Illumination (Earth, Wind & Fire album)


Illumination is the 19th studio album of R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire released in September 2005 on Sanctuary Records. The album rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 32 on the Billboard 200 chart. Illumination was also Grammy nominated within the category of Best R&B Album.

Overview

Artists such as Big Boi, Kenny G, Kelly Rowland, will.i.am, Floetry and Brian McKnight featured on Illumination.

Critical reception

Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly declared "Earth, Wind & Fire’s Illumination is a fluid, unforced marriage of modern beats and retro, horn-lined soul.". Antony Hatfield of the BBC stated "Illumination is a great all star team effort, which should appeal to fans of all concerned." Bill Lamb of About gave a four out of five star rating and found that "Illumination is a truly classic package" that "effortlessly straddles the divide between classic and contemporary r&b." Ben Thompson of The Daily Telegraph wrote "Illumination does find them successfully holding their own alongside some of the biggest names of the 21st century." People proclaimed "Illumination, Earth, Wind & Fire’s 23rd album, shows that after 35 years the R&B/funk pioneers are still shining stars.". Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave a four out of five star rating, describing the album as "an often storming return to form." With a 3 out of 5 star rating Steve Jones of USA Today noted "EWF is as vibrant as ever".
Illumination was Grammy nominated for Best R&B Album. The album was also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo. As well Illumination was nominated for NAACP Image Award in the category of Best Duo or Group.

Singles

A track titled "Pure Gold" rose to No. 23 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.
Another single titled "The Way You Move" feat. Kenny G reached No. 12 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart.
A song called "Show Me the Way" feat. Raphael Saadiq rose to No. 16 upon the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart. "Show Me the Way" was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Another track titled "To You" which featured Brian McKnight reached No. 16 upon the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart and No. 29 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart.

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.

Track listing

Bonus tracks

Credits and personnel

;EWF Members and Guest Performances
;Horn Section
;String Section
;Additional Musicians
;Other Arrangers
Albums
YearChartPeak
position
2005US Billboard 20032
2005US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums8

Singles
YearSingleChartPosition
2004"The Way You Move"Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs12
2004"The Way You Move"Billboard Adult R&B Songs25
2004"Show Me the Way"Billboard Adult R&B Songs16
2005"Pure Gold"Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs23
2005"Pure Gold"Billboard Adult R&B Songs15
2005"Pure Gold"Hot R&B/Hip-Hop76
2005"To You"Hot R&B/Hip-Hop71
2005"To You"Billboard Adult R&B Songs16
2005"To You"Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs29