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When I first heard this album it was on vinyl when I was seriously into the music of Earth Wind & Fire and to be honest I didn't like it very much. The music seemed very removed from what I was listening to at the time which was for the most part very hardcore funk,R&B and soul. And that's strange because this is a review by one of a few people with genuinely good things to say about 80's music in general. That was 15 years ago and upon hearing it again my opinion is a bit broader. I will say one thing for this-the way this album was presented (at least on vinyl) each side-or half if your listening to this CD version starts off with a very obviously pop/rock with a lot of louder guitars and drumming:those two songs being "Photographic Memory" and of course the albums big hit "Easy Lover",the song most people remember from this album and the reason most people probably came into it in the first place. As other reviewers have pointed out these songs are not at all indivative of the album as whole and were likely put on to cross the album over to the pop charts. The majority of this recording is every bit the regally produced R&B/funk that would be common to find on any EWF release,even during this era. "I Go Crazy" and "Time Is A Woman" are actually better examples of the 80's electro funk sound as they both focus on creating a textural mood and tempo as opposed to seeing how many synthesized effects could fit into one song. "For Every Heart That's Been Broken" and "Woman" are both excellent songs that,with the combined sound of the Phenix horns and Philip's jazzy gospel chordal phrasing on the vocals make them both sound like possible EWF outtakes from the Faces era of their recording career. Same goes for the heavily gospel sounding "Show You The Way To Love" which would not have been out of place on EWF's Powerlight from the previous year before this. "Go" is one of the more heavily funk oriented tunes and kind of glues the sound of a lot of the rest of the album in one great jam. There are also two somewhat epic songs in the title track which is a seemingly awkward mixture of 80's progressive pop and afrobeat. Somehow with the great melody Philip pulls this rather Peter Gabriel sounding tune off very well. The last tune is a great moody version of "Children Of The Ghetto",again an epic song in more of a jazz-funk vein. Overall the sound of this album is quite different from that of Philip's solo debut Continuation which has a more fluid sound from cut to cut and doesn't have songs with such an obvious pop and rock influence. Even so there is a lot of great music here,especially from the mid 80's usually electronic/synthesizer oriented R&B/soul and funk environment so this is more than worth checking out.
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- w.cherryReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2015
one of the best classic albums of the 80's by far earth wind ...
