Customer Reviews
I'm an 80s brat...
Certainly my parents "schooled" me on vintage EWF. My coming of age was in the 80s. My awakening, however, was with this album. "Let's Groove," naturally, set it off for me. The quiet seduction of the slow jams and the syncopation of the upbeat tunes are unforgettable for me--"Lady Sun," "You Are a Winner"--not traditional EWF, but I love 'em.
The End of an Era
It was EWF's attempt at modernizing their sound to fit the post-disco, new wave and punk enclave of the early eighties. "Raise" (the title suggests a continuation of the album cover themes presented on "All 'n All", and "I AM") was the last great EWF album featuring the "original" members. The lead-off track- "Let's Groove"- was unlike any other song in EWF's impressive catalog. Co-authored by Maurice White and the husband/wife team of Wayne and Wanda Vaughn (Mrs. Vaughn was one of the members of the group "The Emotions"), EWF parlayed their unique arrangement sensibilities on the now classic song. If "Let's Groove" were recorded by anyone else, it would have sound very different. The popular Vocoder synthesizer starts the song off. The main chorus and bouncy horn charts quickly join in the proceedings. What distinctly makes the song stand out is Maurice White's masterful inclusion of brass. Especially the playful horn riffs after the bridge.
"Lady Sun" follows with blaring horns and eerie synthesizer grooves. The creative horn arrangement on "Lady Sun" is my all-time favorite EWF horn arrangement (Great work Jerry!). If Maurice ever gets to re-master this disc, hopefully he'll extend the song a bit and bring the guitars further up to the front stage. I would also like to hear greater emphasis on Larry Dunn's synth fills. They belong in the front stage as well. BTW, this song and the tail end of Talking Head's "Making Flippy Floppy" are very similar- except the Heads don't use horns. Right before the horns scream out, the song starts out with a drum kick. I mention it because the next four songs also begin with the same drum kick.
"Be My Love" was a nice song for the era it was made in. But now it's a bit dated and doesn't hold up as well as their older material. "Evolution Orange" also suffers the same fate. It is certainly a holdover from the disco era. And what the song refers to is anyone's guess. Although, I can remember when Mazda offered some of their Miatas in the color evolution orange.
"Kalimba Tree" is a typical EWF interlude that's usually in between tracks rather than leading a side (of course now with CD's it really is between tracks). "You Are a Winner" is its self a winner. The uplifting lyrics and hard driving backbeat make it an instantly likeable jam. The horn charts are tight and circular (Again, great work Jerry!).
Interestingly, "I've Had Enough" appears to be a response to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop till you get Enough". Rhythmically, Bailey's song does seem to mirror Jackson's. But where MJ urges the listener to obey the flesh, Bailey cautions us to follow the Spirit.
"Wanna be with You" is a likeable song. It was the follow up single to "Let's Groove". The song is also representative of the deviation EWF's arrangements would take after "Raise". EWF had always based their song structures on bass, percussion and guitars rhythms. "Wanna be with You" is based on keyboards. This is a tactic that EWF has followed even up to their last album "The Promise".
Finally, we reach the highlight of "Raise"- the hard charging "Changing Times". Roland Bautista's wailing guitar sounds like a cross between Hendricks and Eddie Van Halen. Fred White (on drums) and Larry Dunn's keyboard chops add nicely to the proceedings. This song, instead of "Wanna be with You", should have been released as the second single. It harps back to EWF's early days (listen to the "Last Days and Time" LP) when their sound was raw and exciting. "Changing Times" offered new thrilling opportunities for EWF. However, the group took a step back toward the less appealing sound of "Faces" and never recovered.
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First album in EWFs 80s musical decline.
The fussion of jazz, soul, and world music was being replaced by that trendy 80s ultra produced synthy sheen that plagued pop for so many years. This album starts to abandon the original idea, sound and concept of EWF. Still the album can be saved, EWF's spirit was burried under a popish-last day disco sound but it was still there. "Let's Groove" is a timeless classic and there are a coulpe of good gems. But from this moment on EWF would never be the same. Things would deteriorate further more.
. You can see a complete list of all Earth Wind & Fire discography, or go back to the Earth Wind & Fire tabs
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