Audio CD review:
Earth Wind & Fire - Powerlight

Earth Wind & Fire - Powerlight

Band: Earth Wind & Fire Title: Powerlight Rating: Release Date: 25 October, 1990 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Fall In Love With Me 2: Spread Your Love 3: Side By Side 4: Straight From The Heart 5: The Speed Of Love 6: Freedom Of Choice 7: Something Special 8: Hearts To Heart 9: Miracles

Customer Reviews THE POWERLIGHT CONTINUES TO SHINE Powelight contines EWF's stance as an independent band that refused to be dictated to by the ever increaing greed of their coroporate record company who wanted 'hits' instead of true artisitc creativity. What are all these silly reviews seeking to analyze EWF's music, when the majority of most people posting here aren't even musicians? Everybody's a damn critic, but couldn't blow a whistle, let alone compose music. Maurice & the Group had capitulated after the wonderful double up 'FACES' and delivered 'RAISE!' with a solid 'hit' 'Let's Groove'. But they were not about to continue to churn out mindless hit records; their motto has always been about good positive music. POWERLIGHT is a laid back R&B groove from start to finish, with the same meticulous horn section & powerhouse vocals they were known for, but this time it was mostly over mid-tempo R&B using the popular sound of the time; the synthesizer bass and vocoder usage; which was very popular in the early '80s and they did this without compromising their overall style. The futuristic speeded up horns that introduces POWERLIGHT might lead you to believe that this offering is going to be a fast paced new sound from the Group moving at the speed of light, but that light is love and 'Fall in love with me' quickly sets the tone of the whole CD. The groove continues with 'Spread your Love',a funky cut with EWF using the steel drum for the first time. 'Side by Side' slowed the beat down even more, but keeps the groove going with some nice vocal harmony. Philip offers his signature ballad on 'Straight from the heart' which recalls previous songs like 'I'll write a song for you'. 'Speed of Love', 'Freedom of Choice' which is probably the most political song EWF has ever made, which I think was a vague statement to their record company about being force to churn out hits instead of being allowed to be the great band that they are without dictation, 'Something Special' & 'Hearts to Heart', which replays the speeded up horn intro at the beginning of 'Fall in Love' at regular tempo, keeps the R&B groove going, with the now classic interludes dispersed throughout. The CD closes with 'Miracles', the standard for EWF, if you are familiar with any of their CDs, most of them close with an uplifting ballad. Now I must address the same 'dis' a few people keep aiming at the closing of this song; the children that are supposedly singing off key at the end of the song and it 'ruins' the record. Now do you suppose that a band known for otherworldly harmony would not notice the off key singing of children on their own recording? The point is that sometimes kids do sing off key, but if you understand the message of the song and listen and realize that the kids are singing from the heart, then it doesn't matter that they're off key. I'm sure Maurice realized this when making the decision to leave the ending as it is. So quit hating and enjoy the music for what it is. Furthermore, comparing all of EWF albums to each other is not an accurate way to review their recordings, let alone any artist with a career that has enjoyed longevity. EWF had much more freedom in the earlier days of 'Open Our Eyes', 'That's the Way of the world', 'Spirit', 'All N All', & 'I AM'. If one was to view each of their recordings, taking into consideration when they were recorded & the atmosphere, then even the later recordings of the '80s &'90s could be better appreciated. And really, even their most unpopular records are miles ahead of anything that's being put out today. . Not the best work of E W & F, but still.... But still, not the best work of E W & F is always worth listening to. Not the best work of E W & F, which is one of my favourites bands of the 70-ties. They peaked in the seventies with at least 6 wonderfull albums. In the early eighties, when this album was made, they were already on their return but still, for a fan and a collector of the work of this band like me, you have to have Powerlight. I like Straight from the Heart and Miracles best. Both songs are as spriritual as their best work and have magnificent background singing. Praise to E W & F and Maurice White!. One of their best I think it's one of the best EWF albums. All the songs on this album are strong. The only flaw I see is the awful singing by children at the end of Miracles. If they had sang on key, it may have been acceptable. But, this is just at the very end of the song, so I don't let it bother me too much. . You can see a complete list of all Earth Wind & Fire discography, or go back to the Earth Wind & Fire tabs