Earth Wind and Fire: Now, Then and Forever (Sony Legacy)

 |   |  <1 min read

Earth Wind and Fire: Guiding Lights
Earth Wind and Fire: Now, Then and Forever (Sony Legacy)

The infectious horn-driven sound of EWF changed the coordinates of black music when founders Maurice and Verdine White envisioned a band crossing genres from soul and funk to pop, rock and Afro-inflected rhythm'n'blues.

Early on they brought in singer Philip Bailey and later drew from disco and electro-pop. This, their 21st studio album since 1971 and eight years since their last, is the first without Maurice White although Verdine, Bailey, longtime drummer Ralph Johnson and keyboard player Larry Dunn are present.

Although tweaking their dance-funk template, their signature sound remains.

In fact on the disco-funk of My Promise and Night of My Life, and the weightless ballads elevated by Bailey's falsetto and breathy background vocals (Guiding Lights) we could be back in '79 at their boogie wonderland.

But they add touches of musical colour (acoustic guitar and moog on the warm instrumental Belo Horizonte; congas, snapping bass and stuttering guitar on Dance Floor; tabla drums and astral synths on the dreamy Splashes) so within their style EWF bring something extra and different.

Some copies seamlessly include half a dozen earlier hits after the 10 new tracks to make an impressive package. Get that one.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Various Artists: See You on the Horizon (Sunreturn)

Various Artists: See You on the Horizon (Sunreturn)

There’s been a long and illustrious history of local compilations, from the Loxene Golden Disc collections in the late 60s and early 70s through seminal... > Read more

Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime (Matador/digital outlets)

Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime (Matador/digital outlets)

Remarkably, it has been more than 15 years since Elsewhere started to write about what has been called “desert blues” or “Sahara blues” out of the Tuareg (and beyond)... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . WILD MAN FISCHER: Psycho street singer and shouter

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . WILD MAN FISCHER: Psycho street singer and shouter

Given Frank Zappa's proclivity towards oddball performers and different musicians -- Captain Beefheart, the GTOs, the Shaggs -- it's hardly surprising he should be the one who brought Wild Man... > Read more

Little Feat: Dixie Chicken (1973)

Little Feat: Dixie Chicken (1973)

The critics liked Little Feat -- and Dixie Chicken -- a whole lot better than the public. Today any number of greybeards will tell you how they were deeply into the band but (as with those who were... > Read more