LP Review: Electric Universe
Released: 1983
LP Charts: #8 R&B, #40 pop
Released just eight months or so after the joyful Powerlight (B+), Electric Universe was the moment Earth, Wind & Fire’s musical world came crashing down in a million little pieces. They never truly recovered from this disaster.
Alarmingly, even a band as noted… nay… FAMED!… for its horns and percussion as Earth, Wind & Fire couldn’t fight off the irresistible forces of the mid-1980s. Like many other funk/R&B bands that grew during the 1970s, EWF ditched their horn section and jettisoned their lively percussion for evermore programmed madness that shackled their jubilant nature.
And Electric Universe is madness! So much madness that I’m just gonna quickly swing through every track. At best, the songs are okay. But those okay tracks are few and far between.
“Magnetic” — I love me some electric guitar and thank God this song has a fine one because it’s surrounded by hackneyed and forced attempts to include new wave influences. It’s a really rough go.
“Spirit of a World”—feels a bit more natural, but it’s still EWF struggling to figure out mid-80s dance music, which is a shame after they did so well on Powerlight.
“Electric Nation”—there’s the bones of something good here, but I think Maurice White was rudderless trying to navigate programmed production.
“Touch”—has a generic mid-80s ballad backing track, but at least it’s not offensive.
“Moonwalk”—EWF just sounds tired on this one.
“Could It Be Right”—EWF just sounds bored on this one.
“Sweet Sassy Lady”—dull midtempo R&B.
“We’re Living in Our Own Time”—hideous sparse ballad.
ALBUM GRADE: D
Just a horrible, forgettable album that was the first EWF LP to not go platinum or gold.
A 2015 re-issue revealed an alternate path for EWF at this crossroads of their career. On that re-issue were three outtakes and demos that were far more promising than the stuff that made the album. “Club Foot” (6.5/10) and “Milky Way” (6/10) are both fairly slow, sparse tracks that sounded mid-80s yet still like EWF. The former was funkier and coulda used a sax or keyboard solo, but it still sounds fine as is. Meanwhile “Milky Way” is a Quiet Storm ballad that woulda been better served with real horns in place of the cheesy keyboards, but it’s enticing.
FURTHERMORE, there’s a demo of “Spirit of a New World” that sounds better than the final version that was included on the album’s initial release. The demo still has much of the ‘80s trappings that doomed Electric Universe, but it has a live piano instead of the twinkling Casio of the final product. The band really should have just taken a little more time to record this album and be sure of themselves instead of chasing trends.
Anyhoo, EWF was burned out for the moment and went on a four-year hiatus.
Song Scores
Magnetic: 5/10
Touch: 6/10
Moonwalk: 4/10
Could It Be Right: 3/10
Spirit of a New World: 6/10
Sweet Sassy Lady: 4/10
We’re Living in Our Own Time: 2/10
Electric Nation: 5/10