Customer Reviews

Spirit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everybody loves Earth Wind and Fire-how could you not? The album,"Spirit" ,however is one of those classic albums that seems to be known only to hardcore EWF fans; everybody seems to buy "That's the Way of the World" and the Greatest Hits collection and then go on about their business.I was lucky enough to grow up with this album in the house (on vinyl!!!!!!!),and even though the great song "Getaway" is included on the greatest hits, no true EWF fan should be without this album. "Imagination" is worth getting the album for all by itself!(only one of the most beautifully arranged love songs ever performed by the group-and they never do it in concert!) Songs like "On Your Face" and "Saturday Night" are funk 101, and "Burnin'Bush" is a moving "message" song with a gospel feel to it; the entire album is solid.

You couldn't blame Earth, Wind & Fire founding member Maurice White if his spirit was troubled in 1976. He had to come up with a successful studio follow-up to two breakthrough albums, "That's the Way of the World" and the live set "Gratitude." And he would have to do it without the full help of Charles Stepney, his friend and co-worker since their days as studio musicians at Chess Records, who passed on during the new album's production.

"Spirit," an overlooked classic from the group, hides somber messages in the deep funk grooves of "Getaway" (People around you giving you pressure/Try to resist all the hurt that's all around you.") and "Saturday Nite." Phillip Bailey is in fine voice on the acclaimed "Imagination" while in the title cut and in the group's signature song, White and company look to divine guidance even as the world around them seemed to crumble. Voices raised to the gospel roof, horns stacked to the ceiling zig-zagging through funk

grooves (especially on "On Your Face" and the instrumental "BIYO") and White's trademark funk drumming (freed up until now from the lockstep of hard disco) make "Spirit" a hidden, exciting treasure in EWF's legendary catalogue.

the baddest band that i've ever heard or seen.there music is timeless and endless.this album was pure genius and crafty.the song-writting and production not to mention the vocals are still a cut above the rest.i play this album as much as that's the way of the world,i am,all-nall,grattitude,the hits one and two,box set,etcc. cuz this group could always give up the goods.and this record is another landmark.

When this album was new, I heard Imagination and On Your Face playing all day on my aunt's new stereo. Although I have always been an EW&F fan, I was too young to realize who I was listening to at the time. Lately, On Your Face kept playing in my head and after several conversations with friends and family and mumbled lyrics, I found it on this album. An added bonus was Imagination (wonderful), Getaway and Saturday Nite! No disrespect to new artists but there is no comparison between borrowed/lifted tracks and real horns. This music is timeless.

Seldom is seen such a combination of musicianship,vocal, instrumental arrangements and yes, Spirit in one album. Phiip Bailey distinguishes himself as one of the great falsetto vocalists in this recording, if it had gone unnoticed til then. This was the one where he emerged. The album begins with "Getaway" and getaway you do, through an aural landscape ever shifting always compelling. The high points for me were "Getaway", "Spirit", "Imagination", "Earth, Wind & Fire".

8 albums in, and EWF just kept getting BETTER! After "Shining Star", "Getaway" was the EWF song that got the heaviest play on radio in my area. Other highlights on SPIRIT include "Saturday Nite", "Burnin' Bush" and "Biyo"-- one of their coolest instrumentals. Like "Power" and "Africano", it GRABS you and doesn't let go!

I was searching for this one song, I knew the album was orange and white. The song, way back in my memory, was Imagination. Back in 76', first love, u know the rest. EWF will always hold the title of ol' skool greatest bands.

There will never be, a band, such as EWF, again.

Spirit was the first full release of original material for EWF after their double "Gratitude" album. Continuing in the the tradition, this release features The Elements in true form, leading off with the singles "Getaway" and "Saturday Nite." Sleeper cuts "On Your Face," "Imagination," and "Spirit," will also hold your attention. My personal fav is "Earth, Wind & Fire," which is signature EWF.

This follow-up studio album to Earth Wind and Fire's "That's the way of the World" first released in 1976; is regarded by many in the music industry to be the greatest R&B album of all time.

Following hot on the heels of the outstanding #1 albums "That's The Way Of The World" and the blistering live "Gratitude", "Spirit" did nothing to erase the group's momentum, and is mostly remembered as yet another fine album from the period. However, on closer inspection the refined sound begun on "That's The Way Of The World" and continued in the studio tracks from "Gratitude" begins to sound a bit worn here; although fans of the other albums will most likely find "Spirit" more of the same, for me it is the beginning of the group's descent into slick formula. Most of the songs are of the slower kind, moving ever closer to the disco sound which permeated "All'n'All" and "I Am". Not an unlistenable effort, but not one that hits the CD player very often, as one begins to pine for the harder funk grooves and touches of jazz-fusion that made the earlier works so real and vital sounding. Only "Getaway" and the great instrumental "Biyo" rise above the generally substandard murk to remind one of what the group is capable of.