Critical reception
Within a 4/5 stars review Kit Aiken of Uncut called Gratitude "a kicking live album". [17] Mikal Gilmore of DownBeat in a 3/5 stars review, exclaimed "Earth, Wind and Fire is the penultimate second generation band of the Sly Stone/Stevie Wonder school of funk. Their arrangements and vocals derive largely from Stevie and Sly’s mannerisms, and, similarly, their appeal cuts across all racial, radio, and disco barriers. While they have yet to carve any totally innovative niche for themselves in the musical pantheon, they certainly have provided enough clues to their possible future directions to insure their malleability. In short, EW&F is more interesting than nine- tenths of the current soul-jazz-rock-disco bands, and their musicianship clearly matches their flash. Although a live album was a slightly premature issue on their part, the band needed a release to coincide with the distribution of the film That's The Way Of The World. Gratitude is excellent filler, and EW&F is not above trading in a bit of their overnight mythology to advance their own profile." [15] Henry Edwards of the New York Times declared, "All of the music is carefully tooled, zestfully polished, relentlessly good natured rhythmic dance music, an amalgam of rhythm‐and‐blues, jazz and middle-of-the-road pop that the group gleefully shouts, croons, squeals and growls. There's showmanship galore here, but strip that showmanship away and one discovers that Earth, Wind & Fire's music is built around one persistently repeated chord‐and not the world's most interesting chord either." [16] Will Smith of the Omaha World Herald scribed "Gratitude by Earth, Wind & Fire has the soul that so many so-called soul groups lack. The nine-man group manages to keep the interest level high on this two-record set with the inclusion of jazz tinges." [20] Alex Henderson of Allmusic, in a 4.5/5 stars review found "Gratitude brilliantly captures the excitement EWF generated on-stage at its creative peak...one of EWF's finest accomplishments." [10]
Cliff White of NME called Gratitude "Proof at last that EWF deserve all the acclaim that's been heaped on them in the last couple of years. Their previous albums were impressive...but never quite capturing the full spirit of the group as envisaged by leader Maurice White. A little too much technique perhaps, and not quite enough soul. Now we get to hear them at their very best and it's suddenly apparent that they knock most other "progressive" black groups into a cocked hat." [14] Mike Kalina of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claimed Gratitude "features a variety of superb rhythm and blues material with plenty of jazz overtones. The group's lyrics may not be the most innovative but they all fit perfectly into the patchwork of funk the group weaves. The musicianship of the group cannot be beat nor can the feeling that this group - my favorite in the R&B idiom - puts out." [19] Tony Green of Spin exclaimed "A frightfully accomplished funk hit machine flexing its muscles live is truly a beautiful thing. And few had as much flex-worthy musical mass as these crossover kings. (EW&F) melded proto-Afrocentricism with self help optimism, filling out their sound with Jazz leanings and swelling summer breeze ballads. An album that's capable at any moment of landing an emotional killer blow." [13] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune found "an Ellingtonian fusion of styles on this live masterpiece." [18]
EWF went on to win a Rock Music Award in the category of Best Soul Album for Gratitude. The album's title track was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. [21] [9]
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