Earth, Wind & Fire's return to Warner Bros.
with 1993's Millennium proved to be short-lived -- the album failed to meet the company's expectations commercially.
Four years later, EWF ended up on the independent, Miami-based Pyramid label with the surprisingly retro In the Name of Love.
More personnel changes had taken place, but thankfully, Maurice and Verdine White and Philip Bailey were still on board for what was EWF's most live-sounding, least high-tech offering since 1983's Powerlight.
(However, EWF had been touring without Maurice since 1994).
Live horns and real instruments abound, and everything from the ballads "Cruising," "When Love Goes Wrong" and "Right Time" to the punchy funk ditty "Rock It" sounds like it could have been recorded in the 1970s.
One very pleasant surprise is a remake of "Love of Life," which the pre-Bailey EWF embraced on its self-titled debut album of 1971.
Bailey's son, Sir James Bailey, raps on the sociopolitical "Revolution," but on the whole, this excellent CD is unapologetically retro.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rock ItJames Bailey, Philip Bailey, Sonny Emory, Morris Pleasure, Sheldon Reynolds, Verdine White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | In the Name of LoveMelanie Andrews, Morris Pleasure, Betty Reynolds, Sheldon Reynolds, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:48 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 3 | RevolutionJames Bailey, Sonny Emory, Morris Pleasure, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 4 | When Love Goes WrongPhilip Bailey, Alan Glass, Andrew Klippel | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 5 | Fill You UpKevin Guillaume, Damian Johnson, Ralph Hawkins, Jr., Paul Minor, Ralph Tresvant | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Round and RoundScott Mayo, Wil Wheaton | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | Keep It RealMelanie Andrews, Paul Minor, Morris Pleasure, Sheldon Reynolds, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 8 | Love Is LifeWade Flemons, Maurice White, Don Whitehead | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | Right Time | Earth Wind & Fire | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | Cruising | Earth Wind & Fire | Play | 05:41 | 13 MB | 35 MB |
| 11 | Avatar | Earth Wind & Fire | Play | 02:08 | 4 MB | 12 MB |
| 48 mins | 111 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 339 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melanie Andrews | Composer, Vocal Concept |
| 2 | James Bailey | Composer, Rap, Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Philip Bailey | Composer, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Doug Boehm | Assistant Engineer |
| 5 | Tim Boland | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Ray Brown | Horn, Trumpet |
| 7 | Carl Carlwell | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Lenny Castro | Percussion |
| 9 | Paulinho Da Costa | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 10 | Earth, Wind & Fire | Primary Artist |
| 11 | Marcel East | Composer, Keyboards |
| 12 | Sonny Emory | Composer, Drum Programming, Drums, Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Wade Flemons | Composer |
| 14 | Alan Glass | Composer, Producer, Programming |
| 15 | Tony Gonzalez | Assistant Engineer |
| 16 | Gary Grant | Flugelhorn, Horn, Trumpet |
| 17 | Kevin Guillaume | Composer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Ralph Hawkins, Jr. | Composer, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | Jerry Hey | Flugelhorn, Horn, Horn Arrangements, Trumpet |
| 20 | Damian Johnson | Composer, Keyboards |
| 21 | Ralph Johnson | Composer |
| 22 | Jerry Jordan | Engineer, Mixing |
| 23 | Paul Klingberg | Engineer |
| 24 | Andrew Klippel | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 25 | Scott Mayo | Composer, Drum Programming, Sax (Soprano), Saxophone, Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Howard McCrary | Vocals (Background) |
| 27 | James McCrary | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Bill Meyers | Guest Artist, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Producer, Song Adaptation, String Arrangements, Strings, Synthesizer, Synthesizer Horn, Synthesizer String Arrangement |
| 29 | Paul Minor | Composer, Drum Programming, Keyboard Programming, Keyboards, Sampling, Synthesizer Horn |
| 30 | Nu Era | Vocals (Background) |
| 31 | Morris Pleasure | Composer, Keyboards, Talk Box, Voice Box |
| 32 | Jimmy Randolph | Keyboard Programming, Programming |
| 33 | William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. | Trombone |
| 34 | Betty Reynolds | Composer |
| 35 | Sheldon Reynolds | Composer, Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 36 | Carmen Rizzo | Mixing |
| 37 | David Romero | Percussion |
| 38 | Richard Salvato | Production Coordination |
| 39 | Andrew Scheps | Engineer, Pre-Production |
| 40 | Roxanne Seeman | Composer |
| 41 | Michael "Patches" Stewart | Horn, Trumpet |
| 42 | Hugh Syme | Art Direction, Design, Digital Illustration |
| 43 | Wally Traugott | Mastering |
| 44 | Ralph Tresvant | Composer, Vocal Arrangement |
| 45 | Robert Vosgien | Digital Editing, Mastering |
| 46 | Wil Wheaton | Composer |
| 47 | Maurice White | Composer, Executive Producer, Producer, Song Adaptation, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 48 | Verdine White | Bass, Composer |
| 49 | Don Whitehead | Composer |
| 50 | Reggie C. Young | Trombone |
| 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). |