Earth, Wind & Fire - I Am

Earth, Wind & Fire hit a glittering peak on I Am, the 1979 album that gave the world "Boogie Wonderland" and "After the Love Has Gone", reissued here on 140-gram vinyl.

By the end of the 1970s, Maurice White's band had become one of the most popular acts around, and I Am found them refining their horn-powered blend of funk, soul and disco with a sleek, pop-savvy polish. Sessions ran from late 1978 into early 1979, with White producing and an expanded cast of collaborators bringing new colors to the palette.

"Boogie Wonderland", recorded with The Emotions, is a shimmering disco juggernaut built on strings, horns and soaring group vocals. "After the Love Has Gone", co-written by David Foster, slows things into a lush, aching ballad that earned the band a Grammy and became one of their signature songs.

Foster also contributes keyboards and string arrangements across the album, and Toto's Steve Lukather adds guitar. "In the Stone" and "Star" keep the cosmic optimism running high, all punchy brass and tight rhythm-section interplay, with the band's trademark vocal blend riding on top.

Few records capture the band's joyous lift quite like this one, and it still fills a room the moment the needle drops, from the first horn blast to the last fading chorus.