Commercially, Earth, Wind & Fire were slipping in 1983.
Though a decent album, Powerlight wasn't the type of big seller EWF was used to.
Maurice White responded with a change of direction that proved to be both a commercial and artistic fiasco.
Working with very in-demand (and very formula-oriented) studio figures like Martin Page and David Foster, EWF went for a much slicker and more high-tech approach on the weak and disappointing Electric Universe.
White saw that synthesizers and drum machines were playing more and more of a role in both R&B and pop, and wanted to acknowledge technology's impact on music with this album.
But EWF usually ends up sounding insincere and even sterile.
The type of synth-funk that worked so well for the System doesn't work for EWF.
A few of the songs are interesting (including "Electric Kingdom" and the single "Magnetic"), but they don't prevent Electric Universe from being EWF's weakest album ever.
When this release flopped, EWF's members temporarily went their separate ways, with Philip Bailey and Maurice White concentrating on solo careers.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnetic | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:21 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | TouchJ. Lind | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 3 | MoonwalkD. O'Connor | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | Could It Be RightMaurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 05:14 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Spirit of a New WorldB. Fairweather, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 6 | Sweet Sassy LadyWayne Vaughn, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | We're Living In Our Own TimeMichel Colombier, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 05:23 | 12 MB | 32 MB |
| 8 | ElectricnationB. Fairweather, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 249 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philip Bailey | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Robbie Buchanan | Synthesizer, Synthesizer Programming |
| 3 | David Coleman | Cover Design, Illustrations |
| 4 | Michel Colombier | Composer, Keyboards |
| 5 | Murray Dvorkin | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Earth, Wind & Fire | Primary Artist |
| 7 | B. Fairweather | Composer |
| 8 | Brian Fairweather | Synthesizer Programming |
| 9 | Phil Fewsmith | Portraits |
| 10 | David Foster | Keyboards |
| 11 | John Gilston | Simmons Drums |
| 12 | Jay Graydon | Songwriter |
| 13 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 14 | Mick Guzauski | Engineer, Remixing |
| 15 | Jerry Hey | Synthesizer Arrangements |
| 16 | Pam Hutchinson | Vocals (Background) |
| 17 | Lame Donald | Art Direction |
| 18 | J. Lind | Composer |
| 19 | George Massenburg | Remixing |
| 20 | D. O'Connor | Composer |
| 21 | Martin Page | Synthesizer Programming |
| 22 | Barbara Rooney | Assistant Engineer |
| 23 | Beloyd Taylor | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Wanda Vaughn | Vocals (Background) |
| 25 | Wayne Vaughn | Composer, Keyboards, Producer |
| 26 | Maurice White | Composer, Drums, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |