Earth, Wind, & Fire – All ‘N All

This week, we’re diving into Earth, Wind, & Fire’s eighth studio album, All ‘N All. When deciding what albums I wanted to bring along this Record Roulette adventure, this album was one that stood out. Growing up, my mom would constantly play disco music in the car, and Earth, Wind, & Fire was a group that she loved to play most. I grew to love their hits such as “September,” “Boogie Wonderland,” and “Let’s Groove,” so I was excited to dive deeper into their discography with this album. Let’s take a look at what this album has in store!

This album opens up with “Serpentine Fire,” a disco anthem filled with groovy basslines and soaring brass features. This is exactly the kind of sound I expected when going into this album, so needless to say I was excited to hear the rest of this record. However, the further I got into this album, the more I started to see the group blend disco with soul. Tracks such as “I’ll Write a Song for You” and “Love’s Holiday” show the groups slower and more soulful side, which was a pleasant surprise to me since I’d only ever known them as a disco group. Along with their disco and soul tracks, there’s also three interludes provided in the album that I thought was an excellent feature to keep the album fresh and entertaining.

When listening to the record, I realized that I had already heard a few of the tracks before. “Fantasy” and “Be Ever Wonderful” are two tracks I remember my mom playing when I was younger, so I couldn’t help but get a sense of nostalgia while listening. Aside from the music, this album’s cover and inner sleeve is simply a work of art. This is something I remember always being impressed with when it comes to this group. This group’s cover art is always colorful and fun, but it never goes overboard.

All in all, All ‘N All is a great album filled with colorful sounds and effortless vocals. Besides the two tracks I had heard prior, “Love’s Holiday” and “Runnin’” are two tracks I highly recommend listening to. These tracks provide work that’s highly creative, but is still very accessible to a wide audience. As the third ’70s album I’ve reviewed so far, I was worried that I would begin to hear the same sounds as the previous two albums I’ve reviewed. However, this album is everything that’s right with ‘70s disco, funk and soul, and I will definitely be coming back to listen to this record. If you’re interested in soul, disco, or just want to indulge in some new sounds, then I highly recommend checking out this album.