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Louis85
06-12-2003, 09:02 AM
Hey everyone, particularly Be,

Has anyone listened to Earth, Wind & Fire's new CD, "The Promise"? This CD is great and a lovely addition to my collection. Everything I would expect from them. The song "Where Do We Go From Here" is sweet! Gotta love that Phillip Bailey!!! For the true EWF fans, I think this album will make them happy. This album was definitely due! They are truly a timeless group!

:rock:

Louis

Cozmo D
06-12-2003, 12:31 PM
Was Maurice White involved at all?

Louis85
06-12-2003, 03:17 PM
Oooooow...umm...I'm not sure about that but it SOUNDS like he was. I will have to check my CD cover when I go home today. I THOUGHT I heard his voice on a few of the tracks, but I could be wrong.

He has Hodgeskins disease, does he not? I though I heard that that was why he didn't tour with them the last time. Bailey did a wonderful job in carrying his songs.

:rock:

Cozmo D
06-12-2003, 04:02 PM
Yeah, I think that's what he has. I believe that I heard that at least up until recently he was still working with them in the studio, though I'm not sure if he's actually doing vocals.

I hope this is the case, the disease, unless it is very advanced, should not preclude him from at least writing for the group. E,W,&F has always been HIS group, and since I've been a fan of theirs ever since the Warner Brothers days (pre- Phillip Bailey) seeing them live has just not been the same for me. :sad:

I will probably pick up the album on your say-so though. :thumup:

Louis85
06-12-2003, 04:38 PM
Wow, pre-Bailey days, that's longer than me! I think I first started listening back when All N All came out. Yeah, I caught the concert they did here in Pittsburgh in 94 or 95, I believe. It was weird without Maurice.

I will always love their music.

:rock:

Louis85
06-13-2003, 07:33 AM
Yes Coz, Maurice White is ALL over this CD. He did lead vocals and produced several of the songs according to the CD cover. I thought I heard his voice. I guess he can do all the in-studio work still. For their tour (this summer) I don't think he will be with them.

Oh, and it's not Hodgeskin's, he has Parkinson's disease (like Ali).

filmwizdaddy
06-13-2003, 09:43 AM
I was hoping someone heard this album!!!!! I was thinking about giving it a try!!!! :mrgreen:

Cozmo D
06-13-2003, 12:22 PM
YES!!!

I will be picking up that and the new Steeley Dan this weekend!!! :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:

Louis85
06-13-2003, 12:31 PM
I was hoping someone heard this album!!!!! I was thinking about giving it a try!!!! :mrgreen:

I really like it; it has grown on me fast! I can't stop listening to it!

Cozmo D
06-13-2003, 12:34 PM
Do you have all of their albums Louis?

If so, which ones are your favorites?

Hero1
06-13-2003, 09:50 PM
im gonna get this album now thanx 4 the heads up louis :cool:

Louis85
06-14-2003, 07:18 AM
Tim:

Cool man, if you like EWF's other stuff, you won't be disappointed!


Coz:

I have just about every CD they have put out. I am missing Electric Universe. They only put it out for a short period of time because they considered it a commercial failure. I have it on cassette only. :sad: I am missing some of those stupid albums where they just regroup songs you've already heard with nothing new on them. You know, like something V2 would do!

My favorite CD overall...hmm...that's a tough one. I would probably pick the one everyone else would pick--All N All. Too many good hits on it. Next would be I AM, Spirit, & Raise. The box set (Eternal Dance) is awesome too. That's the thing with EWF, I like them so much, it's hard to rank their CDs against each other. Even the more recent stuff is very good to me, different, but still good. But, like you, I wanna hear Maurice sing. They only have 3 original members from the nine they had initially. It's pretty impressive to keep producing the same quality of music with that much change of members. I have 25(?) of their CDs. I still have a few to get.

:rock:

Louis

Terrick
06-14-2003, 11:06 PM
we're playin ewf music for marching band this year

Louis85
06-15-2003, 04:41 PM
"In The Stone" Elle?

Terrick
06-15-2003, 09:11 PM
yeah, i think so.

Cozmo D
06-16-2003, 01:29 AM
My favorite CD overall...hmm...that's a tough one. I would probably pick the one everyone else would pick--All N All.


Now you see, that's why I asked, 'cause just about anybody who was a E,W,& F fan from their hayday would have picked either "That's The Way Of The World" or "Gratitude". I don't think there's any doubt that "That's The Way Of The World" was their most timeless album, but my personal fave is "Last Days And Time" because it was when they had just begun to really hit their stride...and I had just begun to hit mine...heheheh.

