Last Days & Time

Earth Wind & Fire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000024ZD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,773 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Time Is on Your Side

2. Interlude

3. They Don't See

4. Make It with You

5. Power

6. Remember the Children

7. Interlude

8. Where Have All the Flowers Gone

9. I'd Rather Have You

10. Mom

Editorial Reviews

Japanese only Blu-Spec pressing, packaged in a Paper Sleeve. Sony. 2012. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning of the Columbia Years, December 16, 2005

By 

BiggO (Baltimore metro area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Days & Time (Audio CD)

Well, let me first say that I love EWF, but I think I'm that rare fan who actually has a preference for the early stuff [the Joe Wissert and Charles Stepney produced material on WB and Columbia] as opposed to their most successful material from the latter part of the '70s. Why? Because it's "RAWER."

This album is the first Columbia album by what was the NEW, post-Warner Bros. EWF. It was both Philip Bailey's and Jessica Cleaves' debut...along with Ralph Johnson and Larry Dunn, and also featured a couple of guys who would depart after this album (saxophonist Ronnie Laws took guitarist Roland Bautista with him; Bautista came back in the '80s). It's definitely a transitional album as the band still sounds more like the WB-version of the band than the band that became the standard-bearer in black music by the end of the '70s. That's fine with me, though.

Most of the songs are solid if not spectacular, showcasing a band in search of its identity...funky but still heavily influenced by flower power...a few rough edges here and there. If for no other reason, though, fans will want to check out the studio versions of "Remember the Children" and especially "Power". These are a couple funky, guitar driven songs that show just how much of an influence Jimi Hendrix was on black music (that's another subject, though). Roland Bautista was by far the loudest and rauchiest of all of EWF's guitarits, and these two songs are his biggest contributions to the EWF legacy.

"Power" is the centerpiece of the album, featuring 5 different sections--a kalimba intro; the main theme featuring the sax (the part that most fans are familiar with); the center section featuring the wildest guitar solo on ANY EWF album; a quiet section featuring Larry Dunn's Rhodes and Ronnie Laws' flutes; and the final restatement of the theme featuring a wild clavinet solo by Larry Dunn (followed by a kalimba outro).

As you might be able to tell, this is my favorite song on the ablum and my favorite EWF piece of all time. It shows that these guys were first rate musicians. Yeah, there were more instrumental pieces on later albums (like "Zanzibar", "Africano", "Biyo", and so forth), but "Power" is the crown jewel. It showed they could go toe-to-toe instrumentally with bands like Santana, Mandrill, and early Funkadelic.

For the record, though, I recommend the album for SERIOUS EWF fans. If you're one of those casual listeners who only knows songs like "September", "Boogie Wonderland", "Let's Groove", and "After the Love Has Gone", well...you might be turned off.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember This Album, October 5, 2004

By 

Andre' S Grindle "Funk Meister" (Bangor,ME.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Days & Time (Audio CD)

'Last Days In Time' finds Earth,Wind & Fire at a certain peak of sorts.This is the bands debut album for Columbia and also
the debut of singer Phillip Bailey in their band.Not only is his voice in peak form but EWF have obviously not quite let go of the
ensamble-style jazzy funk they'd patented from their debut on
Warner Brothers two years earlier (whitch is even rawer then THIS).That sound is most evident on the communal funk jams of
"Time Is On Your Side",the wonderful "Remember The Children" and
the brilliant instrumental workout "Power".And even while Bailey
sings a couple pop covers in "Make It With You" and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" Earth,Wind & Fire didn't get any hits from
this album.Their sound was still far to eclectic and drew upon
too many world and jazz music elements to really get over on the
pop charts.So for a glimpse into EWF's pre-superstar days WITH
Phillip Bailey this album is a good place to go.You certainly won't find anything from it on Columbia's 1978 greatest hits
album 'The Best Of Earth,Wind & Fire' and even on more extensive
compilations these songs are often skimmed over.So for any EWF fan I'd say this album is pretty essencial.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sign of bigger things to come from this group, April 8, 2006

By 

3rdeye (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Days & Time (Audio CD)

I went to a concert at the University of MD (in the mid 70s) to see EWF, Mandrill, and Stevie Wonder- the bands played in that order.
EWF, while starting the concert first, stole the show, playing "Power," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Mom," to name a few- all from the Last Days and Time album. I've been a solid fan ever since! They still put on a great show. For the serious EWF fans, "Last Days and Time' is an absolute MUST to have in your collection! This is one of my favorite EWF recordings still!