Earth Wind & Fire Greatest Hits advice, please

The EWF box set does offer excellent sound quality. In fact I think Sony has done a great job remastering their catalog. No doubt helped by the work of the excellent mastering engineers and that all have been supervised by Maurice White himself. Now I wish they would finish remastering and reissuing the remaining titles that haven't been.

 

Indeed, this seems to have happened in this thread earlier as well . I would simply like to know about the sound quality on the single and double disc compilations. My plan is to get a compilation to collect the highlights and then dig deeper by getting individual albums.

As far as I understand, the box set basically contains most of the hits as well as a fair number of rarities. Unless the sound quality of the box is vastly superior to the comps, I'd rather just get the hits and then explore the gutsy, funkier side via proper albums.

 

I'm sure there is someone in the know who can answer your question.
It is a holiday weekend in the United States so you might have to bump this
on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Give it a try then.

 

I just gave up on a compilation and bought the CDs of the following:

That's the way....
Gratitude
All 'N All
I Am
Faces
Raise! (had this since 1985!)
Powerlight (also since 1985)

The reissues of the first 5 are pretty nice for packaging, big improvement over the cheap-o original CBS/Sony US CDs. Sound quality, don't know, nothing to compare to.

Raise and Powerlight sound great as original issues.

 

Good for you. But, don't forget to also buy Open Our Eyes, Spirit, and Head To the Sky. You still need one of the best of CDs for the single-only hits like September and Got To Get You Into My Life.

 

Add "The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol I" (red album).

This is the only album where you can find "Got To Get You Into My Life," "September" and "Love Music."

 

Even if you don't get any other proper albums, Spirit is essential!

 

You will probably find, as I did, that Faces is indeed a lost classic. This album did nothing when released, and I find it to be among their best. And I discovered it after hearing "Let Me Talk" and "Pride" on the Eternal Dance boxed set and wanting to delve deeper. Faces deserves to find its audience.

Agreed, wholeheartedly.

And, yes Best of Vol. 1 is essential for "Love Music" and the original single mix of "Got To Get You Into My Life". The version on the Eternal Dance is different, with a different ending.

 

Pleeease!!! Can't somebody chime in on which compilation that sounds best? I would truly appreciate it! I know that many albums are really great and definitely worth owning, but I want to have a compilation as well. Judging by the title of this thread, I believe I'm not the only one

So how is the sound of the remaster compared to the original CD of this title?

 

I agree that "Faces" is a very underrated album. It didn't exactly do nothing when it was originally released. It did reach #10 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #2 on the R&B album chart, going gold very soon after it's release. Not bad at all for a double album released at a time when record sales were way down. But it was considered a big disappointment saleswise since it didn't have any major hits or sell as well as it's multi platinum predecessor "I Am". Besides the two songs you mentioned, there are a number of great tracks on "Faces", including "Turn It Into Something Good", "And Love Goes On", "Win Or Lose", and "You".

 

I think one of the main reasons it didn't do quite as well as the one that preceded it is because it was a double album issued in a recession. I also think it could have been whittled down to a nice single LP. Problem is, what to exclude? My lineup would go something like this:

Let Me Talk
Turn It Into Something Good
Pride
You Went Away

Sparkle
Sailaway
Take It To The Sky
Faces

Or:
Let Me Talk
Turn It Into Something Good
Pride
You Went Away

Sparkle
Back On The Road
Sailaway
Faces

 

I agree with your lineup but "You" should also be included.

 

Never liked it.

 

I always think that the group was trying to re-do "After the Love has Gone."

 

I thought that too! Still think it's a good song though. Maurice co-wrote that with David Foster and Brenda Russell IIRC.

 

Plus:

1. Double albums usually never sell as well as a single, even in good times;

2. It did not have any major hit on it, to spur sales. Locally, "Let Me Talk" and "And Love Goes On" got a lot of airplay on the R&B radio stations, but I don't think it made a dent in the Top 40 or AC stations.

 

True on both counts. "Faces" was the first EWF album since "Head To The Sky" not to yield a top 40 pop single and their first since "That's The Way Of The World" not to go platinum upon it's release. They did bounce back strong the following year with the album "Raise!" and the single "Let's Groove" both reaching the top 5 on the pop singles chart and #1 on the R&B charts.

 

I think the point is that outside of the original CBS/Columbia CD of EWF Vol 1, the newer ones don't sound that great. EWF Vol. 1 original only goes to 1978 and is missing some great tracks, but is pretty good overall.

To get the rest, you have to buy the albums. For me, they only made four more that were good: I Am, Faces, Raise!, Powerlight. All are cheap and easy to get.

 

"Faces" has gone gold in sales, not bad for a double album but it's disappointing considering the platinum sales of their previous albums.

 

Yes I did mention that in an earlier post. Having a gold album in the middle of the music industry recession going on in early 80's showed that they had a dedicated fanbase. Though even that would be tested when EWF's 1983 album "Electric Universe" yielded no major hits and only sold about 250,000.

 

"Electric Universe" (1983) was the last Earth, Wind & Fire album featuring the band's most successful lineup. The only personnel change was the departure of one of the group's two guitarists Al McKay in 1981 who was replaced by a returning member from the early Warner Bros. years, Roland Bautista (who also played with the Crusaders).
Although they are underrated, both are great guitarists in their own right.

 

True. With the poor performance of "Electric Universe" Earth Wind & Fire disbanded for four years while Maurice White and Philip Bailey both recorded solo albums. EWF came back in 1987 with a much scaled line up consisting of Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Andrew Woolfolk, and guitarist Sheldon Reynolds replacing Roland Bautista who had left the band again, this time for good. By this time the Phenix Horns were recording and touring with Phil Collins and did not return to the group. Their part in the band was filled by studio players, usually members of the Seawind Horns led by trumpeter Jerry Hey. The album "Touch The World" yielded a #1 R&B hit with "System Of Survival" also to date was their final studio album to reach gold status.

 

That's why I don't like it. I'm not a fan of David Foster's music.

 

Let Me Talk did pretty well on the Black/urban chart. But, another factor is that EWF were blacklisted as a disco band after the success of "Boogie Wonderland" a year earlier. This was the time of the disco backlash, and disco had been declared dead by the time the album came out.

 

Not true.

For me, after Faces, the only good two albums were Touch The World and Millenium. Powerlight and Raise! had a couple of good tracks, but they were basically filler.