I personally never cared much for their disco era stuff...but then we've discussed that before. However, in the golden era of bands (the 70's), they may have truly been the greatest band of them all!!! :rock: :bowdown: :rock: :bowdown: :rock: :bowdown: :rock: :bowdown: :rock: :bowdown:

Louis85
06-16-2003, 08:55 AM
Coz, dude, bro,

There is NOT a whole hellava lot of difference in magnitude to which that album is my "favorite" over the others. I LOVE all those albums you mentioned and MANY others! I can listen to just about ANYTHING they produce. There's a song on that album that I like slightly better than others.

This is exactly why favorites or rankings don't always tell the whole story. You have a sentimental attachment to those albums because they were the first ones you heard possibly (among other reasons). All N All was the first EWF album I ever heard. I liken it to The Bliss album being the first PM Dawn album I heard (although it's still not my favorite PM Dawn CD). There is a strong sentimental attachment to that album because it got me into PM Dawn's music. Same with All N All. Feel me?

Plus, I think their "hey day" lasted thru the disco era as well, didn't it? Boogie Wonderland (my least favorite EWF song) sold like crazy. I heard someone on TV just this weekend refer to them as "the greatest crossover band ever." Not sure I like that title for them, but I understood where they were coming from.

Louis

:rock:

syxxpm
06-16-2003, 10:04 AM
earth wind and fires version of "got to get you into my life is pretty cool" :thumup:

Cozmo D
06-16-2003, 01:20 PM
Louis, I didn't mean anything derogatory by what I said, I agree with you completely. I was just marvelling at how peeps who got into them a little later would probably gravitate towards a different EWF feel.

For the record, All N All is my 3rd favorite of all of their albums, right behind That's The Way Of The World and followed closely by Spirit. I think I bought all of their albums after that (had to) but cared very little for them because of the disco feel. I also agree, I HATED Boogie Wonderland!!! It's funny, 'cause a good friend of mine who's like 32 (and a much better musician than I am) was raving about Boogie Wonderland to me, pointing out the musical nuances and shit. I chuckled at him and put on Can't Hide Love...heheheheh.

The reason I refer to the pre disco era as their hayday is because what they were doing just felt more genuine, and less commercially intrusive. Sort of like Kool & The Gang pre JT. They probably made more money on Ladies Night and Celebrate than they did on all of their pre JT material put together, but they stopped being the musically innovative force that they had been.

So yeah, I'm not fond of that crossover moniker either, because when you have it it's like that's what you set out to do...and I definitely know that at least with All N All and earlier that wasn't the case with them.

:peace: :wave:

Louis85
06-16-2003, 02:35 PM
Excellent points Coz! I didn't take what you said derogatory, but I just wanted to let you know that I like them all. And I love Can't Hide Love too! There are so many good ones to choose from.

What do you think of their late eighties, nineties and 2000 flavor? I got through my undergrad junior year listening to System of Survival, the sythesized, hornless album that lot of their critics hated. I would have liked In The Name of Love (circa 94?) except for the absence of Maurice. I like Millenium fairly well.

Louis

Cozmo D
06-16-2003, 05:39 PM
I actually like System Of Survival. It almost seemed as if they had decided to find their own place in a new era, so it rang true to me. That was the last album that I bought by them though, as I stopped spinning as much and so got much more selective with my record purchases. Could be that that was their last vinyl release too, which would have caused me to overlook them.

Louis85
06-17-2003, 09:14 AM
Since that album, they have released (that I have):

Eternal Dance (3 CD box set)
Millennium
In Name of Love
Greatest Hits Live
The Dutch Collection (2 CD collection)
The Promise

Eternal Dance is sweet. It has a collection of their music on 3 CDs divided by the band's eras. So you would probably enjoy the first CD. The set has about 6 or 7 previously unreleased songs on it.

Millennium continued their new style like the Touch the World Album, only the horns return on this album in full force. Probably the worst of these CDs is the Greatest Hits Live CD. The loser they had filling in for Maurice was terrible. His voice cracked on Be Ever Wonderful! That trashes the entire album. In the Name of Love is okay, but this same guy is singing Maurice's songs. Maurice is so much better. Great Bailey-sung songs of course, like Crusin'.

Louis

Terrick
06-18-2003, 03:59 PM
I just went and bough the album today. Finally a cd worth the $13.99. I noticed that ?uestlove is involved somehow in Suppose You Like Me. Anyone know what he did for it?