Illumination (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

"The Way You Move" featuring Kenny G was issued as the album's lead single. it reached number 12 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart.^[5] Second single "Show Me the Way" featuring Raphael Saadiq rose to number 16 on the Adult R&B Songs chart.^[6] "Pure Gold," Illumination's third singles, rose to number 23 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary singles chart and number 15 on the Adult R&B Songs chart.^[7][8] Fourth and final single "To You," which featured Brian McKnight, reached number 16 upon the US Adult R&B Songs chart and number 29 on the US Smooth Jazz Songs chart.^[9][10]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About	[12]
AllMusic	[13]
The Guardian	[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
The Times	[16]
USA Today	[17]

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]

Illumination was Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Album. The album was also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo. As well Earth, Wind & Fire was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Duo or Group.^[4][24][25] "Show Me the Way" was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.^[4]

The album debuted and peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard 200 and number eight on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first week sales of 29,000 copies.^[26] It was Earth, Wind & Fire's highest-charting album since 1987's Touch the World.^[27] The album also peaked at number 61 on the Oricon Charts in Japan.^[28]

"This Is How I Feel" was featured in the movie Hitch and "Love's Dance" was featured in the feature film Robots. "Pure Gold" was featured in the movie Roll Bounce.^[29]