Songs in the Key of Life

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.

Don't even need to listen to it. An all-time classic!

I mean, this thing is just fucking perfect, right? I have a vinyl copy, but I streamed the remastered version this time around. It might be the most impeccably produced recording I've ever heard. It's almost 50 years old, but it feels like it could have been made in a modern studio, like, yesterday. The songs are great, the playing is great, the message is great, and it's just an absolute pleasure to hear. Six fucking stars out of five idgaf.

This might be the longest album I got so far, so I have a lot of listening to do today. But gladly already familiar with this great work, already rated 4.5 on RYM so could go either way here, but I would be leaning towards 5.

Reviews saying there’s no filler songs on here are nuts. Despite that and the fact it’s 40 mins too long. It’s still a four stars for me. Probably a version of this that would end up in my favourite albums of all time.

Ranking on Greatest Albums Ever lists:
Paste #1
Yahoo Music Blog #1
Rolling Stone Magazine #4
Apple Music #6
VH1 #7
Telegraph #19
1001albums user ranking #20

It’s great. There’s no denying that.

But… is it a smidgeon overrated?

One of the quintessential Stevie Wonder records. Despite its long runtime it remains interesting and soulful throughout. I'm more of an 'Innervisions' guy though.

9/10 [KEEP]

DAMN!!!!!
It's no secret that Stevie Wonder is considered one of the best to ever do it, but I had somehow never actually listened to an album of his. It speaks volumes, then, that I recognized just about all of Disc 1 here from song samples and reinterpretations alone! Then Disc 2 starts with Isn't She Lovely, which if you're like me, might have been the only track you recognize from title alone -- but going into the record with only that knowledge does NOT prepare you for how funky and soulful the experience is gonna get, nor for the sheer stylistic variety in the near-2 hour tracklist. When he started doing straight jazz fusion on Contusion, that's when I knew this was a 5.
It might not be my personal GOAT, but I 100% understand why it belongs in the conversation for overall best album of all time.

Standouts: Love's In Need Of Love Today • Have A Talk With God • Contusion • Sir Duke • Ordinary Pain • Isn't She Lovely • As • Another Star • Ebony Eyes • All Day Sucker

Not sure why this one was so hard for. The first three-four tracks turned me off so much and honestly i think its because i hate when Stevie tries to write social commentary. It just comes off as forced and out of touch.

BUT as far as love songs, funk and musicianship - i mean, the album is this highly rated for a reason. Yes its long (to long), yes some of the tracks (IMO the first three in particular) are weaker - but look..."Contusion" to "Isn't She Lovely" on its own - would make the greatest album ever written.

Easily his best album. Not a single bad song and tons of classics.

Wonderful album. Stevie Wonder is, for real, an extremely multi talented musical genius. This is an album that will make you a very happy person whenever you listen to it <3

Easy 5

Out of curiosity I looked through the 1 and 2 star reviews and I was not surprised that I had stumbled upon a small collection of just the dumbest idiots on the internet.

This is easily a 5 star album just for having I Wish and Sir Duke, but the rest of the songs are incredible too.

There's some real bangers on this overstuffed double LP. However there's a lot of muck to wade through - it's not doing too much to make me rethink that double records should not exist.

Easily Stevie's best, and that's saying something because the previous albums I've got were fantastic in their own right.

Pretty great that the album is basically just banger after banger for nearly two hours. Almost no fillers (Village Ghetto Land didn't really hit for me), classics in Sir Duke and I Wish, and my favorite discoveries on this one being Black Man and Another Star. Fantastic album, and definitely understand why its considered one of the best of all time.

After recently spinning Curtis Mayfield’s edgy and captivating 1970 album Curtis for the first time I’ve been excited about dipping into some of the classic soul, funk and disco albums of the 1970s.

The stand out hits on Songs in the Key of Life are impossible not to know. ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘I Wish’ have a whole life outside this LP on radio stations and party playlists across the world. ‘Pastime Paradise’ sounds very modern, the use of synthetic strings is ahead of its time and can be heard in plenty of the soul, R&B and rock records that proceed this album.

Upsettingly, outside of these hits there is not a lot for me here. I don’t feel like much effort was put into cutting this 2LP + 1EP album to its key, most attractive elements. It’s a very long record to get such little pleasure out of. Most of the tracks on this record are very safe, sedate and glossy.

Every track that Stevie Wonder performs lives or dies on whether those vibrant and vital feelings translate to the listener, I personally can’t tap into it. I’m delighted that nearly every other person digs this, but for me I feel like a child being forced to listen to their parent’s boring music.

There are very few songs that give me the kind of rash like negative reaction I get from ‘Isn’t She Lovely’. It makes me nauseous - it simply won't end!

Stevie Wonder has enough fans without me butting in. I’m gobsmacked at how much more famous Wonder is than Mayfield though… its mad.

Well hot damn I haven't had a 5 for a while. He's a genius, that's it.

Honestly, I just don't get it. I get that it's good, it's just not my cup of tea.

It’s very nearly a five star record, but for me, Stevie’s oeuvres - even at their absolute pinnacle - always contain works that are overly sentimental, borderline saccharine. Key of Life is true to that form with Summer Soft, If It’s Magic, and others. One is reminded of the artist responsible for I just Called to Say I Love You. Mind you, half of the tracks are absolute classics of the era and the genre. It’s a string record and deserves the accolades it receives.

Loved the record, but couldn't pay attention to the lyrics. I think Stevie requires full attention to listen to, so I have to listen again to properly love it. It is a 5 though for sure, maybe a lower one for now

YES.

There's not enough stars to rate this album.