Released September 20, 2005 Artist Earth, Wind & Fire Label Castle Communications | Length 60:04 Release date 19 September 2005 Genres Rhythm and blues, Funk | |
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Recorded 2004-2005
Flyte Tyme West at The Village Recorders
Larrabee North Studios
Los Angeles, California
Magnet Vision Studios
Santa Monica, California
Blakeslee Recording Company
Hollywood, California
The Dungeon Recording Studio
Atlanta, Georgia Producer Maurice White & Phillip Bailey (exec.), will.i.am, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Darren Henson & Keith Pelzer, Brian McKnight, Organized Noize Illumination
(2005) Now, Then & Forever
(2013) Nominations Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo Similar Earth - Wind & Fire albums, Rhythm and blues albums | ||
Earth wind fire ft will i am lovely people
Illumination is the 19th album by R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire. It was released in September 2005 on Sanctuary Records. It featured collaborations with several artists including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Kenny G, Kelly Rowland, will.i.am, and Brian McKnight. Illumination debuted at number 32 on the Billboard 200 Chart, and number 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
Contents
Background
The recording process for Illumination was originally conceived as a solo album for singer Philip Bailey. He recorded songs for the project "This Is How I Feel", "Work It Out" and "Elevated". A few months into recording, Bailey wanted to shift the focus of the project. He decided to make it into an Earth, Wind & Fire album- a move that was inspired by his oldest son, who co-wrote the song "Work It Out". Bailey reached out to the remaining members of the band to help work on what became their next studio recording. They signed with Sanctuary Records' urban music division, which was run by former Destiny's Child manager Mathew Knowles.
Reception
The album received positive reviews from critics. Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "a fluid, unforced marriage of modern beats and retro, horn-lined soul". Antony Hatfield of the BBC in his review stated that the album was "a great all star team effort" and added that it "combines Latin, funk and soul but the likes of Raphael Saadiq, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have brought a more contemporary hip-hop and R&B sound to the table". Of Illumination the Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes felt that "The EWF voices and horns are given contagious hooks for their retro sound, while underneath, the producers cook up new beats for a new century".
Illumination was Grammy nominated for Best R&B Album, was also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category R&B-soul album and EWF garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Duo or Group for Illumination. The single "Pure Gold" reached number 23 on the Adult Contemporary chart and was also Grammy nominated in the category Best Production Non-Classical. Another single, "Show Me The Way", a collaboration with Raphael Saadiq was Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Uses in other media
"This Is How I Feel" was featured in the movie Hitch and "Love's Dance" was featured in the feature film Robots. "Pure Gold" was featured in the movie Roll Bounce.
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Songs
1Lovely People (feat william)4:30
2Pure Gold4:41
3A Talking Voice (Interlude)0:20