Aight, most of you already know what album I'm partial to, so I won't even get into that , but I'm trying to figure out why so many people feel that Songs In The Key of Life was Stevie's best album to date?

Now I like the album just like the next person, but in no way do I feel it was his most artistic work of art. Aside from a handful of songs, the album is quite mediocre to me. Please help shed some light on this issue.

Comments?

Actually I can't disagree...while I do think Songs In the Key of Life is a Classic, I like his period with Cecil and Margouleff and the TONTO at Electric Lady better: from Music Of My Mind through Talking Book , Innervisions and most Of Fulfillingness's First Finale... he started recording differently after that, and still brilliantly... it's just that it's a different feel after '75 and I like the early 70's Moog period best...

[This message was edited Thu Jul 29 13:53:54 2004 by paligap]

okaypimpn said:

I kind of agree with you. Mediocre might be too strong but I'll take Talking Book and Innervisions over Songs In The Key Of Life any day. I think that it is his most praised work simply because of it's length. Double albums typically get a lot of critical acclaim.

rialb said:

That's what I'm thinking, too, but his other double album (that shall remain nameless ) exceeded far more musical explorations than SITKOL. I'm just not understanding.

Maybe I'm not objective because I grew up with "Songs..." before I heard the other records, but I think Disc 1 holds up to any of his records (particularly "Fulfillingness..."). I think every song is great, and the production is better than the previous records.

Disc 2 has classics as well "Isn't She lovely," "Joy inside My Tears," and "As," but it's definitely not as strong. I think they tried to beef it up on the remixed cd's by moving the extra songs saturn & ebony eyes to disc 2 (they used to be on disc one)

Perhaps it's because the music was a little more pop & slick that some don't like it as much. Maybe it's because it's a double album, and some of the songs are a bit too long.

And it's probably his last great album.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it mediocre either. But this album does contain a whole lot of filler. Prime example is "Joy Inside My Tears" I see good and plenty of people upholding this as one of Stevie's classics but it's so syrupy, it comes almost comes across as Dansa would put it : vomitrocious.

I agree that Songs is inconsistant. To me their were a couple of things happening that were new on the album. One, the songs like Love's in Need of Love, Tears, As, and Another Star all take what he was doing on songs like I Believe, Misstra Know It All, and Heaven is 10 zillion... to their logical conclusion. They're all going full tilt emotionally the entire way through. That why I love these songs so much.
Two, to me, All Day Sucker and Have a Talk With God totally stand out as being years ahead of their time.
Now, whether this has anything to do with the acclaim it receives, I don't know. I agree that the fact it's a double album and the last of his "Great albums" contributes to it.

I'll try to get into this a little later. In the meantime, I agree with Prince on SITKOL:

"It's the album that most artists judge their greatness on"

psykosoul said:

There are a lot of Stevie songs I could say this about, but I wouldn't have guessed people would say that about Joy Inside my Tears. The sound of the song is bluesy and cool, unlike I Just Called to Say I Love You, or To Shy To Say, You & I,or even You Are the Sunshine of My Life. To each his own.

Domquihote:I agree about All Day Sucker. Such a great song, and it originally wasn't even part of the double album, but one of four additional songs thrown in. Definitely part of what's great about the album is the length. He just couldn't stop producing great stuff.

okaypimpn said:

I feel ya, it's not his most cohesive album to me either. But I understand its acclaim in that it has multiple songs that are like Desert Island Songs: you'd (meaning in general, not you personally) want to have 'em on your deserted island even if you don't think it's his best album. And for me there are probably about 12 of them out of the 21 tracks.

The extra tracks that originally came with the album don't add anything (I don't understand people who love "Saturn"), I think they're the weakest on the whole thing, except for the instrumental "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)" which is ok. Actually if it were trimmed down to the tracks on it I like most it would be every bit as good as my favorite Stevie albums, and maybe better. As it is, because it does contain a lot of his best material, it's still one of Stevie's Mount Rushmore works, even with its dross.

andyman91 said:

I'm listening to it right now.

Songs In The Key Of Life

Love's In Need Of Love Today
Have A Talk With God
Village Ghetto Land
Contusion
Sir Duke
I Wish
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Pastime Paradise
Summer Soft
Ordinary Pain
Isn't She Lovely
Joy Inside My Tears
Black Man
Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing
If It's Magic
As
Another Star
Saturn
Ebony Eyes
All Day Sucker
Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

It's not his most consistant album (that honour has to go to Innervisions) but for some reason SITKOL is my fave of Stevie's. It's home to Sir Duke, I Wish, Knocks Me Off My Feet and Summer Soft, so that might have something to do with it.

see, Songs was praised as a "classic" album. in my mind Innervisions, talking Book,Music of my mind, are all that and more, how can u not groove to such joints as " i love every lil thing about you.. and Tuesday Heartbreak.. sunshine of my life... u got it bad girl.. and etc." songs was a Commercial album, not saying it was a bad album oh no... just a different feel for the charts.

