Illumination

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Earth, Wind & Fire

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As I was growing up, I wasn't introduced to Earth, Wind & Fire like most people were. My uncle was a DJ so he always had alot of old school LPs. One day he played "Let's Groove" and "Boogie Wonderland" for me and I was hooked. However, I was still listening to Boogie Down Productions, EPMD and others so I wasn't really listening to too much old school r&b at the time. One day I was over my friends house playing video games and he played this slow jam mix that he had recorded on a cassette. I heard "After The Love Is Gone" and that was one of the first reasons why I started listening to old school r&b and shortly my Smooth Grooves and old school r&b collection was started. The majority of my Earth, Wind & Fire collection includes greatest hits CDs but I had to purchase "Open Our Eyes" becasuse it had my jam "Feelin' Blue" on there and unless you buy the "Eternal Dance" greatest hits CD then that track is hard to find otherwise. My favorite Earth, Wind & Fire songs of all time include "After The Love Is Gone", "Can't Hide Love", "That's The Way Of The World", "Fantasy", "Reasons",

"Feelin' Blue", "Love's Holiday", "All About Love", "September" and "Devotion".

Around March of 2005, my old roomate downloaded some music for me and one of the tracks was a song with Earth, Wind & Fire and Raphael Saadiq. Instantly, the song became a favorite song of mine and went searching on amazon to see when Earth, Wind & Fire would release another CD. I soon learned that "Illumination" would be coming soon. Although, the release date was changed often, the CD finally came out a couple of weeks ago. Now, I understand if diehard Earth, Wind & Fire fans may not enjoy the entire CD. Earth, Wind & Fore definitely made an effore with the guest appearances by Will I Am, Big Boi, Kelly Rowland, Floetry and Brian McKnight to make a CD that younger listeners would be able to relate to. However, when I listen to my "Illumination" CD, I hear a sound that compares to the Earth, Wind & Fire sound that I have come to enjoy over the years.

The CD starts off right with Will I Am from the Black Eye Peas producing and featuring on "Lovely People". Now I will admit that I am not a big Black Eye Peas fan but Will I Am produces a nice funky jam to please Earth, Wind & Fire fans. It's just nice to hear Maurice White get back to the swing of things after everything that he has been through. "Pure Gold" is vintage Earth, Wind & Fire as the combination of Maurice White and Phillip Bailey on the vocals still sounds as strong as when they originally started. This song has a very positive vibe and Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and the other prodcers should be commended for a job well done. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also produce "Love's Dance" which still stays true to their original sound. The difference in my opinion is that everything matches up to a current sound. You hear the references of old Earth, Wind & Fire with the producers and the sound of r&b currently. This is clearly evident on "This Is How I Feel". You have Earth, Wind & Fire matched up with Big Boi from Outkast, Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child and Sleepy Brown. Now when I first heard this song on the Hitch soundtrack, I wasn't clearly convinced until I gave the song a couple of listens. A song will not "hit" you everytime the first time you listen to it. After a couple of listens, I found myself liking the song. Big Boi starts off the track with a nice verse, Earth, Wind & Fire keep the party going on the verses and Kelly Rowland and Sleepy Brown assist on the chorus and on the bridge.

Raphael Saadiq, known from Tony Toni Tone, Lucy Pearl and his two solo CDs, the stellar "Instant Vintage" and "Ray Ray", which also was pretty good, clearly composes one of the best songs that I have ever heard in "Show Me The Way". The song takes you back to the age when Earth, Wind & Fire was performing songs like "After The Love Is Gone", "Can't Hide Love" and "Reasons" and puts you to how in the year 2005, Earth, Wind & Fire can still hang with the groups of today. This song is clearly the best song on the CD. Maurice White and Raphael Saadiq trade vocals on the verses and as always Phillip Bailey does his thing with the adlibs. "Show Me The Way" and "Pure Gold" alone gives this CD atleast a 3 star rating. On "Work It Out", Raphael Saadiq speeds things up some as Earth, Wind & Fire make one of their feel good songs just like they did with "Shining Star" in the past. "Pass You By" is a nice midtempo song that Raphael Saadiq produced as well. Phillip Bailey clearly shows that he can carry a song by himself just as he did on "songs like "Reasons" and "I'll Write A Song For You" in the past. Floetry shows up on "Elevated".

