Raise! is the eleventh studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in October 1981, by ARC/Columbia Records. The album spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Top R&B albums chart and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Raise! has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA, Gold in the UK by the BPI and Gold in Canada by Music Canada. The song "I've Had Enough" peaked at No. 29 on the UK Pop Singles chart. "Wanna Be with You" also won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Critical reception
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The Philadelphia Inquirer gave a 3/5 star rating, stating "And while there are no surprises here, the group offers another session of class music, fortified by strong melodies and appealing lyrics. The skilled blend of classic funk and mainstream values guarantees wide acceptance for this release. The groups shifts nicely from mellow ballads such as 'My Love' to upbeat material such as 'Let's Groove'." With a 4/5 stars rating Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone said "With each new album, Earth, Wind and Fire remain relatively true to their original sound: elaborate, neatly orchestral funk, influenced equally by American and African sources. But the band also keeps its ear to the radio. Accordingly, Raise! reflects the current wave of street-gritty black pop, from Lakeside to Rick James. Most of the tracks crank up the bass and feature rattling percussion that scrapes against the beat." Tucker added "On Raise!, White’s romanticism is slinkier, more seductive."
Richard Williams of The Times wrote "Paring away the overachievement of Faces, EW&F return to something like their best form".
Variety noted that "breathtaking production and a perscussive, non stop fusion of funk and rock power light up the entire album". Barney Hoskyns of NME said "Raise! is a thundering collection of the best noises around, urgent, controlled and meticulously glossy. Horns pump and spurt in golden ecstasy, percussion stamps and cracks through the usual mass of nibbling guitars and synthesizers, and White's voice is as strong and soaring as ever". The Village Voices Robert Christgau proclaimed EWF "turn their sparkling harmonies and powerful groove into a pure, contentless display of virtuosity".
Mitchell Feldman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution placed Raise! upon his own list of 1981's best albums.
Music critic Nelson George also placed Raise! in his ballot for the 1981 Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll.
Track listing
Personnel
Earth, Wind and Fire
- Maurice White – lead vocals, backing vocals, kalimba, drums
- Philip Bailey – lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion
- Larry Dunn – acoustic piano, synthesizers, synthesizer programming
- Roland Bautista – guitars, guitar solos
- Johnny Graham – guitars
- Verdine White – bass guitar, additional backing vocals
- Fred White – drums, percussion
- Ralph Johnson – percussion, additional backing vocals
- Andrew Woolfolk – tenor saxophone
The Phenix Horns
- Don Myrick – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, sax solos
- Louis Satterfield – trombone, trombone solos
- Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet
- Michael Harris – trumpet
Additional musicians
- Michael Boddicker – synthesizers, vocoder
- David Foster – keyboards
- Bill Meyers – keyboards
- Greg Phillinganes – keyboards
- Wayne Vaughn – keyboards
- Marlo Henderson – guitars
- Beloyd Taylor – guitars, additional backing vocals
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- Wanda "Ms. Pluto" Vaughn – additional backing vocals
Additional horns
- Bill Meyers – arrangements (1, 3, 7)
- Jerry Hey – arrangements (2, 4, 6, 8, 9)
- Tom Saviano – saxophones
- George Bohanon, Dick Hyde, Charles Loper, Lew McCreary and Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone
- Oscar Brashear, Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Larry G. Hall and Jerry Hey – trumpet
Strings
- Bill Meyers – arrangements (1, 3, 7)
- David Foster – arrangements (4)
- Assa Drori and James Getzoff – concertmasters
- Selene Burford, Larry Corbett, Paula Hochhalter, Jerome Kessler, Frederick Seykora and Mary Louise Zeyen – cello
- Alan DeVeritch, Pamela Goldsmith, Allan Harshman, Virginia Majewski and Gareth Nuttycombe – viola
- Arnold Belnick, Denyse Buffum, Thomas Buffum, Henry Ferber, Ronald Folsom, Irving Geller, Endre Granat, Reginald Hill, William Hymanson, Myra Kestenbaum, William Kurasch, Betty LaMagna, Brian Leonard, Norman Leonard, Marvin Limonick, Jerome Reisler, Nathan Ross, Sheldon Sanov, Anton Sen, Arkady Shindelman, Haim Shtrum, Mari Tsumura-Botnick and John Wittenbert – violin
|-
|Finland (Suomen virallinen albumlista)
|align="center"|5
|-
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| align="center"|7
|-
| Sweden Albums (Veckolista Album)
| align="center"|9
|-
| UK Pop Albums
|align="center"|11
|-
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)
| align="center"|18
|-
| Canada RPM 50 Albums
| align="center"|25
|-
| German Albums
(Offizielle Top 100)
| align="center"|30
|-
|1982
| New Zealand Albums Chart
| align="center"|19
|}
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|+ Singles
|-
! Year
! Single
! Chart
! Position
|-
|rowspan="6"| 1981
| "Let's Groove/I've Had Enough"
| US Billboard Dance Club Songs
|align="center"| 3
|-
|rowspan="5"| "Let's Groove"
| US Billboard Hot Soul Songs
|align="center"| 1
|-
| US Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"| 3
|-
| UK Pop Singles
|align="center"| 3
|-
| Belgian Singles (Ultratop 50 Singles)
|align="center"|9
|-
|rowspan="4"|1982
| I've Had Enough"
| UK Pop Singles
|align="center"| 29
Accolades
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Publication
! Country
! Accolade
! Year
! Rank
|-
| NME
| align="center"|United Kingdom
| Albums of the Year
| 1981
| align="center"|16
|-
| The Village Voice
| align="center"|United States
| Dean's List
| 1981
| align="center"|49
|}
See also
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1981 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1982 (U.S.)
- Billboard Year-End