The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire

The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire is a compilation album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in July 2002 by Columbia/Legacy.[2] The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[3]

The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedJuly 30, 2002
Recorded1973–1983
Genre
LabelColumbia/Legacy
ProducerMaurice White, Al McKay, Charles Stepney, Joseph Wissert, Leo Sacks
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
That's the Way of the World: Alive in 75
(2002)
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire
(2002)
Live in Rio
(2002)

Overview

edit

With the LP came a sampler which featured remixes of Can't Hide Love and Let's Groove. During October 2002 the remix sampler was issued as a single and got to No. 4 on the UK Dance Singles Chart.[4][5]

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [6]
Blender     [7]
PopMatters(favourable)[8]
Newsday(favourable)[9]
SoulTracks(favourable)[10]

Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters proclaimed "The Essential Earth, Wind, and Fire, chronicles the best music of arguably the most popular R&B/soul band of the last three decades."[8] Barry Walters of Blender, who gave a four out of five star rating, opined "the 34 tracks on The Essential encompass these funky spiritualists’ many sides, from preachy (“All About Love”) to sensual (“Can’t Hide Love”) to ecstatic (“Boogie Wonderland”)."[7] With a 4.5 out of 5 star rating Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote "The single-disc Greatest Hits remains the choice for the casual and the curious listener due to its concise concentration of classics, but anybody who wants a thorough retrospective should choose this."[6] Howard Dukes of SoulTracks also called the album "a collection that will definitely get the party started".[10]

Track listing

edit
Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Originally fromLength
1."Mighty Mighty"Maurice White, Verdine WhiteOpen Our Eyes, 19743:02
2."Evil"M. WhiteHead to the Sky, 19734:56
3."Devotion"Philip Bailey, M. WhiteOpen Our Eyes4:49
4."Keep Your Head to the Sky"M. WhiteHead to the Sky5:09
5."Kalimba Story"M. White, V. WhiteOpen Our Eyes4:01
6."Shining Star"Bailey, Larry Dunn, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World, 19752:50
7."That's the Way of the World"Charles Stepney, M. White, V. WhiteThat's the Way of the World5:45
8."Yearnin' Learnin'"Bailey, Stepney, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World3:39
9."All About Love"Dunn, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World5:30
10."Reasons"Bailey, Stepney, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World4:58
11."Sing a Song"Al McKay, M. WhiteGratitude, 19753:23
12."Can't Hide Love"Skip ScarboroughGratitude4:09
13."Getaway"Peter Cor, Beloyd TaylorSpirit, 19763:45
14."Saturday Nite"Bailey, McKay, M. WhiteSpirit4:03
15."Ponta de Areia (Brazilian Rhyme)/Be Ever Wonderful"Dunn, Milton Nascimento, M. WhiteAll 'n All, 19776:00
16."Open Our Eyes"Leon LumkinsOpen Our Eyes5:03
17."Got to Get You into My Life"John Lennon, Paul McCartneySgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 19784:03
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Originally fromLength
1."September"McKay, M. White, Allee WillisThe Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 13:35
2."Serpentine Fire"Sonny Burke, M. White, V. WhiteAll 'n All3:50
3."Fantasy"Eduardo DelBarrio, M. White, V. WhiteAll 'n All4:36
4."I'll Write a Song for You"Bailey, Steve Beckmeier, McKayAll 'n All5:22
5."Drum Song"M. WhiteOpen Our Eyes5:09
6."In the Stone"M. White, David Foster, WillisI Am, 19794:25
7."Can't Let Go"Bill Myers, M. White, WillisI Am3:28
8."After the Love Has Gone"Bill Champlin, David Foster, Jay GraydonI Am4:25
9."Wait"Foster, M. White, WillisI Am3:39
10."You and I"Foster, M. White, WillisI Am3:31
11."Let Me Talk"Bailey, Dunn, Ralph Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. WhiteFaces, 19804:08
12."And Love Goes On"Dunn, Foster, Brenda Russell, M. White, V. WhiteFaces4:04
13."You"Foster, Russell, M. WhiteFaces5:30
14."Let's Groove"Wayne Vaughn, M. WhiteRaise!, 19815:32
15."Fall In Love With Me"Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. WhitePowerlight, 19835:49
16."Side by Side"Wayne Vaughn, M. WhitePowerlight5:31
17."Boogie Wonderland" (with The Emotions)Jon Lind, WillisI Am4:48
Disc 3 - from Limited Edition 3.0 (2008)
No.TitleWriter(s)Originally fromLength
1."Sun Goddess"M. White, LindGratitude7:41
2."Celebrate"M. White, Bailey, StepneyGratitude3:06
3."Spirit"M. White, DunnSpirit3:12
4."On Your Face"M. White, Stepney, BaileySpirit4:33
5."Imagination"M. White, Stepney, BaileySpirit5:16
6."Runnin'"M. White, Dunn, del BarrioAll 'n All5:51
7."Jupiter"M. White, V. White, Dunn, BaileyAll 'n All3:11
8."System of Survival""Skylark"Touch the World5:01

