More of the Music of Earth, Wind and Fire
- EWF’s smash hit LP, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish – remarkably quiet vinyl too
- Both sides are open, spacious and transparent, with a huge three-dimensional soundfield and an energy level that’s off the charts
- Includes EWF classics “Shining Star” and, of course, “That’s The Way of The World”
- 4 1/2 stars: “Earth, Wind & Fire has delivered more than its share of excellent albums, but if a person could own only one EWF release, the logical choice would be That’s the Way of the World, which was the band’s best album as well as its best-selling. There are no dull moments on World, one of the strongest albums of the 70s and EWF’s crowning achievement.”
An outstanding copy of this funk classic! That’s The Way Of The World starts off with great music that is, apparently, very difficult to reproduce. Most copies make “Shining Star” literally sound like a cassette, and a bad one at that.
No highs, no lows, harsh vocals, and no real energy. When you hear it done right, you immediately remember why you love this song — the vocals are warm and present, the bassline is groovin’, and the energy makes you wanna grab someone and dance.
The title track gives you a much better feel for how transparent this copy is — check out the subtle triangle hits. The horns and strings need to be be dynamic and textured, and on this copy they certainly are.
This vintage Columbia pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.
If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.
What The Best Sides Of That’s The Way Of The World Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear
- The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
- The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1975
- Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
- Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the instruments having the correct timbre
- Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space
No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now. Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.
What We’re Listening For On That’s The Way Of The World
- Energy for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?
- Then: presence and immediacy. The vocals aren’t “back there” somewhere, lost in the mix. They’re front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt would put them.
- The Big Sound comes next — wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.
- Then transient information — fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.
- Tight punchy bass — which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.
- Next: transparency — the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.
- Extend the top and bottom and voila, you have The Real Thing — an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.
Side One
Shining Star
That’s the Way of the World
Happy Feelin’
All About Love
Side Two
Yearnin’ Learnin’
Reasons
Africano
See the Light
AMG 4 1/2 Star Rave Review
Earth, Wind & Fire has delivered more than its share of excellent albums, but if a person could own only one EWF release, the logical choice would be That’s the Way of the World, which was the band’s best album as well as its best-selling. Open Our Eyes had been a major hit and sold over half-a-million units, but it was World that established EWF as major-league, multi-platinum superstars.
Fueled by gems ranging from the sweaty funk of “Shining Star” and “Yearnin’ Learnin'” to the gorgeous ballad “Reasons” and the unforgettable title song, EWF’s sixth album sold at least five-million units. And some of the tracks that weren’t major hits, such as the exuberant “Happy Feelin'” and the gospel-influenced “See the Light,” are equally powerful. There are no dull moments on World, one of the strongest albums of the ’70s and EWF’s crowning achievement.