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2002 greatest hits album by Earth, Wind & Fire
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire compilation album by American band
Earth, Wind & Fire issued in July 2002 by
Columbia /
Legacy .
[2] The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire has been certified
Gold in the US by the
RIAA .
[3]
Overview With the LP came a sampler which featured remixes of Can't Hide Love and
Let's Groove . During October 2002 the remix sampler was issued as a single and got to No. 4 on the
UK Dance Singles Chart .
[4]
[5]
Critical reception
Mark Anthony Neal of
PopMatters proclaimed "The Essential Earth, Wind, and Fire, chronicles the best music of arguably the most popular R&B/soul band of the last three decades."
[8] Barry Walters of
Blender , who gave a four out of five star rating, opined "the 34 tracks on The Essential encompass these funky spiritualists’ many sides, from preachy (“All About Love”) to sensual (“
Can’t Hide Love ”) to ecstatic (“
Boogie Wonderland ”)."
[7] With a 4.5 out of 5 star rating
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
Allmusic wrote "The single-disc
Greatest Hits remains the choice for the casual and the curious listener due to its concise concentration of classics, but anybody who wants a thorough retrospective should choose this."
[6] Howard Dukes of
SoulTracks also called the album "a collection that will definitely get the party started".
[10]
Track listing Disc One Title Writer(s) Originally from 1. "
Mighty Mighty "
Maurice White ,
Verdine White
Open Our Eyes , 19743:02 2. "
Evil " M. White
Head to the Sky , 19734:56 3. "
Devotion "
Philip Bailey , M. White Open Our Eyes 4:49 4. "
Keep Your Head to the Sky " M. White Head to the Sky 5:09 5. "
Kalimba Story " M. White, V. White Open Our Eyes 4:01 6. "
Shining Star " Bailey,
Larry Dunn , M. White
That's the Way of the World , 19752:50 7. "
That's the Way of the World "
Charles Stepney , M. White, V. White That's the Way of the World 5:45 8. "Yearnin' Learnin' " Bailey, Stepney, M. White That's the Way of the World 3:39 9. "All About Love" Dunn, M. White That's the Way of the World 5:30 10. "
Reasons " Bailey, Stepney, M. White That's the Way of the World 4:58 11. "
Sing a Song "
Al McKay , M. White
Gratitude , 19753:23 12. "
Can't Hide Love " Skip Scarborough Gratitude 4:09 13. "
Getaway " Peter Cor, Beloyd Taylor
Spirit , 19763:45 14. "
Saturday Nite " Bailey, McKay, M. White Spirit 4:03 15. "Ponta de Areia (Brazilian Rhyme)/Be Ever Wonderful" Dunn,
Milton Nascimento , M. White
All 'n All , 19776:00 16. "Open Our Eyes" Leon Lumkins Open Our Eyes 5:03 17. "
Got to Get You into My Life "
John Lennon ,
Paul McCartney
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , 19784:03
Disc Two Title Writer(s) Originally from 1. "
September " McKay, M. White,
Allee Willis
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 3:35 2. "
Serpentine Fire " Sonny Burke, M. White, V. White All 'n All 3:50 3. "
Fantasy " Eduardo DelBarrio, M. White, V. White All 'n All 4:36 4. "I'll Write a Song for You" Bailey, Steve Beckmeier, McKay All 'n All 5:22 5. "Drum Song" M. White Open Our Eyes 5:09 6. "
In the Stone " M. White, David Foster, Willis
I Am , 19794:25 7. "Can't Let Go" Bill Myers, M. White, Willis I Am 3:28 8. "
After the Love Has Gone "
Bill Champlin ,
David Foster ,
Jay Graydon I Am 4:25 9. "Wait" Foster, M. White, Willis I Am 3:39 10. "You and I" Foster, M. White, Willis I Am 3:31 11. "
Let Me Talk " Bailey, Dunn, Ralph Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. White
Faces , 19804:08 12. "
And Love Goes On " Dunn, Foster,
Brenda Russell , M. White, V. White Faces 4:04 13. "
You " Foster, Russell, M. White Faces 5:30 14. "
Let's Groove " Wayne Vaughn, M. White
Raise! , 19815:32 15. "
Fall In Love With Me " Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. White
Powerlight , 19835:49 16. "
Side by Side " Wayne Vaughn, M. White Powerlight 5:31 17. "
Boogie Wonderland " (with
The Emotions )
Jon Lind , Willis I Am 4:48
Disc Three - from Limited Edition 3.0 (2008) Title Writer(s) Originally from 1. "Sun Goddess" M. White, Lind Gratitude 7:41 2. "Celebrate" M. White, Bailey, Stepney Gratitude 3:06 3. "Spirit" M. White, Dunn Spirit 3:12 4. "On Your Face" M. White, Stepney, Bailey Spirit 4:33 5. "Imagination" M. White, Stepney, Bailey Spirit 5:16 6. "Runnin'" M. White, Dunn, del Barrio All 'n All 5:51 7. "
Jupiter " M. White, V. White, Dunn, Bailey All 'n All 3:11 8. "
System of Survival " "Skylark" Touch the World 5:01
