That’s the Way of the World

Funky... ehhh #3

Pre Listen:
First Earth, Wind & Fire album on here sick. I love these guys; I've listened through their "All n' All" and Greatest Hits album before and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Haven't heard this one, but fairly certain I'll love it. Higher expectations than typical resultingly.

Notable Tracks:
Shining Star - Oh, I had no idea this was Earth Wind & Fire. I have no idea why, but I always thought this was a Stevie Wonder song. Neat, good song!
All About Love - Least favorite track. Too slow, too gooey, and too long. Love songs like this are icky!
Africano - Favorite track, that's some damn good funky jazz. Enjoyed the Afro-Influence on it, absolute groove.

Post Listen:
An album which is 85% quality, but they made some.... interesting creative decisions here and there that bump it down just a little bit.

As with every other Earth, Wind & Fire song I've had the pleasure to listen to, the instrumentation is totally amazing. The Brass, the Strings, the Bass, all done superbly well. The vocals too sound phenomenal, complimenting the instrumentation almost through the whole album. The slow song was pretty meh, but that's more of a personal taste thing than an issue with the quality. What irked me was some odd inclusions at the end of a few songs where they included these dizzying, discordant electronic bits? Sounded like something out of Earthbound, felt very out of place.

Otherwise, a superb album. Will be adding Africano to my playlist. 4/5

Such a fun listen. I'm glad this challenge is introducing me to more funk

It is a very groovy, soulful record with a lot of merit that makes for a really interesting listen. However, beyond clear highlights like the opener 'Shining Star', it falls short of some of their later records.

8/10 [KEEP]

I’m at a 10.

I mean, it just kept getting better & better throughout the album; ironically, I think the weakest point is the title track, and only because it’s just a little long for what it is. Going into this, I was a little skeptical it would be THAT great; I knew it would be good, but my initial thought was surprise that “I Am” wasn’t one of the picks on the list, in favor of an album that only had one track I knew (Shining Star). After listening, Shining Star isn’t even the best track on the album. Hell, it might not even be in the top 4 for me, which is crazy to say. I think every track here is good to great, but from “Happy Feelin’” onward, it just keeps growing & growing & making you feel it – every sax run, every keyboard hit, every bassline, and every pitch of their harmonized vocals. When they preach, you listen. There is an otherworldly positivity radiating from this album that, when combined with their musical prowess, feels like a musical hit of serotonin I so desperately needed in the middle of a rainy & dreary week.

If anything, my biggest complaint is that it’s too damn short. I think “Africano” & “See the Light” could’ve gone another 5 to 10 minutes, and I almost never want tracks to go that much longer unless there’s something THAT infectious in the groove. It’s crazier to say that on an album where almost every track is 5 minutes, but it’s almost impossible to feel that length as a burden. It is unbelievable how good they are on this album. I don’t know why I was initially concerned about this album, and if anything, I think it’s shown me that I need to listen to way, way, way more Earth, Wind & Fire.

I’m actually out of words. It’s just that damn good. If you can feel it, you’ll know why. I hope everyone can feel it. It’s a 10.

Smooth.

I don’t think you have a soul if you don’t enjoy this on at least some level

Shining Star was the most fantastic choice to kick off this album. Gorgeous vocals, groovy, funky and soulful beats, it all flowed so well.

4.5

Top tracks: Shining Star, That’s the Way of the World, Happy Feeling, Reasons, Africano

my mom played a lot of ewf for me when i was a kid, this was really fun to listen to today. happy 21st night of september everyone

lots of bangers on this record, was blown away by the absolute shredding on shining star, i don’t know how i never really noticed that before. maybe because the vocals are so catchy. really dig the title track too, the kalimba (?) solo is veryyyy nice tickled my brain. for a 38 minute album it dragged the tiniest bit for me, i feel like it could have done with one less ballad and one more big banger but overall i really enjoyed the range of this album. lots of psych rock feel and some proggy moments?

definitely have been limited to listening to ewf in a ‘best of’ capacity until this point but i’m looking forward to digging into more of their actual releases

Dette blir noget for smooth for meg

It was nice! Not enough of a slam dunk to get a very high score, but a nice listen. My favourite song was probably the penultimate one which was instrumental.

Loved it! never really cared for Shining Star but it's a perfect opener and there are some really great songs on this one.

Great record and vibe. You can't hear that this was a soundtrack.

Fav track: Reasons

Very nice

Didn't like the slower songs as much, but still a good album

funky. good for the gym

A great record. Super tight band, great singers, some surprising instrumentation. Side note: the Christgau review of this album is unhinged.

Cool and funky. A great album for gettin' it ohn
3½

Starts with a song so good that it gets Elaine Benis dancing …

Earth Wind and Fire can at times come across to a modern listener as campy cliched funk- disco ala Boney M . They are not And this album show cases funk that strays close to disco while being catchy and danceable along with more soulful songs like the title track .

Pity “all about love ( first impressions)”drags the whole thing done - I’m only not dropping it a star as the horns on that song are great . Along with that spacey outro.