I'll say to you what i tell everyone else, 'Songs' is a complete piece of work in any way imaginable, every song plays like a hit record and it does what most great lps do, it can draw any and all emotions from anyone with a beating heart, i guess it's extra special to me because it sums up and reminds me of the 70's i grew up in. p.s when i decided to put up an avatar it is the only sleeve i could think of.

SITKOL was maybe overly self-indulgent, but it's far from mediocre. Growing up contemporaneous to Stevie's musical growth I always wanted him to do long songs, jazz arrangements and toss in some leftover tracks. Finally, after four great albums I got it!

I imagne it sounds different in retrospect, but EWF, PFUNK and COMODORES were all consistently great at that time and Stevie held supremacy over rock and pop at that time too.

PFunkjazz said:

Stevie Wonder, Secretary of Fine Arts
--George Clinton, Chocolate City

He was so amazing to have the respect of people from George Clinton to Paul McCartney and all in between.

Can somebody post the original running order and what tracks were on the bonus ep?

domquixote said:

Yeah, not to mention that Stevie even said that Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingnesses were all like a trilogy...a chapter if you will that ended with the latter. When he came back two years later, his sound changed quite drastically. He favored more live instruments and a wide range of them versus his standard clavinet, Rhodes, Arp & Moog.

I think I remember in the SITKOL video that a lot of synth manufacturers would give Stevie new keyboards and instruments to test out on his albums and he would, in turn, endorse them (which goes to explain his "new" sound on this album).

rialb said:

Songs In The Key Of Life RUnning order:

Love's In Need Of Love Today
Have A Talk With God
Village Ghetto Land
Contusion
Sir Duke
I Wish
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Pastime Paradise
Summer Soft
Ordinary Pain
Isn't She Lovely
Joy Inside My Tears
Black Man
Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing
If It's Magic
As
Another Star

4 TRack EP:
Saturn
Ebony Eyes
All Day Sucker
Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

okaypimpn said:

Don't make me attempt a third Black Bull break-in ( )-

- But Yup, he stopped collaborating with Cecil and Margouleff and their TONTO bank of synthesizers and Moogs, and went in search of new sounds...
[This message was edited Thu Jul 29 14:59:06 2004 by paligap]

manray10 said:

Thanks for posting. Including the EP definitely dilutes the album. "All Day Sucker" is great but the rest of the EP tracks are just so-so.

Supernova said:

I agree with you Nova, but I'm one of those Saturn lovers. I love the message in that song, it's nice critique of society in general (Specifically Western society).

SITKOL came out the year I was born, actually there were ALOT of great albums that came out that year, so as a little quirk I hold those albums in extra high regard. So in other words, I'm biased towards this album, so I shouldnt even be anwswering this thread lol. ....

DorothyParkerWasCool said:

OK, I gotta re-familiarize myself with that one again tonight...

It may not be his most solid collection of songs, but I WISH and AS are my two top favorites, period... yes, Superstition and every other song of his is badass, but those two are just SO fantastic... the lyrical content of I Wish just plain takes you back to being 9 digging on everything, and AS describes love through lyrics and chords in a fantastic developing multi-layered way.

And stuff.

Tom said:

oh god I'm old.

I'm so disappointed with some of you who is saying that SITKOL is not one of Stevie's consistent or best records. That album is his crowning achievement, in my opinion. Yes, it's a more self-indulgent, highly overrated, and commercial album, but the album is personal and it has songs that are going to be remembered forever. SITKOL does have some major flaws, but it's all good. But the two things that disappoint me the most about this album is that it had that "wall of sound" style to it and it had Stevie move in pop music. Other than that, it's truly an album you can play all the way through.

silverchild said:

Back in the day, I bought several Stevie Wonder 45s. About a year ago I bought Stevie Wonder's "Original Musiquarium" which is a greatest hits album. The only Stevie Wonder "album" I have is "Hotter Than July".

When I bought a CD burner about two years ago, I have been constantly recording vinyl onto CDs. When I got around to "Hotter Than July", having to sit there and listen to the entire album as I insert track numbers, I noticed what an excellent album it is as a whole.

Now I am not satisfied with just "Original Musiquarium", I'm ready to start buying the complete albums. A good friend of mine has been telling me about Stevie for years and how great the albums are as a whole but now I am starting to seriously listen to him. It's time for me to buy him some blank CDs.

vainandy said:

Make Songs In The Key Of Life and Innervisions your first 2 purchases.. Those are his greatest works ever.