Supernova said:

What did you mean by that Supernova? It's the truth...
[This message was edited Fri Jul 30 1:33:51 2004 by silverchild]

This is similar to the debate held over whether 'Sign O The Times' is Prince's greatest album. As artistic statements most Stevie fans would go with 'Innervisions'/'Talking Book'. While 'many' Prince fans choose 'Lovesexy'.


But look at the individual tracks on 'Sign..' and 'Songs..', and it's easy to see why these two are usually picked as the artists' best work.

sign o the times
ballad of dorothy parker
starfish and coffee
if i was your girlfriend
take the place of your man
the cross
adore

Love's In Need Of Love Today
As
I Wish
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Sir Duke
Ordinary Pain
Isn't She Lovely

I must say SITKOL still IS my fave Stevie album... and the main reason is most likely just a personal one. back in 76 whenever Sir Duke was on the radio, I flipped! So SITKOL became one of the first albums I ever bought. I played this up and down back in the days. It was the album that got me into Stevie. It was the album (togehter with EWFs All'n'All) that got me into Soul Muisc. It was the one leading me on the track. And I would estiamte 90 percent of my record collection was somehow growing from that early seed.

So I know I never can be objective here, but musically speaking to me the quality AND quantitiy of the songs is just incredible, it would be a hard choice for me to drop tracks from the album (like most Stevie albums). But you can't really explain WHY you like certain songs more or less... same old story: "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" (c) by Elvis Costello. It's just different taste.

.
[This message was edited Fri Jul 30 3:53:18 2004 by Dancelot]

Tom said:

Perhaps that's why my favorite album of his (that shall again remain nameless) came out 10 days after my birthday?!

otan said:

I hear ya.
I was in college when SITKOL came out.

I bought SITKOL when it was released. I appreciated it, grooved with it, sang along with it when it was new & now. When it was in the moment. My rapport with that album is different from someone who listens to it years after its release. Not better but different. To someone who digs the album because it was released the year they were born its more a collection of songs while someone like myself may relate to it like an old photo or a link to the past.
Its like I may like the movie Casablanca & always associate it with watching movies in high school late at night while my mother associates it with the time it was released & the war in Europe & going to the movie theater to see it when it was new. My love for the movie is more just loving it as a piece of cinema while my mother loves it like a piece of her life.

silverchild said:

I think she was confused (as am I) by the fact that you called the album Stevie's "crowning achievement" in one breath, then called it "highly overrated" in the next.

Dancelot said:[quote]I must say SITKOL still IS my fave Stevie album... and the main reason is most likely just a personal one. back in 76 whenever Sir Duke was on the radio, I flipped! So SITKOL became one of the first albums I ever bought. I played this up and down back in the days. It was the album that got me into Stevie. It was the album (togehter with EWFs All'n'All) that got me into Soul Muisc. It was the one leading me on the track. And I would estiamte 90 percent of my record collection was somehow growing from that early seed.

So I know I never can be objective here, but musically speaking to me the quality AND quantitiy of the songs is just incredible, it would be a hard choice for me to drop tracks from the album (like most Stevie albums). But you can't really explain WHY you like certain songs more or less... same old story: "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" (c) by Elvis Costello. It's just different taste.

.
Agreed!!!!

silverchild said:

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, there's some contradictory things in your quote, you're saying it's his apex, his best most consistent record, but that it's "highly" overrated.

silverchild said:

Supernova said:[quote]

silverchild said:

Well, yes. It's overrated. A lot of people including me says that it was his highest album and peak and today it's just been in every best album list. I bet a lot of people have this masterpiece. I will always rank this higher than Talking Book and Innervisions because it sprawls a lot of musical styles and sounds. That's like ranking Prince's Sign O The Times higher than his best-selling record, Purple Rain. Supernova and everybody else, I hope you all get it.

silverchild said:

Cloudbuster said:

Agreed. Downplaying this record because of its commercial success doesn't sit right with me. It was commercially successful because it was friggin' GREAT!
There are probably about 10 songs from that record that people consider to be classics.
Man, Another Star is so beautiful. It's a goal of mine to one day write a song that is as moving as that one. I also believe that people related to this album because of it's thematic quality. The record as a whole kinda took you through life. The songwriting is brilliant. The music is so full of life. Not that it should take away from other stellar releases, but I believe all props that this album receives are richly deserved.
[This message was edited Fri Jul 30 13:19:38 2004 by OdysseyMiles]

One of the reasons 1976 was one of my favorite for music is because of this album! I knew the lyrics to every song (okay, I probably botched "Ngiculela"), but I could sing "As" backwards! You gotta love the history lesson in "Black Man." I LOVED "All Day Sucker" and "Ordinary Pain." I loved that "Contusion" came packaged separately as a 45! I just loved this album period!

Oh, and that he immortalizes his daughter on wax on "Isn't She Lovely" is priceless!

UptownDeb said:

Stevie does a duet with his daughter on his new cd, "A Time To Love". It's called "How Will I Know". What a treat to hear her singing as an adult. Great duet !!

okaypimpn said:

Medicocre??

DavidEye said:

co-

silverchild said:

okaypimpn said:

man reading this statment ...and reading most replies in this thread I must say... your role as a Stevie Wonder connoisseur is at stake here to the highest degree




j/k of course it's all a matter of taste

BombSquad said:

Wow, I see you really went back for this thread huh?

okaypimpn said:

nope. judging by the time of the posts it was DavidEye who brought that up from the dead
.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 17 13:20:56 2004 by BombSquad]

BombSquad said:

Oh, okay.

BombSquad said:

BombSquad said:

Yeah,I'm the one who brought this thread back "from the dead",lol.Apparently,I missed this discussion when I was on vacation in Chicago.So I've been going back and checking out what I missed.

UptownDeb said:

Actually,"Contusion" was not packaged seperately on the bonus 45 that came with the record.The four bonus songs are:

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

"Contusion" appears on Side 1 of the regular album.