Critical reception
Illumination was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 12 reviews. [11] Bill Lamb of About gave the album a four out of five star rating. He found that Illumination was a "truly classic package" that "effortlessly straddles the divide between classic and contemporary R&B." [12] Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave a four out of five star rating, describing the album as "an often storming return to form." [14] Steve Jones of USA Today noted that with Illumination Earth, Wind & Fire was "as vibrant as ever." [17] Jim Farber of The New York Daily News felt that "their latest work features production and/or guest appearances from current hit makers like Will I. Am from the Black Eyed Peas, Big Boi from OutKast, Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child, plus Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq and others. All these guests haven't overwhelmed Maurice White's great band. They've just freshened it up. Singer Philip Bailey sounds as buttery as ever, and the band's tart horn arrangements and melodies extend the buoyancy and pleasure of their hits." [18]
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." [19] David Wild of Rolling Stone proclaimed "Illumination, taps into Santana's now-familiar Supernatural formula: Give a veteran great a hip replacement by surrounding it with lots of gifted youngbloods. On Illumination, the formula works well largely because the parties involved — including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq and Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am — seem to sincerely treasure the EWF sound. " [20] Geoffrey Himes, writing for Washington Post , found that Illumination has "the right material and the right producers [...] The Earth, Wind & Fire voices and horns are given contagious hooks for their retro sound, while underneath, the producers cook up new beats for a new century." [21] Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly declared Illumination "a fluid, unforced marriage of modern beats and retro, horn-lined soul," [22] while Antony Hatfield of BBC Music called the album a "great all star team effort, which should appeal to fans of all concerned." [23]
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