Maurice White, Earth, Wind and Fire's presiding genius, ranges across popular music like a robber baron, selecting only the tastiest artifacts for his collection. He adapts be-bop horn charts and soul-group harmonies in ways that make the clichés revelatory. He takes simple dance formulas like "Boogie Wonderland" and finds fresh possibilities within them. White even uses big-band allusions that ought to sound fey, but by the time he strips them down, they're absolute muscle and bone.

White sometimes does all this in a single song, and he does it consistently throughout the Earth, Wind and Fire LPs he produces. He also plays drums, sings and writes a fair share of the group's material. As a result, Maurice White makes music whose quality is as high as its market appeal, as accessible as it is innovative. Yet he still hasn't managed the stylistic breakthrough that would rank him with his sources. White remains a lesser artist than Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder or even George Clinton because he seems content to merely flash his skills, never pushing them to the limit. In his hands, formula music gains new vitality. But it remains formula music.

Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view.

That's why, no matter how seductive the sound, Earth, Wind and Fire is still a conformist band. White's music is always carefully calculated -- you never get the sense that he's done anything for the sake of a hot minute. Drained of passion, the group's pretensions of cosmic enlightenment -- expressed in ostentatious album titles and graphics -- are absurd. Even at his most philosophical, White always retreats to romance, so that songs like "In the Stone" and "Can't Let Go," two of I Am's most ambitious, seem to move backward, starting out transcendent and ending up banal.

All this is damnably frustrating, since White clearly has bigger ideas. It might be that he's simply too inarticulate to express them intelligibly. I Am is obviously meant to portend something, but who knows what? Is this Maurice White's vision of paradise?

Masters of my dreams, create a place --

To feel, this love of mine --

And never hurt no more.

The placement of those lines, from "You and I," at the end of the record would suggest that the song is meant to sum up everything White is trying to communicate. Yet the tune's chorus is so trite that it's almost painful to quote it: "You and I living together/Just you and I groovin' forever --."

Which is to say that Maurice White may be the next genius of popular music. Or he may be one in a long line of frauds, prepared to hint that he has knowledge of the meaning of life, but forever refusing even to hint at what that meaning might be.

- Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 8-23-79.

Bonus Reviews!

As Earth, Wind & Fire have strengthened their grip on success, the mystical and extraterrestrial emblems adorning their albums have gained proportionately in grandiosity. This latest one, which a title echoing the majesty of Jehovah and an inside cover featuring a portrait of the group costumed and posed as princes out of fable, is no exception. Such bombast may be considered forgivable in this case, however, because of the excellence of the music on the record.

As usual, this astral outfit blasts off in a balls-of-fire flurry of rhythm, which is cleverly varied through the album, even within selections, without losing its driving thrust. There is some evidence of capitulation to disco,without losing its driving thrust.There is some evidence of capitulation to disco, particularly on "Boogie Wonderland," to which the Emotions lend a few spirited soprano embellishments, but the emphasis throughout is on a dazzling interplay between precision ensemble voices -- employed like horns -- in rapid, robust exchanges with the group's instruments augmented by a large orchestra. The opening track, "In the Stone," is less imaginative than many of Earth, Wind & Fire's previous efforts, but performing gusto compensates for the slim substance. My favorite is "After the Love is Gone," which is laced with unexpected Wonder-ful progressions. Some will say that this highly creative group has gone disco. If so, I hope more disco albums like this one will follow.

- Phyl Garland, Stereo Review, 10/79.

Earth Wind & Fire reinforces the fact that they are the classiest exponents of pop-oriented R&B and funk. Its newest LP is paced by the brilliant disco flavored "Boogie Wonderland" in which the Emotions also receive top billing. The package is a mix of smooth ballads and funky discotized numbers, all very rhythmic with full-bodied horn and string arrangements. Superb playing by the band with supplemental musicians adding percussion, keyboards, guitars and horns. Also included is a three-minute-plus instrumental. Best cuts: "Boogie Wonderland," "In The Stone," "After The Love Is Gone," "Star."

- Billboard, 1979.

Sexy, dancey pop music of undeniable craft, and it doesn't let up. But as we all know, they could be doing a lot better. B

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

The gorgeous ballad "After the Love Has Gone" and the bouncy "Boogie Wonderland" (featuring The Emotions) lead this consistent collection. * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

I Am moved smoothly into the disco era with "Boogie Wonderland," "In the Stone" and the slow groove "After the Love Is Gone." * * * *

- Gary Graff, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

 Reader's Comments

kracker

I'm a huge fan of EWF but even I will admit this Album drops off a little on side B. I always wondered if a reshuffle of the songs would have hurt or helped this album. Having said that this is the tightest album musician wise just like All n All. You cannot go wrong buying this and the extended version is where you get a taste of White's ability to get away from the safe lyrics with the song Dirty.

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