I am Great music. I got the product in excellent condition, received on time, original product and definitively will buy again from Amazon.
(2.5 stars) Seminal R&B group runs out of ideas To its credit, this does contain two of the group's last significant singles: the moving classic ballad "After the Love Has Gone", with top-notch sax playing; and the catchy, horn-driven, orchestrated funk number "In the Stone" ("Boogie Wonderland" was also a major hit, but it's a middling but catchy disco number that nonetheless doesn't suit the group very well and fits firmly in the "guilty pleasure" category). But the arrangements are slowly verging on bombastic (the strings on "In the Stone" are intrusive to the point of being aggravating), and there's none of the previous albums' raw energetic funk - even the danceable instrumental "Rock That" suffers from overly slick production, though it's a very good song otherwise. "Can't Let Go" also falls into the overproduction trap, featuring an obnoxious synthesized string part. "Star" has so many synthesizers that it's barely a song, just a synthesizer excursion with a terrible introduction. "Boogie Wonderland", meanwhile, is arguably the slickest song they ever made. And the running times are getting pushed dangerously close to the stratosphere - "Let Your Feelings Show", "In the Stone" and "Boogie Wonderland" are all nice songs, but none of them deserved to weigh in at around five minutes (or over five minutes in the case of "Feelings"), especially since all three of them feature repetitive codas. It worked on "Hey Jude", but that's because "Hey Jude" is a Beatles song, you know? The thing about "Boogie Wonderland", which I keep ragging on, is that it wouldn't have been a bad three-minute song - I could certainly do without the xylophone or glockenspiel or whatever; the verse melody is kinda forgettable; the disco strings are campy; but that is one catchy chorus! And I really like that harpsichord-like keyboard part, and the horns. And you can dance to it, for whatever that's worth. It's just too long, too repetitive, too dumb and too slick to be considered one of their best songs. Generally EWF's brand of soul is pretty progressive, what with all those jazz touches, but that one sure ain't. And does anyone else think that "Wait" is just an inferior take on "All About Love"? Seriously, the piano part was lifted right out of it, but taken at a different tempo, and the vocal melodies are virtually alike. I mean, it's still a good song, but I've already heard "It's All About Love" a trillion times (Because the song is amazing!), so I have no real reason to listen to it. Only "Star" and "Can't Let Go" are really bad, and "After the Love is Gone" is a classic, but overall this one's a mediocre mess.
Took me back to my high school days. I have this album and wanted the cd version. I always considered this to be one of Earth, Wind and Fire's best releases. A wonderful walk down memory lane.
An EWF Classic This is GREAT! As a kid, I had this album (vinyl) and now, I have it digitally remastered and it's the BEST! If you are an EWF fan, you need this in your digital collection.
ERTH WIND & FUNKY FUNK, DISCO, BOOGY,R&B - ALL MIXD TOGETHER TO A BEUTIFUL ALBUM THET MAKE YOU MOVE AND LISTEN AT THE SAME TIME. FOR ME THIS IS THE BEST WORK OF E.W.F AT THE 80'S. TAKE THIS ONE TO YOUR CD PLAYER.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
