| All 'n All | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Earth, Wind & Fire |
| Cover: | Earth, Wind & Fire - All'n All.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover art by Shusei Nagaoka |
| Released: | November 21, 1977 |
| Recorded: | August 1977 |
| Studio: | Hollywood Sound Recorders, The Burbank Studios, Sunset Sound |
| Genre: | R&B, soul, jazz, disco, funk, pop |
| Length: | 38:46 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Maurice White |
| Prev Title: | Spirit |
| Prev Year: | 1976 |
| Next Title: | The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
All 'n All is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1977 by Columbia Records.[1] The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2] [3] 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.[4] [5] [6]
All 'n All was produced by Maurice White for Kalimba Productions. His inspiration for the album was a month-long trip to Argentina and Brazil.[7]
"Serpentine Fire" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8] [9] Another single, "Fantasy", peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and number 14 on the UK Pop Singles chart.[10] "Fantasy" also earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.[11]
Talking about the album retrospectively, The Guardian wrote: "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 newspaper added, "'I'll Write a Song for You' is superior schmaltz; and the whole shebang is punctuated beautifully by Milton Nascimento's Brazilian Rhyme."[12]
Joe McEwen of Rolling Stone wrote: "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."[13]
Los Angeles Times wrote 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."[14]
In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote: "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."
Alex Henderson of AllMusic described the album as a "diverse jewel".
Record Mirror Barry Cain claimed that "the spirit of Maurice White reigns supreme" on the album. He goes onto say that "The singer, writer, and producer casts his giant bird like shadow across every note, every peerless piece of slickery, every eye - blinking device. If anyone can claim to be the Fellini of funk It's Maurice White." Cain added, "It's an EW&F album and I like it. Unashamedly."
Phyl Garland, in his review for Stereo Review, went onto say that "the music is delightfully earthy in its appeal, an aural collage of rich vocal and instrumental textures underscored by highly danceable rhythms that never surrender to triteness. Though the very name of this group partakes of astrological symbolism, and though the lyrics of their songs often hint of galactic mysteries, the nine men who compose Earth, Wind & Fire play a kind of music that might be called neo-progressive soul, for it is a full light-year beyond what most groups are doing these days, soaring to celestial heights while sending out waves of mundane thrills."[15]
John Rockwell of The New York Times proclaimed that "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."[16]
Chicago Tribune Monroe Anderson wrote that "the soul group's latest album release, All 'N All (Columbia), is a rare blend of poetry, passion, and artistic progression." Anderson added that "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."[17]
As an album, All 'n All won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus. From the album, "Runnin" also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental.[18] Additionally, All 'n All was nominated for an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Soul/R&B Album.[19]
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard) | 3 |
| US Top Soul LPs (Billboard) | 1 | |
| Canada Top Albums (RPM)[20] | 3 | |
| Dutch Albums (Dutch Charts)[21] | 4 | |
| New Zealand Pop Albums[22] | 12 | |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] | 11 | |
| UK Pop Albums[24] | 13 | |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] | 14 |
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | US Billboard 200 | 12 |
| US Top Soul Albums (Billboard) | 1 | |
| Dutch Albums (Dutch Charts)[26] | 12 | |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] | 31 |
| Year | Single | Peak positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width="45" | US Hot 100 | width="45" | US R&B | width="45" | US Dance | width="45" | UK Pop Singles |
| 1977 | "Serpentine Fire" | 13 | 1 | – | – | ||
| 1978 | "Fantasy" | 32 | 12 | – | 14 | ||
| "Jupiter" | – | – | – | 41 | |||
| "Magic Mind" | – | – | – | 54 | |||
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Marsh & Kevin Stein | U.S. | The 40 Best of Album Chartmakers by Year[28] | 1981 | 13 | |
| Tom Moon | U.S. | 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die[29] | 2008 | ||
| The Guardian | U.K. | 1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die[30] | 2007 |
(*) designates lists that are unordered.