Earth, Wind & Fire - Illumination

[DudeAsInCool]

...Illumination," as Billboard writes,"borrows inspiration from Carlos Santana's momentous 'Supernatural,' as its members trade vibes with like-minded practitioners of contemporary R&B/hip-hop." While this premeditated mainstream nod could be considered forced, "the best of these collaborations eloquently captures EWF's classic horn-and-harmony sound, absent the taint of forced hipness" -- like Raphael Saadiq's "sparkling" duet with Maurice White on "Show Me the Way," which was nominated for a Grammy in 2004. Other guests include Will. I. Am, Brian McKnight, Floetry, Big Boi, Sleepy Brown, and Kelly Rowland. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (A) argues that it is precisely these collaborations that makes "this album a winner": "Talk about aging gracefully. Earth, Wind & Fire's 23rd album rekindles the excitement of the band's horn-driven funk/soul heyday, while embracing the modern world of R&B-inspired hip-hop and new soul." (One slightly terrifying detail: "Giving the album a cross-generational shot of silky smoothness is saxman Kenny G on a fabulous cover of OutKast's 'The Way You Move.'")

In a feature about the dearth of R&B groups -- as opposed to soloists like Usher and Alicia Keys -- in today's musical world, the Boston Globe disagrees with all the hype around the collaborations, saying, "what's most extraordinary is that Earth, Wind & Fire is an R&B group, in an era when such ensembles have seemingly gone out of style." Still, band member Philip Bailey wants to keep the emphasis on the new, describing the resemblance of the project to the wildly successful "Supernatural" as totally intentional: "What Santana did was a masterpiece, but it would not have gotten played the way it did without the guest artists that he had. Superstars are coupling with other artists because the playing field is so competitive now. Earth, Wind & Fire collaborating with the new soul movement made sense because the thrust of their music is still about playing instruments and utilizing vintage sounds, only in today's setting."

-- Joe Charap - Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/ent/audiofile/index.h...ewed/index.html

[Redneck4sure]

They are like the Energizer Bunny. They just keep going and going and going. I have this album but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I try to listen to new stuff when I have time to hear it uninterrupted. After that I don't mind listening to a track here or a couple of tracks there whenever I get a minute.