Songs in the Key of Life

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.

Innovative and groovy.

Some excellent songs here.

So goated so much sauce, quite possibly the best album of all time. Banger after banger, still sounds fresh. This album makes me feel things no other album can and makes me appreciate every aspect of my life.

Definitely some songs that I don’t love, but too many bangers for me to really care.

Stevie is the man

Very good but I'd say it's still more of a 4/5 to me than a full 5/5.

The best album by one of the all times geniuses. No other way around it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've heard nothing but praise for this album since starting this project, and I do get it, it's a phenomenal album that has had a lasting impact on music, but it's long. It impressively manages to remain consistently high quality throughout the entire album and I don't think there's any real filler here, but I still don't think I'll ever be in the mood to sit down and listen to an hour and 45 minutes of Stevie Wonder again.

Stevie’s magnum opus. The sheer amount of great songs on this record is a bit overwhelming. One of the very best records of the 70s. Five bags of popcorn and a clavinet.

Realmente bonito. La deuda de Jamiroquai con este disco es impagable. La imagen que tenía de Stevie Wonder ha cambiado conforme escuchaba los discos que hay de él en esta lista. Me guardo: "Village Ghetto Land", "Sir Duke", "I Wish", "Pastime Paradise", "Isn't She Lovely" y "As".

Pretty chill, kinda fun at times. 3/5

Kontexten må ha nämnts otaliga gånger men tål att upprepas. På sin 21-årsdag skulle Stevie enligt kontraktet få fullständig konstnärlig frihet. Det han levererat fram till dess är naturligtvis fantastiskt i sig. Motownsoul när den är som allra bäst. Men det som skulle komma nu var något annat. Det börjar redan med 1971 års Where I’m coming from (får man inte gåshud av I never dreamed you’ll leave in summer, bör man omedelbart uppsöka läkare) och når sitt crescendo i Songs in the key of life. Det är nästintill omöjligt att inbördes ranka de sex album han släpper här. Alla är av yppersta klass.
Beträffande Keys kan förstås den ständigt återkommande invändningen, ”hade han sållat bland låtarna till ett enkelalbum, då jävlar” höras till och från. Brukar själv hamna i de tankarna rörande många dubbelalbum. Men så inte här. Varje låt behövs. De funkiga, de jazziga och de soulmässande. Jag älskar groovet i Black man, hur han bygger och bygger i As och bönen om en värld där vi tar hand om varandra i ”Love’s in need of love today” (Egentligen är det otroligt att ett så i grunden platt uttryck kan låta så självklart när Stevie tar ton). Gång på gång, albumet igenom ser Stevie till att ”Knocks me of my feet”.
Betyget då? Ja, det är väl en ickefråga.

Some absolute bangers on here, and some of the best love songs on here too. Do think some ( a lot) of the songs are a little too long, like there is a 5/5 album on here if like several of the songs are reduced by about a third lol 4

I've been jamming with this massive album for almost two hours, I'm completely blown away by Stevie Wonder's genius. It's this huge, ambitious thing that feels like the key to understanding life, mixing funk, soul, and jazz perfectly. Releasing 21 tracks this good as your 18th album? Crazy! I was really impressed by how musical it all is. from "Sir Duke" to "Village Ghetto Land", every song counts and tells this cool story about love and and life.

You can feel the impact of this record everywhere, it's wild how many modern songs are based on it. Hearing "Pastime Paradise" or "I Wish" makes it obvious why so many rappers and R&B artists sample it. Yeah, it's long, but it doesn't feel boring, it just feels like he had so much to say. From "Isn't She Lovely" to "As", this album is super important and still inspires me. Five stars, no doubt, it totally lives up to its reputation.

Unbelievable classic

Favorite track(s): Love's in Need of Love Today, Contusion, Sir Duke, I Wish, Pastime Paradise, Summer Soft, Isn't She Lovely, Black Man, As, All Day Sucker

They're calling it the least bloated double album of all time. How did he do it?

Heard before
Previous rating: 9/10

Greatness isn’t perfection — it’s transcendence

He's obviously a genius musician, but also this drags towards the end ("Saturn", "Ebony Eyes"), and about half of it is too schmaltzy and sentimental for my tastes.

7.0

Fav track: I Wish

Least fav: Isn't She Lovely (sorry, just no)

I don’t think it’s possible to be in a bad mood while listening to this album. This whole work is just so full of passion and joy that it’s infectious. Just so uplifting and lovely.