Powerlight

Miracles is one of the very best, uplifting songs they ever wrote. I've never understood why Powerlight is not as popular as other EW&F albums. "Miracles" alone is worth purchasing the entire album for...

"Powerlight" constitutes a significant drop-off from the classic EWF albums of the mid to late 70's - "Open Our Eyes", "That's the Way of the World", "Gratitude", "Spirit", "All N All" and "I Am". These albums were truly cohesive, stand-alone recordings in which every song was essential to the whole album as a listening experience. Starting with "Faces", "Raise" and this release, EWF albums really were not listening experiences as much as collections of good to excellent songs. Having said this, "Powerlight" is still enjoyable with the highlights being the euphoric "Fall in Love With Me" and ultra-smooth "Side by Side", which features some wonderful percussion and steel drum work. Other worthwhile songs include the truly funky "Spread Your Love" and the laid back "Something Special". The remaining songs are decent but not especially memorable. Of course, the musicianship, as always, is first rate. Unfortunately, the quality of the songs in EWF's subsequent Columbia/Sony releases ("Electric Universe", "Touch the World", and "Heritage") would be even more inconsistent. While EWF released some good albums after leaving Columbia, they would not really regain their stride until "Illumination", which is their most recent release of original material and easily their most consistent recording since "Raise".

One of the greatest bands of all time...Saw them today in concert 6/22/08 and was my first time. I heard so many stories of how good they are live but I couldn't truly appreciate it until I saw them in person. I would recommend this cd or any cd of theirs because of the passion they put into their music. Fall in love, Side by Side, Straight from the heart, and something special are the best songs on the cd. The tremendous vocals of maurice white and others help add to the greatness of TRUE music.