Touch the World

Touch the World is the fourteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1987 on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. Touch the World was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

Overview
Touch the World was produced by Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White. Artists such as George Duke, Marc Russo and Ricky Lawson of Yellowjackets, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Lynette Hawkins Stephens with The Hawkins Family appeared on the album.

This LP ended a four-year hiatus for the band, with Maurice White reforming the group by bringing back longtime members Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Andrew Woolfolk and Ralph Johnson. Touch the World also marked the debut of former Commodores guitarist Sheldon Reynolds to the lineup while Sonny Emory went on to fill the drum chair.

Singles
"System of Survival" was written by an unknown composer known as Skylark. Coming off the album as a single, the tune reached number one on both the Billboard Hot R&B Songs and Dance Club Songs charts. System of Survival was also nominated for a Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Group, Band or Duo. Another single, "Thinking of You" reached number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.

Critical reception
David Emerson of The Boston Globe called Touch the World "one of their toughest and most convincing records ever". With a 3 out of 4 stars rating Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times declared "Touch the World, while not great, is still good enough to further secure EWF's niche in pop/funk history". Chris Heim of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Sweet and silky ballads, the distinctive vocals of Maurice White and Philip Bailey, and an overall air of humanitarian concern continue to be obvious group hallmarks. But there is a tougher, sadder and more predictible atmosphere here as the group discovers it hasn`t been so easy to Getaway from grim realities." With a 3 out of 4 stars rating Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer called Touch the World "the best album this vocal group has released since 'That's the Way of the World".

People described the LP as "a class operation and an attractive return" that "can stand on its own merits." Jon Pareles of The New York Times noted that "Touch the World aims for hits by grafting old Earth, Wind and Fire trademarks..onto up to date arrangements and current concerns". David Quantick of New Musical Express stated "the toughness of the title track pervades much of the..LP and to the good". He also pointed out that "you the hipster can buy this record and liven up your evenings no end." Roe Hoeburger of Rolling Stone gave a 3 out of 5 stars rating and found "Bailey’s falsetto sounds as pure and piercing as ever, but he often needs White’s sly, low counterpunch to bring him back from the stratosphere." Hoeburger added "Yet White and Bailey’s words were always simple, delivered with a lot of pride and passion, enough of which they’ve regained to make Earth, Wind and Fire once more significant and timely." With a three out of four star rating Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News wrote "Touch the World is a potent reminder of what funk is all about. Maurice White and his mates have made a record that hits at the solar plexus - like all funk should - but also at the mind and ear." Pamela Bloom of High Fidelity proclaimed "Touch the World is nothing if not contemporary (but)..the message, as always, is stop, step back, and turn up your light".

Touch the World was nominated for a Soul Train Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.

Personnel
Earth, Wind & Fire
 * Philip Bailey – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 8, 9), backing vocals (1-4, 6, 7, 9, 10), synthesizer arrangements (9)
 * Maurice White – lead vocals (1-3, 6-8, 10), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), vocoder (1), arrangements (3, 10)
 * Sheldon Reynolds – guitars (2, 8, 9), lead guitar (6, 10)
 * Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone solo (5)

Additional musicians
 * Skylark – synthesizers (1), drum programming (1), backing vocals (1)
 * Preston Glass – synthesizers (1), electric guitars (1), additional drum programming (1)
 * Rhett Lawrence – Fairlight programming (2, 4, 7-9), drum programming (2, 3), sequencing (2), Fairlight synthesizer (3), synthesizer programming (3, 7-9), Moog bass (3), additional drums (8)
 * Wayne Vaughn – sequencing (3)
 * Bill Meyers – acoustic piano (4, 7), arrangements (4, 5, 7), keyboards (5), synthesizer programming (5), drums (5)
 * Larry Williams – additional keyboard programming (4), additional programming (7)
 * Dan De Souza – keyboards (5), synthesizer programming (5), drums (5)
 * Steve Lindsey – keyboards (6)
 * Danny Sembello – synthesizer programming (6), drum programming (6)
 * George Duke – acoustic piano (8, 9), rhythm arrangements (9)
 * Ian Prince – synthesizer programming (10), drums (10), arrangements (10)
 * Attala Zane Giles – additional guitars (2), synth bass (2), percussion programming (2), additional backing vocals (2), arrangements (2)
 * Ray Fuller – guitars (3)
 * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (4, 7)
 * Nathan East – bass (4, 7-9)
 * Jeff Porcaro – drums (4, 7)
 * Ricky Lawson – drum overdubs (6), drums (8, 9)
 * Marc Russo – horns (1)
 * Wayne Wallace – horns (1)
 * Gary Grant – horns (1, 6, 10)
 * Jerry Hey – horns (1, 6, 10), horn arrangements (1, 6, 10)
 * Dan Higgins – horns (6, 10)
 * Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns (6, 10)
 * Rev. Oliver Wells – arrangements (8), synthesizer arrangements (9)
 * Wanda Vaughn – backing vocals (3)
 * Jeanette Williams – backing vocals (3)
 * The Hawkins Family – backing vocals (8)
 * Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins Stephens – additional lead vocals (8)

Production

 * Maurice White – producer (1-4, 6-10)
 * Preston Glass – producer (1)
 * Philip Bailey – co-producer (2, 9, 10)
 * Attala Zane Giles – additional production (2)
 * Wayne Vaughn – co-producer (3)
 * Bill Meyers – producer (5)
 * Acar Key – engineer (1)
 * Tom Lord-Alge – engineer (1-4, 6-10), mixing (1-4, 6-10)
 * Dave Rideau – engineer (2-4, 6-10), mixing (5)
 * Paul Brown – engineer (5)
 * Red Davidson – additional assistant engineer (1)
 * Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer (1-4, 6-10)
 * Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer (1)
 * Les Cooper – assistant engineer (2-4, 6-10)
 * Mitch Zelezny – assistant engineer (2-4, 6-10)
 * Liz Cluse – assistant engineer (4, 7)
 * Jeff Woodruff – assistant engineer (5)
 * Mark Slagle – assistant engineer (8)
 * Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
 * Tony Lane – art direction
 * Nancy Donald – art direction
 * Max Aguilera Hellweg – photography