This is my favorite album by Earth, Wind and Fire. It was the first album where the group featured a full sound: band, horns, strings, orchestrations, production, etc. It also features my favorite vocal moments by Maurice White: “Shining Star,” “That’s the Way of the World,” and my personal favorite, “All About Love.” It also has the studio version of the Philip Bailey lead “Reasons,” with its wonderful orchestrations, and I also love the reverb on the vocals, particularly during the fade out.

Another favorite track on this album is the closer, “See the Light.” I really love the synthesizers that are featured on this song, starting with a wild fusion groove in 7, then going to a nice Latin influenced rhythm. They’re one of my favorite bands who combined elements of different genres together. It was jazzy, bluesy, rocking, soulful, symphonic, and everything else.

Other favorite E.W.F. albums include Open Our Eyes, the live Gratitude, Spirit, which features some of my favorite emotional vocals from both Maurice and Philip, “All ‘n All,” and “I Am.” They also made some exciting albums during their later years like The Promise, and Illumination, which was my introduction to groups like Tony Toni Tone. I’ll probably talk about that in my next favorite album list…

I think you will enjoy this album.