As you may have read elsewhere on the site, the high point for me on this record is the song “Can’t Hide Love,” the best track this band ever recorded and a work of True Pop Genius. (Check out side four for the best lineup of any side.)
Grammy nominated for Best Arrangement For Voices, it’s hard to imagine that another song beat it. The album was of course nominated as well.
The second best thing about this album is that it allows Earth, Wind & Fire to stretch out and incorporate some funky jazz into their music, like on “Sun Goddess”, a song that they recorded with Ramsey Lewis and which doesn’t appear on any other EW&F album. They do a couple of extended saxophone solos on the live stuff that really take the songs to another level. The band is on fire for practically every track here. This and The Greatest Hits Volumes One get you most of what’s great about the band. Both are Must Owns for anyone who likes Big Production Pop, soulful and otherwise.
Old News
A while back, I happened to have heard the Joe Gastwirt mastered CD and noted:
What a joke. LIFELESS and DULL. This record kills it. If you want to hear this music right you better own this record or one like it, otherwise you are wasting your time.
Of course, since this is a Hot Stamper copy, “one like it” is hard to find. But if you don’t want to buy one from us, get a hold of any LP you can, because this music belongs in your collection.
