Four years passed between 1983's embarrassing Electric Universe and their reunion album, Touch the World.
Before the album's release, there was excitement as well as skepticism among Earth, Wind & Fire fans.
Was EWF still capable of delivering a great album? And even if it was, how well would the album do in an R&B market that was radically different than that of the 1970s? As it turned out, a lot of the old magic was still there, and Maurice White and Philip Bailey proved that they could still be a powerful combination.
From "Evil Roy" (which describes an urban youth's life of crime) to the major hit "System of Survival," Touch the World proved that EWF was still quite capable of excellence.
Though White doesn't shy away from technology, he uses it in an organic fashion and remains faithful to the outfit's rich history.
Despite "System of Survival"'s success, the album wasn't the huge commercial hit it deserved to be, but it wasn't a bomb either.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | System of SurvivalSkylark | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 2 | Evil RoyPhilip Bailey, A. Giles, Allee Willis | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | Thinking of YouWayne Vaughn, Maurice White | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | You and IDavid Foster, Mark Mueller, Robbie Nevil | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Money TightDanny Sembello, Maurice White, Allee Willis, Alonzo Willis | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | Every Now and ThenJon Lind, Brock Walsh | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | Touch the WorldOliver W. Wells, Rev. Oliver Wells | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Here Today and Gone TomorrowPhilip Bailey, Glen Ballard, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, M. Jones, Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks, Dutch Robinson, Clarence "Satch" Satchell, Marti Sharron, Gary Webster | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 9 | Victim of the Modern HeartIan Prince | Earth, Wind & Fire | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 10 | Musical Interlude- New Horizons | Earth Wind & Fire | Play | 02:03 | 4 MB | 11 MB |
| 42 mins | 97 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 267 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philip Bailey | Composer, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Glen Ballard | Composer |
| 3 | Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner | Composer |
| 4 | Paul Brown | Engineer |
| 5 | Liz Cluse | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | Les D. Cooper | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | Red Davidson | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Dan de Souza | Drums, Keyboards, Programming |
| 9 | George Duke | Piano, Rhythm Arrangements |
| 10 | Earth, Wind & Fire | Primary Artist |
| 11 | Nathan East | Bass |
| 12 | David Foster | Composer |
| 13 | Ray Fuller | Guitar |
| 14 | A. Giles | Composer |
| 15 | Attala Zane Giles | Arranger, Drums, Guitar, Producer, Synthesizer Arrangements, Vocals |
| 16 | Preston Glass | Drums, Guitar (Electric), Producer, Synthesizer |
| 17 | Gary Grant | Horn |
| 18 | Hawkins Singers | Guest Artist |
| 19 | Edwin Hawkins | Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 20 | Walter Hawkins | Vocals |
| 21 | Lynette Hawkins-Stephens | Vocals |
| 22 | Jerry Hey | Horn, Horn Arrangements |
| 23 | Paul Jackson, Jr. | Guitar |
| 24 | M. Jones | Composer |
| 25 | Acar S. Key | Engineer |
| 26 | Rhett Lawrence | Drums, Fairlight, Producer, Synthesizer |
| 27 | Ricky Lawson | Drum Overdubs, Drums |
| 28 | Jon Lind | Composer |
| 29 | Steve Lindsey | Keyboards |
| 30 | Tom Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 31 | Jeff Lorenzen | Assistant Engineer |
| 32 | Bill Meyers | Arranger, Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Programming |
| 33 | Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks | Composer |
| 34 | Mark Mueller | Composer |
| 35 | Robbie Nevil | Composer |
| 36 | Jeff Porcaro | Drums |
| 37 | Ian Prince | Arranger, Composer, Drums, Programming |
| 38 | William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. | Horn |
| 39 | Sheldon Reynolds | Guitar |
| 40 | David Rideau | Engineer, Mixing |
| 41 | Dutch Robinson | Composer |
| 42 | Marc Russo | Horn |
| 43 | Clarence "Satch" Satchell | Composer |
| 44 | Seawind Horns | Guest Artist |
| 45 | Danny Sembello | Composer, Programming |
| 46 | Marti Sharron | Composer |
| 47 | Skylark | Composer, Drums, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background) |
| 48 | Mark Slagle | Assistant Engineer |
| 49 | Wanda Vaughn | Vocals (Background) |
| 50 | Wayne Vaughn | Arranger, Composer, Producer, Sequencing |
| 51 | Jim "Watts" Vereecke | Assistant Engineer |
| 52 | Wayne Wallace | Horn |
| 53 | Brock Walsh | Composer |
| 54 | Gary Webster | Composer |
| 55 | Oliver W. Wells | Arranger, Composer, Synthesizer Arrangements |
| 56 | Rev. Oliver Wells | Composer |
| 57 | Maurice White | Composer, Drums, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Vocoder |
| 58 | Jeanette Williams | Vocals (Background) |
| 59 | Larry Williams | Programming |
| 60 | Allee Willis | Composer |
| 61 | Alonzo Willis | Composer |
| 62 | Jeffrey "Woody" Woodruff | Assistant Engineer |
| 63 | Andrew Woolfolk | Saxophone |
| 64 | Mitch Zelezny | Assistant Engineer |
| 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). |