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*Earth, Wind & Fire is looking to release a major three-disc CD/DVD package to be sold exclusively for a major retailer by mid-2009.
Frontman Philip Bailey tells Billboard.com that the project is expected to include a CD of original material -- its first since "Illumination" in 2004 -- a live CD and a concert DVD.
"(Management) has done this twice with (the Eagles and Journey, both via Wal-Mart) and they've expressed interest in doing this with Earth, Wind & Fire," Bailey says. "That's the new thing today, so we're taking a template out of that whole thing. We have a history and a catalog and everything, so you don't have to 'break' us. We're still viable. Now, they're able to make really good deals and make more money for (the acts), so it's a pretty good day for us old guys."
Bailey says EWF hopes to start recording the new album after the end of its current tour in October.
"We're writing," he notes, "and we're gonna write with some of these writer-producer guys, and then make it happen."