All 'n All

All 'n All is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1977 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.

All 'n All has also been certified Triple Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in Canada by Music Canada and Silver in the UK by the BPI.

Background

thumb|300px|The gatefold of All 'n All

All 'n All was produced by Maurice White for Kalimba Productions. A month-long trip to Argentina and Brazil served as his main source of inspiration. All 'n All was also recorded at the Hollywood Sound Recorders and The Burbank Studios, both located in Los Angeles, California. A 1999 reissue of the album features two demos of "Love's Holiday" and "Runnin" respectively. As well as a live rendition of "Brazilian Rhyme". Another single, "Fantasy", peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 14 on the UK Pop Singles chart.

Critical reception

Joe McEwen of Rolling Stone opined, "As on past Earth, Wind and Fire records, All 'n All is filled with leaded brotherhood platitudes, Star Trek sci-fi and stiffly poetic love songs. This sounds overwrought and depressing (and maybe it is). But there's a catch: I like the record, for like much current black music, All 'n All elicits a schizophrenic response. If the album represents some of the worst in black music, it also has more than its share of the best." The Los Angeles Times said that "All n All includes only two ballads and for a change both are as nifty as the R&B rockers. Possibly EW&F's finest collection."

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, in a B+ review, remarked, "Focusing soulful horns, high-tension harmonies, and rhythms and textures from many lands onto a first side that cooks throughout. Only one element is lacking. Still, unsympathetic as I am to lyrics about conquering the universe on wings of thought, they make me shake my fundament anyway." John Rockwell of The New York Times said, "All 'n All shows Maurice White and his cohorts pushing their music ever more in a febrile jazz-rock direction. There are parallels, here, to white rock groups like Queen and Yes, but the very sophistication and single-mindedness of Earth, Wind and Fire's vision sets it apart from the bulk of rock-and-roll." Monroe Anderson of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "the soul group's latest album release, All 'N All (Columbia), is a rare blend of poetry, passion, and artistic progression...All 'N All is a nice indication that EW&F is trying to expose its fans to other forms of American music and take them across international and cultural borders."

A retrospective review by The Guardian lauded the album, saying, "Maurice White began his career as a drummer, and his band can sound like one enormous kit, where every crash and beat has its funky place... the whole shebang is punctuated beautifully by Milton Nascimento's 'Brazilian Rhyme'." Alex Henderson of AllMusic commented, "Earth, Wind & Fire's artistic and commercial winning streak continued with its ninth album, All 'n All... (the diverse jewel) was a highly rewarding addition to EWF's catalog." All 'n All was also nominated for an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Soul/R&B Album.

Accolades

{|class="wikitable"

! Publication

! Country

! Accolade

! Year

! Rank

| Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein

| style="text-align:center;"|U.S.

| The 40 Best of Album Chartmakers by Year

| 1981

| style="text-align:center;"|13

| Tom Moon

| style="text-align:center;"|U.S.

| 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die

| 2008

| style="text-align:center;"|*

| The Guardian

| style="text-align:center;"|U.K.

| 1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die

| 2007

| style="text-align:center;"|*

(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Track listing

Original release

1999 reissue

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes.

| style="text-align:center;| 3

| Dutch Albums (Dutch Charts)

| style="text-align:center;"|4

| New Zealand Pop Albums

| style="text-align:center;"| 12

| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)

| style="text-align:center;"| 11

| UK Pop Albums

| style="text-align:center;"| 13

| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| align="center"|14

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! Year

! Chart

!Peak<br />position

| rowspan="4" |1978

| US Billboard 200

| style="text-align:center;" | 12

| US Top Soul Albums (Billboard)

| style="text-align:center;" | 1

| Dutch Albums (Dutch Charts)

| style="text-align:center;" |12

| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| align="center" |31

Singles

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="4"| Peak positions