The Best Of Earth, Wind &
Fire, Vol. 2 – 1988
Review by RJM
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Rating:
It’s no fun reviewing compilations containing only one new release. «Best Of» albums are usually released when an artist has insufficient new material. In any case, «The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire Volume 2» must be considered high-quality because of the strength of the previously released singles it contains. It’s recommended if your budget doesn’t allow more than 2 EWF purchases. (Can you guess what the other purchase should be in this case?)
Included are the rest of their biggest pop hits which weren’t on the first volume, with the excellent cuts «Devotion» and «Love’s Holiday» added. For some reason, the shortened version of «Fantasy» was also included though it appeared on the first volume. The logical replacement would have been «Fall In Love With Me», which did reasonably well on the charts.
The weakest link on «The Best Of EWF Volume 2» was the new release «Turn On (The Beat Box)» which, in spite of its hip-hop implied title, was just a retread of their early 1980’s dance grooves, making it dated. It appeared on the soundtrack of the dreadful comedy «Caddyshack 2». Unfortunately, we don’t hear «Turn On (The Beat Box)» until the end of the movie when the credits start rolling.
«Turn On (The Beat Box)» was produced and arranged by Maurice White and Rhett Lawrence for Kalimba Productions.
RJM
Total playing time: 42:58
US: Columbia 45013
EUR: Columbia 463200-2
JAP: Sony SRCS 9005
Gunnar Homdrum 1996 © 2005
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