2014 reissue

edit
Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Originally fromLength
1."Mighty Mighty"M. White, V. WhiteOpen Our Eyes3:03
2."Devotion"Bailey, M. WhiteOpen Our Eyes4:50
3."Keep Your Head to the Sky"M. WhiteHead to the Sky5:10
4."Kalimba Story"M. White, V. WhiteOpen Our Eyes4:02
5."That's the Way of the World"Stepney, M. White, V. WhiteThat's the Way of the World5:47
6."Shining Star"Bailey, Dunn, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World2:50
7."Reasons"Bailey, Stepney, M. WhiteThat's the Way of the World4:59
8."Sing a Song"McKay, M. WhiteGratitude3:24
9."Can't Hide Love"ScarboroughGratitude4:11
10."Getaway"Cor, TaylorSpirit3:45
11."On Your Face"Bailey, Stepney, M. WhiteSpirit4:34
12."Saturday Nite"Bailey, McKay, M. WhiteSpirit4:01
13."Got to Get You into My Life"Lennon, McCartneySgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band4:03
14."September"McKay, M. White, WillisThe Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 13:35
15."Serpentine Fire"Burke, M. White, V. WhiteAll 'n All3:51
16."Fantasy"DelBarrio, M. White, V. WhiteAll 'n All4:38
17."I'll Write a Song for You"Bailey, Beckmeier, McKayAll 'n All5:24
18."Drum Song"M. WhiteOpen Our Eyes5:09
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Originally fromLength
1."Boogie Wonderland" (with The Emotions)Lind, WillisI Am4:49
2."In the Stone"M. White, Foster, WillisI Am4:25
3."Can't Let Go"Myers, M. White, WillisI Am3:29
4."After the Love Has Gone"Champlin, Foster, GraydonI Am4:39
5."You and I"Foster, M. White, WillisI Am3:33
6."Let Me Talk"Bailey, Dunn, Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. WhiteFaces4:08
7."And Love Goes On"Dunn, Foster, Russell, M. White, V. WhiteFaces4:05
8."You"Foster, Russell, M. WhiteFaces5:31
9."Let's Groove"Wayne Vaughn, M. WhiteRaise!5:39
10."Fall in Love with Me"Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. WhitePowerlight5:52
11."Magnetic"Martin PageElectric Universe, 19834:22
12."Dance Dance Dance"Taylor, M. WhiteRock & Rule soundtrack, 1986; released as a digital single in 20123:13
13."System of Survival""Skylark"Touch the World, 19875:00
14."Sunday Morning (Radio Mix)"Sheldon Reynolds, M. White, WillisMillennium, 19934:12
15."Pure Gold"Bobby Avila, Issiah Avila, Tony Tolbert, James Harris III, Terry LewisIllumination, 20054:41
16."The Way You Move"Patrick Brown, Carlton Mahone, Antwan PattonIllumination4:17
17."My Promise"Siedah Garrett, Austin Jacobs, Darrin SimpsonNow, Then & Forever, 20133:22

Personnel

edit

Accolades

edit

The following accolades attributed to The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire.[11]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Blender U.S. 500 CDs You Must Own: Rhythm & Blues 2003 Alphabetical order

References

edit
  1. ^ Blender Staff (May 2003). "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". Blender. New York: Dennis Publishing Ltd. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire. Columbia/Legacy. July 2002.
  3. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire". RIAA. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  4. ^ Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth Wind & Fire (Remix Sampler). Columbia Records. October 2002.
  5. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Remix Sampler". officialcharts.com.
  6. ^ a b Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  7. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire". blender.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24.
  8. ^ a b Anthony Neal, Mark. "Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire". popmatters.com. PopMatters.
  9. ^ Adams, Genetta M. (November 7, 2002). "Making out your holiday gift list? Consider these greatest hits albums". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Newsday. p. 47 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Dukes, Howard (August 8, 2002). "Earth, Wind & Fire - The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire (2014)". popmatters.com. PopMatters.
  11. ^ 500 CDs You Must Own: Rhythm & Blues. Blender Magazine. March 15, 2003.