Songs in the Key of Life

Amazing album and honestly it has shockingly little filler considering it's 100+ minutes long but still... 100 minutes is too long too long to hold my attention. That's my only real complaint though. Otherwise it's such a fantastic listen. Maybe just best in 2 sittings.

There's a reason this one is thought of as the pinnacle of:

- Stevie's career
- Soul music
- Music in general

This is some great stuff. Usually I roll my eyes when I see an album with a movie worth a music crammed inside, but Songs in The Key Of Life tightly walks around that by throwing groovy melody after groovy melody that makes the whole album worthwhile and shrinks the running time immensely.

The wondrous vocals of Mr Wonder also do magic, with his color being one to replicate, as is seen with a lot of modern RnB singers. Add all the previous to the fact that this is mostly a one-man showing (and I mean that, look at the credits), and this is easily one of the most impressive works of art out there.

Amazing Album - bummed I was not able to get tickets to his latest round of concerts meant to celebrate this album

fuck yeah

#2

Before listening: never ever have I heard any album by Stevie Wonder. Moreover, I can't name any song by him.

After listening: well, it was hard for me. It's a very long and very varied album. I can see why Stevie Wonder is a musical genius, but being a simpleton from Russia I just can't relate to his music.

What a way to start a Monday!

THE greatest album ever made. No questions asked. Every single song (on this DOUBLE ALBUM, no less) is influential and wonderfully produced, not to mention Stevie Wonder's singing being otherwordly. I simply cannot say enough good things about this album - I think I Am Singing and Summer Soft are both criminally underrated, so maybe that's a start. How lucky am I to be able to exist at the same time as this work of art.

Just gorgeous darling x

some really great tracks but not a fan of the weird gospel ones

Zoals ik al eens eerder heb aangegeven op de lijst, ligt bij mij de lat voor het verantwoorden van een dubbelalbum heel hoog. Op Songs In The Key Of Life springt Stevie Wonder, zonder aanloop, een aantal meter over deze lat heen. Dit staat meer dan terecht bekend als één van de beste platen ooit. Zo ontzettend funky en gevarieerd. 21 nummers en geen seconde filler. Wow.

I liked Innervisions more but this one is alright. Its over 90 minutes so I will have to remove a star leaving this a 3.

This one is widely considered the best record that Stevie put out, and I can understand why. I am a huge fan of his voice and his music overall, so I am very subjective, but this album is beautiful! It has slow moments, upbeat moments, and some of his best songs ever. I mean, Sir Duke is one of the best hooks in the history, Isn't She Lovely is just the most beautiful piece written for his kid, and Pastime Paradise gave us one of the most recognizable rap songs of a whole generation. Amazing from start to end.

*Great hit songs but the length makes it a little daunting to listen to with some filler
*The piano/synth work is top notch

I could pretend I have an intricate rating system replete with algorithms. I could take off a quarter star because it’s too long and another quarter star because there are a few indulgent tracks that miss.
OR I could recognize that the hit songs are legendary and everyone across generations can sing them from memory. I might remember that this is Stevie MFin’ Wonder, the music genius, and one of the most respected albums of all times. So, maybe my thoughts on the second My Bloody Valentine album might offer insight (they don’t), but there’s nothing I will say here that you can’t feel for yourself in the music.

This album has several drawbacks for me: it’s too busy, it’s too upbeat, and it’s too long. Is it objectively worse than some albums I have given four stars? Probably not, but we’re not doing objectivity here. The man deserves his own eponymous genre label, but this is not for me.

"Songs In The Key Of Life" was Stevie Wonder’s 18th album and was released 50 years ago, in 1976. When you consider that Wonder is still active as a musician, you can appreciate just how important he is. In the mid-1970s, he was at the height of his creativity, and “Songs In The Key Of Life” was the crowning achievement in a whole series of fantastic albums. The perfection of the recordings – both in terms of performance and sound – remains impressive, especially when you consider that, although 130 musicians were involved, the majority of the music was recorded by Wonder himself. In terms of production, only Steely Dan could, at best, keep up with Wonder’s perfectionism. Compositionally, Wonder showcases everything he has to offer: R&B, (progressive) soul, pop, rock, jazz and funk. Wonder explored the boundaries of black music and confidently pushed them further. The result is quite simply perfect. It grooves, it swings, it rocks; it features enchanting melodies and, with ‘Sir Duke’, one of the most complex arrangements in the history of pop music. A milestone.

GOD DAYUM. UNREAL ALBUM. WOW

We had Prince’s Sign O’ the Times a couple of days ago and were large parts of that seemed self-indulgent and excessive, Stevie makes this just effortlessly cool.

It is the perfect sunny spring morning album. ‘Sir Duke’ is obviously a standout, but that shouldn’t overshadow the other tracks. ‘Love’s in Need of Love Today is a brilliant opener and this level is sustained until we reach the aforementioned SD, when the roof is blown off. ‘I Wish’ nearly manages to maintain this impossible level.

It’s hard for someone my age to hear Pastime Paradise without thinking of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise, but his job was made so much easier by having an already classic track to build on. ‘ordinary Pain’ is a beautifully crafted song about heartbreak and perfectly closes the first part of the album.

‘Isn’t She Lovely’ shows you have to take something that should be sickly sweet and turn into a perfect pop song.
‘As’ is a beautiful pop song that delivers a soulful chorus that cant help but make you feel good.

I was aware that this album was considered one of the greatest albums ever made and I was excited to start listening despite it being so long. Which meant, when I pressed play, all full of enthusiasm but then didn't like track 1, Love's In Need Of Today, I got a bit worried.

However, it was just a very wobbly start as from track 2 (Have A Talk With God) onwards, I enjoyed pretty much everything. It was a fun "spot the song that got sampled" album, although it did mean I ended up with "wicki-wicki-wild wild west" stuck in my head for a bit after listening to I Wish.

As a confirmed disliker of skits on albums, I'm going to add weird talky intros and endings to the no-no list. I had clearly only ever heard a radio edit of Isn't She Lovely because the end of that song is weird.

Nonetheless, you can hear the quality and the ideas throughout this record. It does seem bizarre that this is Stevie's 18th album - there was no running out of ideas here, although as is often the case I'd have preferred a shorter record.

Ultimately for me, this is a mostly good to great collection of songs that could have done with a little bit of a trim. Still incredibly funky though.

4/5

Side One/Side Two are an easy 5 for me, but unfortunately Side Three/Side Four leave quite a bit to be desired. That and the pervasive religious undertones slightly bring this down. All around though Stevie Wonder is an extremely talented musician. 4/5

This is my fifth Stevie Wonder album of the project. My review is basically the same as the others. The upbeat songs are some of the best songs ever recorded. The ballads are just garbage.