Wind & Fire Earth - That's the Way of the World

While not quite in a league with Stevie Wonder's best '70s albums, That's the Way of the World finds Earth, Wind & Fire taking a similar path to good effect. Melding rock, funk, jazz, and African influences, the group also works its positive messages--belief in oneself, understanding of others--into each track. "Shining Star," one of the greatest singles ever, leads off the set, but the title track, "See the Light," and "All About Love" keep the good vibes flowing with a minimum of sappiness. This excellent remaster contains a passel of bonus demo versions. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

EWF Long Time Fan

Had the album back in the 1970's...one of the best out there. After seeing them in concert this past month (Aug 2008) just had to finally get all of their albums on CD. One of the best bands of all times...crosses over all color lines and musical boundaries. A must for your collection. August 16, 2008

Excelent Recording.

In this case I will not be talking about the music as such. If you want to hear great recording work you must listen to this album. Engineered by George Massenburg who is a recording industry legend. March 15, 2008

Classic EWF

One of their best albums!! Put this CD in and put it on repeat and just let some REAL music wash over you. A++ December 19, 2007

Breakin' through

I think this was EWF's big breakthrough, the soundtrack to a film about the band, and I know that they deserved it. Like a lot of EWF's work, this is a mix of funk (the deserved, P-Funk-like hit "Shining Star"; "Happy Feelin's") and ballads (the moving sermon "All About Love"; title song, with great vocal interplay; "Reasons", with Bailey's wonderful falsetto), and the ballads are for the most part much better than the funk - "All About Love", the title song, and "Reasons" are among the best things the group ever put out, but the brassy "Yearnin' Learnin'" is kind of dry, and the enthusiastic but dull "Happy Feelin's" falls flat as well. Neither is bad, but they're both in the fourth or fifth class of EWF recordings regardless. The only bad song is the endless world-music jam "Africano" - "Kalimba Story" minus the melody. The one funk song that does work out, "Shining Star", is one of the group's very best songs, brimming with hooks, adding on a great bass-line and guitar intro and a Stevie Wonder-like "big-man" vocal part - the jazzy "See the Light" is good too, but again far too lengthy for its own good. And pretty much every song ends with a soundtrackish organ blurb that really gets annoying after the second time it happens. Still, this is a good album, it's just not as good as some other choice EWF albums - Gratitude, All `n' All, Spirit. November 24, 2007

fine score even if the film was forgettable...

That's The Way Of The World gives us a great score by Earth Wind & Fire. They perform their songs with a singular passion that impresses me greatly. In addition, this CD features extra bonus tracks that show us what certain songs sounded like before the group polished them. Great!

The CD track set begins with the classic and very beautiful "Shining Star." This track shows how Earth Wind & Fire were able to use R&B/Soul/Latin types of music and mold them into a single masterpiece. The beat rocks well and the group harmonizes to perfection on the chorus. Awesome! "That's The Way Of The World" begins with a beautiful musical flourish that sports a R&B/easy listening flavor; when the band comes in this number really takes flight! "That's The Way Of The World" is a classic about love that just about anyone can appreciate; this song is a highlight of this album.

"Happy Feelin'" sports a rocking beat mixed with R&B and some great lyrics about the good times in life. "Yearnin' Learnin'" begins with a great piano flourish and the group performs this with all their might. "Yearnin' Learnin'" gives us a 1970s soft rock flavored ballad.

The next track, "Reasons," became a classic almost the very instant Earth Wind & Fire released it. This R&B/Soul/soft rock ballad can never be forgotten. "Reasons" gives us an example of a classic love ballad that will remain timeless; and Earth Wind & Fire deliver "Reasons" without a superfluous note. Awesome! If you don't like "Reasons," check your pulse--any living person would flip over this ballad!

"Africano" sports an African-American flavor to it with flutes that bolster the melody; and when this tune morphs into a disco type of number the shock you experience quickly turns into a deep desire to jump up and dance wherever you are--and this is one desire you just can't fight!

As for the bonus tracks, three stand out in my mind. I especially enjoy hearing the original sketch of "Shining Star (Future Star);" if you listen closely you can hear some of the vocals in the background. In addition, "All About Love (First Impression)" shows a R&B melody with a great backup chorus.

The final bonus track is the bossa nova version of "That's The Way Of The World." This version does indeed sport a distinctly more Latin flavor to it; and this works well even though the group took the song to even further heights with the rendition they ultimately released. There's that R&B mood already present, though! You can't mistake that.

The liner notes give us great black and white photos of the band members; and there is a brief essay about the film that used this score. Robert Lipsyte contributes a fine essay as well. You even get the song credits; and you get the recording dates for the bonus tracks. Excellent!

Earth Wind & Fire remain quite a force even today; I still hear their fine music on the radio. Aspiring artists would do well do study their work; and hopefully we will be able to enjoy their music on CDs for ages to come.
August 3, 2007

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