Powerlight

Powerlight was produced by EWF leader Maurice White. According to White the LP's title has to do with "the chakras -- the centers of the body that connect us with cosmic power." Artists such as Robert Greenidge, Maxayn Lewis and Zakir Hussain also appeared on the album.[1][5]

The album cut "Fall in Love with Me" rose to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart. "Fall in Love with Me" was also Grammy nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[6]

As well another single entitled Side by Side got to No. 15 upon the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[8]
Village Voice	(A-)[9]
Vanity Fair	(favourable)[10]
Stereo Review	(favourable)[11]
New York Times	(favourable)[12]
Musician	(favourable)[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Los Angeles Times	(favourable)[15][16]
Smash Hits	(8/10)[17]
Philadelphia Daily News	[18]
New York Daily News	(favourable)[19]

Vanity Fair found that "Earth, Wind & Fire's oddysey of uplift, Powerlight is, impossible as it may seem, even more relentlessly cheerful than its predecessor Raise, a concoction designed to do precisely that to listeners' spirit".[10] Robert Palmer of The New York Times noted "Mr. (Milton) Nascimento, and Brazilian pop in general, combine African-derived rhythms that tend to be more flowing and buoyant than their North American funk counterparts with a melodious pop lyricism based on relatively complex, jazzy harmonies, and Maurice White has done something very similar on Earth, Wind and Fire's Powerlight album."[12] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice proclaimed with an A- grade that "we're free to gape at this band's spectacular popcraft."[9] David Hepworth of Smash Hits gave the album an 8/10 rating and declared EWF are "firing on all cylinders". With a four out of five star rating Dave Marsh of the Philadelphia Daily News noted that "this is the record in which EWF brings it all home".[18] Hugh Wyatt of the New York Daily News said "Earth, Wind & Fire gives new meaning to the word classy, and I like it".[19]

Powerlight was also placed by music critic Robert Christgau at No. 36 on his dean's list of 1983 in the Village Voice.[20]

[1]

• Additional backing vocals - Ms. Pluto
• Additional backing vocals, guitar - Beloyd Taylor
• Bass Guitar - Verdine White
• Cello - Douglas Davis, Earl Madison, Frederick Seykora, Larry Corbett, Ronald Cooper, Suzie Katayama
• Double bass - Arni Egilsson
• Drums, percussion - Fred White
• Rhythm Guitar - Roland Bautista
• Harp - Dorothy Remsen
• Keyboards - Eduardo Del Barrio, Rick Kelly, Skip Scarborough, Wayne Vaughn, George Del Barrio
• Lead & backing vocals, percussion - Philip Bailey
• Lead & backing vocals, drums, kalimba Maurice White
• Percussion - Paulinho Da Costa, Ralph Johnson
• Piano - Maxanne Lewis
• Prophet-5 synthesizer - Azar Lawrence
• Saxophone - Donald Myrick
• Steel drums - Robert Greenidge
• Synthesizer programming - Larry Dunn
• Tabla - Zakir Hussain
• Tenor saxophone - Andrew Woolfolk
• Trombone - Bill Reichenbach Jr., Charles Loper, George Bohanon, Lew McCreary, Louis Satterfield
• Trumpet - Chuck Findley, Gary Grant, Michael Harris, Oscar Brashear, Rahmlee Michael Davis, Jerry Hey
• Viola - Alan Deveritch, Allan Harshman, Carole Mukogawa, David Schwartz, Joel Soultanian, Linn Subotnick, Milton Kestenbaum, Pamela Goldsmith, Roland Karo, Rollice Dale
• Violin - Anatol Kaminsky, Arnold Belnick, Bill Hybel, Bob Sanov, Brenton Banks, George Kast, Haim Shtrum, Harry Bluestone, Janet Lakatos, Karen Jones, Marshall Sosson, Miwako Watanabe, Myer Bello, Nathan Ross, Nicole Bush, Pam Tompkins, Robert Lipsett, Robert Sushel, Ron Clark, Shari Zippert, Sheldon Sanov, Stanley Plummer[21]