Earth Wind & Fire – Raise (Remastered Expanded Edition)

Digitally remastered and expanded edition including seven bonus tracks. Raise is the eleventh studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire which was produced by the band’s leader Maurice White for Kalimba Productions, and released in 1981 on CBS Records. The album has been certified platinum in the US and gold in the UK and Canada. Earth, Wind & Fire went down in history as one of the top soul/funk bands of the 1970’s, selling millions of albums and headlining stadiums and coliseums all over the world. It’s hard to imagine the 1970’s without “Shining Star,” “Fantasy,” “Reasons,” “September,” “Boogie Wonderland” and many other gems that took both R&B radio and pop/Top 40 radio by storm during that decade. Part of Raise!’s success can be attributed to the single “Let’s Groove,” an infectious funk/dance gem that soared to #1 R&B, #3 Pop and #3 Dance/Club on the Billboard in the United States and was also a #3 Pop smash in the UK. Raise! is a diverse album, ranging from the exuberant funk of “Lady Sun,” “You Are a Winner” and “Evolution Orange” to comfortable medium-tempo grooves such as “My Love” and the single “Wanna Be With You.” Meanwhile, on “The Changing Times,” EWF favors up-tempo Funk with a Rock edge. Thirty four years after the album’s release, “Let’s Groove” continues to be one of the hits that EWF are best known for. No less than 46 years have passed since White founded the first lineup of EWF, who were originally called the Salty Peppers. White had been overseeing EWF for 12 years when Raise! came out, and when one looks back on the band’s long and impressive history, it is evident that 1981 was a very productive year for Earth, Wind & Fire.