The Greatest American Rock Band Bracket!
Elite Eight, Funk/R&B/Blues Division
Earth, Wind and Fire (3) vs. Prince & the Revolution (4)
R&B superstars versus the 80s genre-benders
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Earth, Wind and Fire:
"Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the '70s. EWF's all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco. More than just versatility for its own sake, EWF's eclecticism was part of a broader concept informed by a cosmic, mystical spirituality and an uplifting positivity the likes of which hadn't been seen since the early days of Sly & the Family Stone. At their best, Earth, Wind & Fire seemingly took all that came before them and wrapped it up into one dizzying, spectacular package." --Allmusic.com Popularity
Influence:
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Prince and the Revolution:
"No other artist of the rock & roll era compares to Prince. He was the rare combination of a visionary pop conceptualist and master musician who could capture the sounds he imagined, a quality that fueled his remarkable success in the 1980s. Ideas came to Prince so quickly, they couldn't be contained on his own records, either with or without his backing band the Revolution. Prince and the Revolution existed in a formal capacity from only 1984 through 1986, but the origin of the diverse band dates back to 1979, when Prince assembled a team of musicians to help him tour in support of his self-titled second album. There wasn't an area of pop music in the '80s that didn't bear [their] influence: it could be heard in freaky funk and R&B slow jams, in thick electro-techno and neo-psychedelic rock, and right at the top of the pop charts." --AllMusic.com Popularity
Influence:
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