LP Review: Powerlight
Released: 1983
LP Charts: #4 R&B, #12 pop
The 1980s started off pretty stale for Earth, Wind & Fire. 1980’s Faces (C+) and 1981’s Raise! (C+) were the most lackluster EWF albums in years. Still had good stuff on ‘em, but we’ve seen far better from the band. Mercifully, Powerlight came along in early 1983 offering hope that Earth, Wind & Fire would finally acclimate themselves well to the 1980s.
“Fall In Love With Me” (#4 R&B, #17 pop) is everything people think “Let’s Groove” is. I admit “Let’s Groove” has a better chorus, but “Fall In Love With Me” is the better in every other respect. The chorus is still really good, the bass is funky as fuck, and EWF corrects the two big mistakes of “Let’s Groove”. First, there is a breakdown! The bass and horns lay out for a bit to let the percussion (which was absent from “Groove”) get some shine. Second, there’s a solo! An electric guitar shreds across the song’s final minute piloting us across the boogie finish line in great fashion.
In short, “Let’s Groove” is the better radio song, but “Fall In Love With Me” is absolutely the better club song. And thanks to its simmering nature, it’s the one that holds up better to re-listens.
Although it falls at the opposite end of the album, the upbeat post-disco “Hearts to Heart” is the musical sibling of “Fall In Love With Me”. In fact, the intro to “Fall in Love” is borrowed from the bridge of “Hearts to Heart”. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the catchy “two two two two two hearts, to to to to to together” line.
“Side By Side” is a funky slow groove that’s practically a duet between Maurice White and Wanda Vaughn of the Emotions, who also sang prominent backup on “Fall In Love With Me”. And we have a steel drum solo on “Side By Side”. I repeat, we have a steel drum solo! This is the kind of exuberance and creativity Earth, Wind & Fire hadn’t really been exuding for the last two albums.
“Straight From The Heart” is a big sappy ‘80s adult contemporary ballad that is saved by EWF getting in some good horn stabs. “Something Special” falls more along the lines of a Yacht song and is classy. No complaints even if it’s not blowing your mind.
Side 2 begins with the jazzy “The Speed of Love”. It’s jazzy in verve, not in instrumentation. This is very much synth-R&B song, but the horns pop, the beat moves, and the vocals swing like we’re having a jazzy time daddy-o. Heck, there’s even a saxophone solo. “Freedom of Choice” is more music adjacent to synth-funk as is “Spread Your Love”.
The album closer “Miracles” is a crime against humanity.
Oh sure, it begins innocently enough. Acoustic piano with Maurice White and Philip Bailey singing the same old spiritualistic nonsense they’ve been doing for years. But at the 90 second mark, something awful happens. The strum of a harp and the swirl of strings begins our descent into hell. Slowly but surely a choir adds their vocals to what has become an overwrought and frankly embarrassing song. By the song’s end an out-of-tune children’s choir bludgeons your ears. The only miracle to be found on “Miracles” is that it ends and you somehow survived the experience.
ALBUM GRADE: B+
Powerlight might have been able to juuuuust squeeze out an A-, but that turd “Miracles” at the end of the album sullies any chance of that. The worst part is that “Mircales” wasn’t even necessary to give the album a good runtime. Chop it off and the album is still 36 minutes long. That’s solid runtime!
Nonetheless, this is a classic album from EWF that went gold and features one of the best (post-)disco songs ever recorded in “Fall In Love With Me”.
Song Scores
Fall In Love With Me: 8.5/10
Spread Your Love: 7.5/10
Side By Side: 8/10
Straight From the Heart: 7/10
The Speed Of Love: 7.5/10
Freedom of Choice: 7.5/10
Something Special: 6.5/10
Hearts to Heart: 8/10
Miracles: 0/10