The combination of the two groups works well together even with the rap verses of the song. It will be hard for core Earth, Wind & Fire fans to relate to the hip hop verses and the fact that it seems that Earth, Wind & Fire are trying to match their sound with the sounds of hip hop and r&b artists of today but as long as the quality of the songs are there, that's all that matters in my opinion. Organized Noize, who worked with Outkast during their earlier days and even sometimes now produced "This Is How I Feel" and they also do a good job on "The One". Maurice White is still able to belt the vocals over the uptempo jam. This is another classic motivational song from Earth, Wind & Fire. "To You" features Brian Mcknight on vocals and he also co-produced the song. "To You" matches classic Earth, Wind & Fire sounds to compose a pretty good slow jam. The only problem that people will have with this song is that too many of the sounds remind you of "After The Love Is Gone" and other slow jams that they have had instead of having better originality on the track. "Liberation" is a nice,uptempo instrumental jam and "The Way You Move" has Kenny G belting the Big Boi jam and Earth, Wind & fire singing just the chorus and the bridge of the song.

Overall, I think Earth, Wind & Fire did a good job on "Illumination". It is hard for well respected groups of the past to try and make a CD in 2005 and still have everything sound good. Although Beyonce's dad Matthew Knowles could use some help in the marketing department, Earth, Wind & Fire's "Illumination, The O' Jays "Imagination" and Jon B's "Stronger Everyday" were all CDs that I enjoyed and they were all on the Sanctuary Urban label. If you are a fan of Earth, Wind & Fire you should be able to enjoy this CD if you can deal with them using influnces and artists from the hip hop and r&b scene of today.

James' Top 5

1) Show Me The Way w/Raphael Saadiq

2) Pure Gold

3) Pass You By

4) Elevated w/Floetry

5) This Is How I Feel w/Big Boi, Kelly Rowland & Sleepy Brown

...but jeez people, the album is FUN. I grew up listening to EWF, hell - I still have a nice collection of the original vinyl on my record shelves at home. I'd personally be *sorely* disappointed if the crapped out another "Raise" just because a handful of jaded fans who couldn't let go in 1979 and listen to music with an open ear and open mind...that would have been the true "tragedy" here.

Its got the necessary pieces that defined EWF - the horns, the harmonies, the themes of love and having a damned good time - is there a "Serpentine Fire" on the album? No. And there shouldn't be. The true sell out would be to stagnate and stay stuck in an era (I'm looking at you AC/DC) and never really listen to anything save their own music...from the past.

While this effort isn't smacking one out of the park - and I'm not comparing this to past EWF albums, because that's unfair - compared to some of the funky stuff that has followed in their footsteps, "Illumination" is a short step behind...but still WAY ahead of the canned and sampled noise that's out there on the shelves right now. Give me a gang of old farts who still play their own instruments ove some kid with no other musical background other than listening to the radio - ANY day.

Let go of the seventies, people. Put the bell bottoms and the afros away, because as hard as it is to believe, if you stop to enjoy the music for the sake of letting music wash over you for an hour or so, then you'll see the charm of "Illumination." If you're looking to recapture "September," go buy the greatest hits package, crack out the door beads, take the hookah down to the basement and get your old school groove on. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying hearing a group of musicians trying something a little different.

So why the condemnation of the haters and only three stars? I do have to take off points for jumping on the "featuring "artist of the moment" thing...I have to agree with one of the other reviewers and say that its unnecessary. Its nice that they let the kids who grew up obsessing over their music into the studio to hang out with them, but, they really didn't need a credit.

Now, if you want to be outraged about something, you're wasting your time on trying to dog "Illumination" - come down on the band's management for letting them do a concert with ice skaters on TV...that's bogus. Alas, that rant, I will save for another forum...

Get this one. Leave your expectations at the door, though, and take it at face value. You'll find a nice addition to your collection.