Earth, Wind & Fire are my most listened to and without a doubt my favorite R&B group....All due to this album. This their 9th album, show cases the amazing musical creativity of Maurice White. After the group took a long trip to Brazil and I also believe Egypt, they were inspired by the sites and sounds of both. This album has many musical references to Brazil, the album artwork is directly related to Egypt with futuristic references in the artwork too. It started with the pyramids and then ends with space flight....

Serpentine Fire starts the album and sets the bar very high. The slow beat of drums, percussion, cow bells and rhythmic motion helps this one get the album going. Maurice's singing is some of the best here, and ofcourse the EW&F horn section (eventually named the Phenix Horns) is at its best on this one.

Fantasy, the megahit of this album. About a man who takes a ride on a spaceship to find his dreams, finds the place called Fantasy. Verdine White's bass playing is so tight, sets the pace on this one clearly and Phillip Bailey's amazing voice...just superb.

Then we get one of the many "interludes" of this album, which is kind of a EW&F trademark. This first one features Maurice playing his kalimba, which is an African finger piano, as he plucks it to make the distinctive African sound, again this becomes a trademark sound of EW&F. Jupiter continues their theme of space/fantasy travel and features Al McKay's great rhythm guitar work and some of my favorite EW&F horn work. The whole group shows off their vocals on this one.

Earth, Wind & Fire are known for many things, on this album they solidified one long standing attribute of the group.....the funky, hot, mesmerizing love songs. Back in the 70's in Jr high, I soooo remember doing the thang on the dance floor with that cute girl to the tunes of Earth, Wind & Fire. To this day if I play a bunch of their slow songs, the wife knows what comes next! This album has three of the most amazingly written slow/love songs in R&B Loves' Holiday, I'll Write A Song For You and Be Ever Wonderful.

The 2nd one features Phillip Bailey at his best vocally, so smooth in his falsetto voice...also some great 12 string acoustic work by Al McKay. Maurice White sings lead on the other two, but Maurice and Phillip together is vocal harmony, literally.

Magic Mind, a quick funky tune featuring all the singers at their best, catchy chorus keeps this one afloat. Runnin' (instrumental) just showcases the groups high level of instrumental talent, starting with a nice keyboard/synth entry by Larry Dunn. Much Brazilian musical influence on this one, percussion, horns, drums and the trademark EW&F vocal harmonies.

EW&F encompass all that is good about music....Jazz, Fusion, Blues, Rock and World musical influences. This album has it all. A perfect place to start if you have any interest in one of the most influential R&B groups of the 70' and 80's......I have seen them live 6 times, their shows are amazing, you will not sit down, your feet, body, head are moving the whole time.

Nothing less than 5 stars....simply a classic.

Track Listing: 1. Bop Gun (Endangered Species) 8:32 2. Sir Nose d'Voidoffunk (Pay Attention-B3M) 10:10 3. Wizard of Finance 4:32 4. Funkentelechy 10:55 5. Placebo Syndrome 4:20 6. Flashlight 5:46

Well what can you say, George Clinton the master of funk and just plain weird stuff on the R&B side...the man has an imagination for sure (I'm sure helped along by some marij on occasion!). Anyhow arguably Parliaments best album. The funk just runneth over on this one.....(BTW it is a concept album)

Bop Gun...nice little guitar diddy and beat, then turns into a fullfledge party, "bop gun" sound effects and addictive chorus. The Horny Horns section doing their thing on this one also.

Sir Nose...the title says it all. Voice alterations galor (vocoders)....the story sets Sir Nose as the all-time public enemy #1 in the Parliament world, in this case its Starchild fighting the fight. Both are on the album cover, ofcourse Starchild operating the "Bop Gun". The song is setup to start slowly then just buildup to a frothy funk fest. Sir Nose will never dance...

Wizard of Finance..nice doo-wop slow song, change of pace from the first two. The sax in the begining gives it a throwback feel, sing along chorus...Sly Stone influence here?

Funkentelechy..a monster of a song! Clinton uses witty lines and humor to tell us how the funk can rid us of those trying to control us. Using lines that refer to commercials of the day "you deserve a break today" and the classic " would you trade your funk for what's behind door number 3?"

Placebo Syndrome..slowest song on the album, cool chorus and vocals. Describes how we should not be strayed in the Syndrome....I think its a jab at the Disco clubs.

Flashlight...the most sampled song in the Parliament catalog. This is a beast of a song, clearly Parliament's signature track. Just a great synthbass beat, infectious guitar groove thru the whole song, Bootsy Collins' drumming sets the pace for this song. Listen closely you can pull out the battle between Sir Nose and Starchild......the bop gun sounds. Will Sir Nose finally dance? "everybodys got a little light under the sun...." says Clinton signaling that we can all overcome fear.

Without a doubt an album which still to this day influences many in the world of R&B and probably the hip/hop world too.