Songs in the Key of Life

Absolutely outstanding in every facet - songwriting, performance, use of genre, etc.

could've dropped one or two of the weaker tracks but otherwise great album

Classic Stevie. He's got a hell of a voice and knows how to use it. I heard everything from groovy, relaxing, empowering, funky, and political in the course of an hour and forty five minutes. Of course, the headliners are 'Sir Duke' and 'Isn't She Lovely', but there's plenty of deeper dives here, including 'I Wish', 'Pastime Paradise', 'Another Star', and 'Ebony Eyes'. I guess the most important part is that it's good enough for Coolio.

This is a great album that is a joy to put on. I wish I could give it a 4.5 as my only complaint is the sequencing, it starts a bit off slow for me. Once it gets going though around track for it is full of hits and should be part of the regular rotation.

Any rating other than a 5 is just objectively wrong. 104 minutes of pure, passionate music was blissful to listen to

Now this one was great!

Masterpiece.

It’s astonishing to think this was Stevie’s eighteenth album. Most artists barely make it past one or two but to get to eighteen and still be making bangers songs is incredible. Ok so it could probably have done with being split into two great albums but can’t really knock it.

Playing my copy of this. Absolute gem of an album.

So many all time beautiful songs. Truly a pop genius

I couldn't finish. I appreciate the artistry but repetitive lyrics, particularly towards the end of a song, irritates me.

Nearly flawless! An intriguing and important cultural milestone. Beautiful tunes perfectly executed, sort of like Rumors from a technical point of view. Eclectic. Socially conscious pop music is pretty rare, even more rare is socially conscious music that universally acclaimed and beloved.

I don't know what happened to music after this. It just got dumber and lower quality. Thank god for this high bar though.

I think it’s rather unfair to include a greatest hits on this list.

What’s that?
It’s a regular studio album?

His 18th studio album?!

Jesus!

Stevie Wonder doesn’t miss a single beat on this monumental achievement.

Supposed all timer. Extremely good but perhaps a bit of its time.

I feel like, as one of the most famous albums of all time, this one is kind of weird because it only has a couple of songs that everyone would know. Really I bet if you asked random people if they'd heard of this record almost all of them would say yes but then if you asked to name 3 songs from the album, most people couldn't.
But it's a great record. I mean it's Stevie Wonder, how can it be bad? Solid 4/5 from me.

Great album, with some odd choices.

For this review, I am looking at the original release of this album. I will not include the four-song EP "A Something's Extra" that gets tacked on to the end of the CD and streaming releases.

That still leaves us with a double album that runs for about an hour and a half, and that runtime seems to be the elephant in the room here. As experimental as Stevie gets here, I don't think there's a bad or filler track per se, even though the baby recordings on the album cut of "Isn't She Lovely" are jarring, and some tracks like "Another Star" and "Black Man" go on for longer than they need to.

That said, I do not recommend marathoning this album in one session, because there is such a case for "too much of a good thing." Take a break between discs/records for this one. It belongs on this list, but only when approached with the right mindset.

Update 3/12/2026: Against the advice of my past self, I re-listened to this album in one session. Amazingly, I was not fatigued and thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through.

I will freely admit that I felt intimidated when I got this record so early on in my album journey. I was only a little over two weeks in when this behemoth dropped on me, so I caved in a bit. But, with time, I was able to warm up to longer releases, and that gave me the courage to consider revisiting Songs in the Key of Life, and I was not disappointed.

Credit to Stevie himself for being a masterful lyricist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist on this record, as he knew how to make a song engaging and thought-provoking in sonic and poetic detail. Songs like "Another Star" and "Black Man", upon re-listening, were some of the most fun extended funk jams I heard in some time with such aspirational messaging. Even the baby recordings on "Isn't She Lovely" now sound right at home as Stevie sang a heartfelt tribute to his daughter. Not to mention other highlights like the ominous synth-funk of "Have a Talk with God", the baroque arrangement of "Village Ghetto Land", the boppin' expression of music appreciation on "Sir Duke", the super eclectic horn and bass combo of "I Wish", the Latin beat influence on cuts like "Pastime Paradise" and "Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing", I could keep going on...

I do think it is worth giving Songs in the Key of Life the time of day, and I am glad to have come back to it after so long.

A few dramatic singing songs but overall great experience and some great instrumentation

Stevie Fucking Wonder people... What more really needs to be said? This is from the sweet spot (arguably the pinnacle) of his classic period and there isn't a bad song to be found on here. Musical serotonin injected straight into your spine right here.

A truly gorgeous album that has a lot of standout moments even on a first listen through. Where it falls down, and I acknowledge this is a thing about my taste, is the songs tend to overstay their welcome. But I'll certainly listen to this some more in future.