2014 reissue Disc One Title Writer(s) Originally from 1. "Mighty Mighty" M. White, V. White Open Our Eyes 3:03 2. "Devotion" Bailey, M. White Open Our Eyes 4:50 3. "Keep Your Head to the Sky" M. White Head to the Sky 5:10 4. "Kalimba Story" M. White, V. White Open Our Eyes 4:02 5. "Shining Star" Bailey, Dunn, M. White That's the Way of the World 2:50 6. "That's the Way of the World" Stepney, M. White, V. White That's the Way of the World 5:47 7. "Reasons" Bailey, Stepney, M. White That's the Way of the World 4:59 8. "Sing a Song" McKay, M. White Gratitude 3:24 9. "Can't Hide Love" Scarborough Gratitude 4:11 10. "Getaway" Cor, Taylor Spirit 3:45 11. "On Your Face" Bailey, Stepney, M. White Spirit 4:34 12. "Saturday Nite" Bailey, McKay, M. White Spirit 4:01 13. "Got to Get You into My Life" Lennon, McCartney Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 4:03 14. "September" McKay, M. White, Willis The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 3:35 15. "Serpentine Fire" Burke, M. White, V. White All 'n All 3:51 16. "Fantasy" DelBarrio, M. White, V. White All 'n All 4:38 17. "I'll Write a Song for You" Bailey, Beckmeier, McKay All 'n All 5:24 18. "Drum Song" M. White Open Our Eyes 5:09
Disc Two Title Writer(s) Originally from 1. "Boogie Wonderland" (with The Emotions) Lind, Willis I Am 4:49 2. "In the Stone" M. White, Foster, Willis I Am 4:25 3. "Can't Let Go" Myers, M. White, Willis I Am 3:29 4. "After the Love Has Gone" Champlin, Foster, Graydon I Am 4:39 5. "You and I" Foster, M. White, Willis I Am 3:33 6. "Let Me Talk" Bailey, Dunn, Johnson, McKay, M. White, V. White Faces 4:08 7. "And Love Goes On" Dunn, Foster, Russell, M. White, V. White Faces 4:05 8. "You" Foster, Russell, M. White Faces 5:31 9. "Let's Groove" Wayne Vaughn, M. White Raise! 5:39 10. "Fall in Love with Me" Wanda Vaughn, Wayne Vaughn, M. White Powerlight 5:52 11. "
Magnetic "
Martin Page
Electric Universe , 19834:22 12. "Dance Dance Dance" Taylor, M. White
Rock & Rule soundtrack 3:13 13. "System of Survival" "Skylark"
Touch the World , 19875:00 14. "
Sunday Morning (Radio Mix)" Sheldon Reynolds, M. White, Willis
Millennium , 19934:12 15. "
Pure Gold " Bobby Avila, Issiah Avila,
Tony Tolbert , James Harris III, Terry Lewis
Illumination , 20054:41 16. "
The Way You Move " Patrick Brown, Carlton Mahone, Antwan Patton Illumination 4:17 17. "
My Promise " Siedah Garrett, Austin Jacobs, Darrin Simpson
Now, Then & Forever , 20133:22
Personnel
Maurice White –
vocals ,
kalimba ,
timbales ,
drums ,
producer , compilation producer
Verdine White – vocals,
bass ,
percussion
Philip Bailey – vocals,
congas , percussion
Larry Dunn –
piano ,
organ ,
synthesizer ,
programming
Ken Yerke –
violin
Harris Goldman – violin
Rollice Dale –
viola
Dennis Karmazyn –
cello
Harry Schultz – cello
Fred Jackson Jr. –
saxophone
Herman Riley – saxophone
Jerome Richardson – saxophone
Tommy Johnson –
tuba
Harvey Mason – percussion
Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
Beloyd Taylor –
background vocals
Joe Wissert – producer
Charles Stepney – producer
Al McKay – producer
Leo Sacks – compilation producer
[2] Accolades The following accolades attributed to The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire .
[11]
Publication
Country
Accolade
Year
Rank
Blender
U.S.
500 CDs You Must Own: Rhythm & Blues
2003
Alphabetical order
References
^ Blender Staff (May 2003).
"500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!" .
Blender . New York:
Dennis Publishing Ltd . Retrieved April 3, 2023 . ^
a b Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire .
Columbia /
Legacy . July 2002.
^
"Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire" .
RIAA . Retrieved 2023-07-02 .
^ Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth Wind & Fire (Remix Sampler) .
Columbia Records . October 2002.
^
"Earth, Wind & Fire: Remix Sampler" . officialcharts.com . ^
a b
Thomas Erlewine, Stephen .
"Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire" . allmusic.com .
Allmusic . ^
a b
"Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire" . blender.com . Archived from
the original on 2007-06-24. ^
a b
Anthony Neal, Mark .
"Earth, Wind & Fire: The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire" . popmatters.com .
PopMatters .
^ Adams, Genetta M. (November 7, 2002).
"Making out your holiday gift list? Consider these greatest hits albums" .
Press and Sun-Bulletin .
Newsday . p. 47 – via newspapers.com. ^
a b Dukes, Howard (August 8, 2002).
"Earth, Wind & Fire - The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire (2014)" . popmatters.com .
PopMatters .
^ 500 CDs You Must Own: Rhythm & Blues . Blender Magazine. March 15, 2003.
Notable members
Studio albums Soundtrack albums Live albums Videos Compilations Singles Collaborations Related articles Lists
[6]
[7]
