George HaffendenThis year we’re trying something new: each week we’re going to be revisiting an album in full. They might be classics, rarities or simply albums we’ve forgotten about.
This week we’re listening to the Earth, Wind & Fire’s Now, Then & Forever album, released in 2013.
The Mightiest Elements of the Universe
Now, Then & Forever marked a milestone in the history of Earth, Wind & Fire: it’s the first album made by the band without the input of founder and visionary Maurice White.
Maurice was the guiding force behind EWF. He formed and led the band for decades, and wrote and sang lead on many of their biggest hits. But by the mid-nineties Maurice had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, and was unable to tour with the band. His departure from the touring band left the trio of Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson to carry on performing, with Philip taking responsibility for singing lead.
Although not a presence on stage any more, Maurice did continue to work with the group in the studio, on albums In The Name of Love, The Promise and Illumination.
But by 2013, Maurice wasn’t able to record with the group, leaving the producing duties to Verdine and Philip. And although Maurice’s vocals and input are missed, Now, Then & Forever is perhaps the best EWF album in two decades.
Now, Then & Forever
When this album first came out in September 2013, I remember playing it virtually non-stop. My CD pre-order arrived just before the actual release date, and just in time for me to listen to back-to-back on the train from Newcastle to Manchester, where I’d impulse bought a last minute ticket to see EWF at the Apollo. As far as impulse purchases go, this one is probably the best yet.
I was very clearly addicted to EWF’s jams at the time, and the novelty of new music from the group was probably just too exciting, as I listened to it over and over. But it wasn’t purely my obsession with EWF at the time that made me enjoy the album so much, it really is an outstanding album.
Part of the reason why the album is so good, is that it’s just EWF being themselves. Unlike on Illumination, there are no “special guests” making unnecessary appearances. I think I speak for most EWF fans when I say, we really didn’t need to hear Will.iam or Big Boi perform with EWF (I will accept though, that the appearance of Kenny G on ‘The Way You Move’ is pretty good, as are the songs with Raphael Saadiq).
It’s just EWF, the current band, with the bonus addition of ex-member Larry Dunn providing assistance on keys, writing and producing.
And as a result, the Now, Then & Forever album is far superior. It sounds like an actual, proper EWF album, rather than someone’s attempt to update their sound for a wider, modern audience.
Having “special guests” on an album is fine. But more often than not, when it comes to “legacy” artists like EWF, the results are mixed at best when younger, “current” producers are brought in to give their sound a re-fresh. Take Lionel Richie’s last album of original material, Just Go. Sure, Lionel sounds great and there are some enjoyable moments on the album – but on the Akon-produced song, it feels like Lionel is a guest on his own album. How many middle-aged, female Lionel Richie fans are clambering for a duet with Akon? My guess, probably none. Sometimes it’s better to stick with what you know.
So, why bother trying to update a sound which doesn’t need updating? There’s a reason why EWF continue to sell out theatres and arenas year after year: their sound doesn’t need updating. On Now, Then & Forever, EWF make no apologies for sticking to what they do best, and it’s not a coincidence that the album is one of the best in recent decades.
The sound is classic EWF. It’s somehow both retro but also fresh, and the group avoid simply churning out an album that sounds like a poor imitation of their earlier work. There’s no covers, there’s no guests. And it works. In fact, I think it stands up pretty well against any of their classic records.
For a start, the horns on the album are fierce. They sound as if they’d been taken straight from EWF’s classic seventies albums, and transplanted into these new songs. There’s no nasty synth horns here, just the real deal.
Then, naturally, the album is anchored by the frantic yet funky bass of Verdine White, one of the truly underrated bassists in the genre (check out his playing on ‘Fantasy’ if you don’t believe me).
But it’s the vocals of Philip Bailey that is the real standout on the album. EWF were lucky to have two outstanding vocalists in the group, and Philip has done a remarkable job as lead singer since Maurice left the band. And on Now, Then & Forever Philip sounds as good as ever, with his falsetto remarkably strong. His son, Philip Jnr, is no slouch either vocally – talent clearly runs in the family.
The album opens with the in-your-face funk of ‘Sign On’, (UK listeners: it isn’t, sadly, about a trip to their local Job Centre) before moving into the laid-back groove of ‘Love is Law’, one of the finest tracks on the album. Philip’s falsetto is mesmerising, while Verdine’s bass gives the song an unmistakeable EWF groove. Add the horns in, and it’s classic EWF.
The album’s single ‘My Promise’ really could have been plucked from any of their seventies albums: a precise combination of a catchy melody and lyric, tight vocals, funky rhythms and punchy horns. It couldn’t be more EWF if it tried, equivalent in my opinion to their hits ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and ‘Sing A Song’.
‘Guiding Lights’ is perhaps the most interesting song on the album, in the mould of some of EWF’s more inspirational, uplifting numbers, somewhat reminiscent of ‘That’s The Way of the World’ or ‘Devotion’. Again, Philip’s falsetto is strong, buoyed by the smooth backing harmonies.
Re-listening to the album this week, I’d realised I’d glossed over ‘Got to Be Love’ when Now, Then & Forever first came out. What a fool I was, as the song is great. Co-written by Philip and Ralph, it’s somewhat funkier and gritter than the glossy ‘My Promise’; the kind of song that you want to pull a nasty face while listening to.
The jazzy interlode of ‘Belo Horizonte’ gives way to the thumping ‘Dance Floor’, a song I can never decide whether is great or not. The opening does sound as if the group are trying to update their sound by speeding up the BPM and making it sound as if they’re a dance act. But as it enters into the first verse it gets better and I find myself singing along to the harmonies, and I once again cannot resist pretending to be in EWF.
After a frantic 5 minutes with ‘Dance Floor’, the album slows into the jazzy, Afro-groove of ‘Splashes’, before re-emerging back into a seventies disco wonderland with ‘Night of My Life’.
The standard album comes to a close with ‘The Rush’, a funky mid-tempo groove, but, if you’ve the ‘Expanded Edition’, lucky you, there’s two more songs: ‘Hero as He Rose’ and ‘Whirlwind’ (the latter is better).
Overall, Now, Then & Forever is everything that fans love about EWF: funky grooves, jazz licks, incredible horns and tight, uplifting vocals. Had it been released in 1979, before or after ‘Boogie Wonderland’, we’d be talking about this as one of their finest pieces of work.
But, in 2013, the album seemed to go somewhat unnoticed and that’s a real shame. Now, Then & Forever is a stunning album that sums up the career of EWF in 45 minutes of music, showcasing their unique combination of jazz, funk, soul, disco, Latin and much, much more.
It’s been a while since 2013. EWF did gift us a Christmas album a year later, titled Holiday (you should check out their version of Winter Wonderland, it’s the best version of the song there is, no arguing) but since then, they’ve concentrated primarily on touring (you can read our review of their 2018 Manchester show here).
Philip Bailey, however, released a brilliant solo album in 2019 – and how it didn’t get a Grammy nomination is a crime against music.
But surely it’s time for something new from the Mightiest Elements of the Universe?