Earth Wind & Fire Greatest Hits advice, please

I'm definitely not a fan of his work nowadays. Early on when he was working with R&B artists like EWF and Cheryl Lynn, writing and playing keyboards I thought he was great. After he tasted major success working with Chicago, that was the beginning of the really soft, treacly pop records he produced for Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, etc.... The more successful he got, the more soulless the music he produced.

 

For me, after Faces, the album that I consider classic is Raise!
Let's Groove, Wanna Be With You and Evolution Orange are classic Earth, Wind & Fire.

 

Thank you! Would it be possible for you to elaborate on the other comps then?

Btw, I guess the 1997 Warner the only available CD of their self-titled debut?

 

I think Steve is referring to the first CD issue from the 80's, and not a remaster. I have a Japan for Europe version of this red-covered compilation, and it does sound very good. I am quite certain that it is better than any of the later remastered versions.

I have the 2-CD Essential CD set on Sony/Legacy, and the old CD is way better.

 

What I am trying to tell you is that the sound of their comps is fairly uniform. There are no wild differences between them.

That, and the Last Days And Time are the only originally WB titles that are out. I don't know which is OOP.

 

I very much like some of his work (you can't go wrong with any of his Dave Brubeck discs IMO) but, some of his remasters don't work for me at all. A case in point is his Laura Nyro work. To me, his remasters are very shrill and brittle sounding. Granted, the original issue Columbia CDs are not sonic marvels, but they are also not headache-inducing the way these are. As always, YMMV, but for me personally, Wilder can be a hit-or-miss affair, especially when compared with Anesini (who I don't think has ever disappointed me with any of his work.)

 

No mastering engineer's work is going to be a winner with everyone all the time, not even Steve Hoffman's or Vic Anesini's work.

 

+1

 

Okay, but Anesini blew the REO Speedwagon remasters. The originals are a lot better...

You can't please all the people, 100% of the time... blah, blah, blah, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah...

 

Ivan, you and Grant certainly make valid points. Somewhat amazingly, I do not have any REO in my collection, so I will take your word for it regarding Anesini's efforts with that project.

The last thing I was to trying to do is stir up a hornet's nest with my response. That is why I carefully incorporated wording like IMO and YMMV in my post. I was simply trying to respond to Sean's original query with my own personal opinion. I agree with his sentiments, but only on a case-by-case basis. And that, is what I was trying to say.

No harm, no foul.

To sum up; IMO and judging exclusively by discs in my personal library, Wilder's remasters are not as uniformly consistent as a few others including Vic Anesini and Steve Hoffman. As always, YMMV.

As far as Earth, Wind & Fire goes, I quite like the sound of the original E,W&F Greatest Hits CD (non-remastered, red cover.)

Cheers,

 

Same here. I never had an REO LP or CD, so I wouldn't know about Anesini's REO work. However, I do remember Mark Wilder's Sony Gold CD Mastersound version of Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde. You can't judge anyone by one CD but I don't remember being blown away by any of his other remasters, yet I do remember most of Anesini's Lagacy comps. YMMV. My point is some please most of the time, some less than most of the time.

 

Totally agree and I respect your opinion. Ditto for Ben.

I really like *most* of Vic Anesini's work. I really do. And apologies for veering off-topic.