I have been listening 2 the album a number of times and it really doesn't have any diversity with the exception Sir Duke and Village Ghetto Land. Why do critics compare this with double albums like The White Album, Sign O The Times, Exile On Main Street, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? Yes, it's consistent, thematic, stunning, definitive, and stylistic, but I don't see anything sprawling or diverse about it. What about you?

If you're looking specifically for "sprawling" and "diverse" music styles, you should probably look to Stevie's "Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants" double album...

paligap said:

I've heard about that one, does fye records have that on CD?

i've been looking for that too. Some stores might have it, some might not. Last time I saw that cd was at circuit city afew months back. I'm gonna have to go back there and see if they still have it.

BillieSparks said:

You know, I might go to half.com and get it for 10 bucks. But let's get back 2 Songs In The Key Of Life, shall we?

Songs is a great album. Theres no album like it.

Sometime double albums are just that: Double Albums.... The artist isn't always necessarily making a statement by putting 4 sides together instead of 2...In some cases ,it's just a vault clearing exercise(i.e. Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti") and sometimes ,the artist will expiriment with the longer format (i.e. Hendrix' "Electric Ladyland)

I guess it is a moot point in the CD age....

silverchild said:

I agree that its stylistic diversity might be somewhat exaggerated by some reviewers, but I think Stevie does cover a lot of ground. Thought it's primarily soul/funk he manages to incorporate elements of classical (village gheto land), gospel (have a talk with god), fusion (contusion), big band (sir duke, I wish), ragtime (ebony eyes), afro-latin (ngiculela, another star). In that respect, how is it really any less stylistic or diverse than SOTT?

jacktheimprovident said:

I would agree with you there.