Open Our Eyes

Open Our Eyes
Studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire
Released March 25, 1974
Recorded August 1973, Caribou Ranch
Nederland, Colorado, U.S.
Genre Soul, funk, jazz
Length 39:52
Label Columbia/Legacy
Producer Maurice White, Charles Stepney
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology

Head to the Sky
(1973)		 Open Our Eyes
(1974)		 Another Time
(1974)
Singles from Open Your Eyes
  1. "Mighty Mighty"
    Released: 1974
  2. "Kalimba Story"
    Released: 1974
  3. "Devotion"
    Released: 1974

Open Our Eyes is the fifth studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1974 on Columbia Records. The album went to number one on the R&B Charts and number 15 on the Pop Charts. Open Our Eyes contained the Billboard charting singles, "Mighty Mighty" (R&B #4, Pop #29), "Devotion" (R&B #23, Pop #33) and "Kalimba Story" (R&B #6, Pop #55).[1] The album was made available in a digitally remastered version in 2001, which includes 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks.[2] Open Our Eyes has been certified platinum in the US by the RIAA.[3]

Reception

Yahoo Music calls Open Our Eyes "simply superb" and Robert Christgau in his review of the album describes it as a "fucking tour de force."[4][5] Devotion has been sampled by Yo-Yo featuring Ice Cube on the track You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo featured on her album Make Way for the Motherlode. Drum Song was sampled by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes on the single The Block Party that was featured on her 2001 album Supernova.[6]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [7]
Blender
PopMatters (favourable) [8]
Yahoo Music (very favorable)[9]
Warr.org [10]
Robert Christgau A− [11]

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Mighty Mighty"  Maurice White, Verdine White 3:03
2. "Devotion"  Maurice White, Philip Bailey 4:50
3. "Fair But So Uncool"  Rick Giles, Charles Stepney 3:39
4. "Feelin' Blue"  Kenny Altman 4:28
5. "Kalimba Story"  Maurice White, Verdine White 4:03
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
6. "Drum Song"  Maurice White 5:10
7. "Tee Nine Chee Bit"  Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Philip Bailey 3:45
8. "Spasmodic Movements"  Eddie Harris 1:50
9. "Rabbit Seed"  Maurice White 0:31
10. "Caribou"  Charles Stepney, Rick Giles 3:25
11. "Open Our Eyes"  Leon Lumkins 5:06

2001 Reissue

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Mighty Mighty"  Maurice White, Verdine White 3:03
2. "Devotion"  Maurice White, Philip Bailey 4:50
3. "Fair But So Uncool"  Rick Giles, Charles Stepney 3:39
4. "Feelin' Blue"  Kenny Altman 4:28
5. "Kalimba Story"  Maurice White, Verdine White 4:03
6. "Drum Song"  Maurice White 5:10
7. "Tee Nine Chee Bit"  Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Philip Bailey 3:45
8. "Spasmodic Movements"  Eddie Harris 1:50
9. "Rabbit Seed"  Maurice White 0:31
10. "Caribou"  Charles Stepney, Rick Giles 3:25
11. "Open Our Eyes"  Leon Lumkins 5:06
12. "Ain't No Harm To Moan (Slave Song)"  Maurice White, Larry Dunn 5:21
13. "Fair But So Uncool (Walkin' In N'Awlins Mix)"  Charles Stepney, Rick Giles 3:37
14. "Step's Tune"  Maurice White, Charles Stepney 2:33
15. "Dreams"  Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Larry Dunn 3:23

[2][12]

Charts

Album – Billboard
Year Chart Position
1974 Black Albums 1
Pop Albums 15
Singles – Billboard
Year Single Chart Position
1974 "Devotion" Black Singles 23
Pop Singles 33
"Kalimba Story" Black Singles 6
Pop Singles 55
"Mighty Mighty" Black Singles 4
Pop Singles 29

See also

References

  1. ↑ Open Our Eyes - Charts on Allmusic.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Open Our Eyes on Allmusic.com
  3. ↑ RIAA Certification for Open Our Eyes
  4. ↑ Open Our Eyes - Robert Christgau
  5. ↑ Open Our Eyes - Yahoo Music
  6. ↑ Earth, Wind & Fire music sampled by others
  7. ↑ Henderson, A. (2011). "Open Our Eyes - Earth, Wind & Fire | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Warner, S. (2011). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Open Our Eyes / Spirit < PopMatters". popmatters.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Epstein, Dan (2011). "Earth, Wind & Fire Reviews on Yahoo! Music". music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Earth, Wind & Fire". warr.org. 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Christgau, R. (2011). "Robert Christgau: Album: Earth, Wind & Fire: Open Our Eyes". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Open Our Eyes on discogs.com