:

Some of my favorite EWF cuts

this is one of the best songs EVER

I think the timeless quality of the music that Maurice and crew put out is that I have yet to hear one artist that has markedly improved on the original. Or, put a new, intersting spin on a classic.

They might do a decent job, some Jazz intrumentals I have heard ("Serpentine Fire" for one) have done them justice, but dont ever surpass the Original.

Also, I think the marker they laid down with some of their classics, is that even if you strip away the vocals, the music and instrumentation that is left still percolates....best examples, for me, would be "Fantasy" or "TTWOTW".

Allnall said:

SoulAlive said:

this is one of the best songs EVER

I think the timeless quality of the music that Maurice and crew put out is that I have yet to hear one artist that has markedly improved on the original. Or, put a new, intersting spin on a classic.

They might do a decent job, some Jazz intrumentals I have heard ("Serpentine Fire" for one) have done them justice, but dont ever surpass the Original.

Also, I think the marker they laid down with some of their classics, is that even if you strip away the vocals, the music and instrumentation that is left still percolates....best examples, for me, would be "Fantasy" or "TTWOTW".

exactly

SoulAlive said:

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".

One of my fave albums by them and I was jamming to it the other day lol! My faves are "My Love", "Lady Sun" and "Wanna be with you". Love EWF, my fave R&B band of all time. Other albums are Spirit, All n All, Gratitude, That's The Way of the World, all timeless and just fabulous!

These days,whenever "Let's Groove" comes on the radio,it makes me smile.That song totally takes me back to a wonderful time,the fall of 1981.It's another one of those songs where Maurice sings the verses and Philip sings the chorus (like "September").....that proved to be a winning strategy for them.This song became an instant smash.

EWF is my favorire group of all time, that being said. I hate,hate, hate the "I Am" Album. To me this where EWF sold out to the pop audience they were obivously aimming for. But, in doing so they lost a lot of fans who felt abandon. It's one of the things I always love and admire about Rick James, he never tried to sell to a "pop audience" if they came along fine, but he always kept it funky!!

Thebigpill said:

"I Am" was the beginning of the end internally for EW&F because that was really the first lp that Maurice brought in outside help to write, produce and play on the core songs of the album, since the Great Charles Stepney died ... David Foster, Jay Graydon, and Alee Willis co-writing and producing most of the songs on that album pissed of cats like Phillip Bailey, Larry Dunn and Al McKay who were used to helping Maurice build the sound..those cats felt like the group didnt need any help, especially from white, pop-song writers...that said, that was a great album..."Cant Let Go" and "You And I" are 2 of the greatest EW&F songs ever....