I was thinking about this today. Consider his body of work during that time:

1970 Talk of the Town
1970 Signed, Sealed & Delivered
1971 Where I'm Coming From
1972 Music of My Mind
1972 Talking Book
1973 Innervisions
1974 Fulfillingness' First Finale
1976 Portrait
1976 Songs in the Key of Life
1979 Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
1980 Hotter Than July

This eclipses the output of most other artists over the period of any given decade-long stretch in terms of prolific output, critical acclaim and commercial success.

Or does it?

Anyone care to agree or disagree?

I concur. In fact other than the Beatles and maybe the stones, I think it's one of the best winning streaks in the history of pop music by any artist, solo or otherwise.

Man, it looks even more impressive when it's all laid out like that.
Hard to argue your point, bro. Stevie was on fire during this period.

what's portrait though ? was that just a greatest hits thing or a cancelled album or what?

namepeace said:

Yep of course it is, even if David Bowie was great too...

oh pretty much, infact i'd say definately, daring, bold, experimental, eclectic. What more can you ask for of an artist?. 'July' was 1981 though, correct me if i'm wrong.

72-76. essential. Everybody who even vaguely likes music should own those albums, If you you make those your first experience of Stevie you'll soon realise that half the shit you'd normally have been listening to is just that. Shit.

The man is a musical god.

Marrk said:

Your word is as good as mine on July because I do not know for sure.

And agreed on '72 to '76.

krayzie said:

Bowie and Prince are both pretty close behind, but they're both more uneven and had more creative partners in the making of their prime material. Plus, depending on your tastes their voices can be grating, whereas' stevie's voice is pure soothing awesomeness

jack and OM: I am not familiar with "Portrait." My thread was actually triggered by thinking about Talking Book, Innvervisions, Songs ITKOL, and FFF. When I checked the discography again I was impressed.

Prince's '79-'88 run is my personal favorite, but Steve does him a couple better in terms of sales and critical recognition. During '70-'80, if memory serves, he sold better and his albums were universally praised. Conversely, Prince's albums sold moderately well before and after PR, and reviews of several were mixed (Controversy, ATWIAD, Parade, and Lovesexy).

Prince and David Bowie would have something to say about that.

Moonbeam said:

Indeed they do, but see above.

Acclaimed Music is a great website for determining the level of critical acclaim- both at the time of release and as albums age.

Here is the breakdown of all-time album and song ranks for the 3 artists in question:

David Bowie: 1970 - 1980

Albums:

1970: The Man Who Sold the World: 1048
1971: Hunky Dory: 55
1972: Ziggy Stardust: 16
1973: Aladdin Sane: 402
1974: Diamond Dogs: 1279
1975: Young Americans: 756
1976: Station to Station: 224
1977: Low: 80
1977: "Heroes": 205
1980: Scary Monsters: 452

Songs:

1971: Changes: 152
1971: Life on Mars?: 473
1972: Starman: 493
1972: Ziggy Stardust: 156
1974: Rebel, Rebel: 1166
1975: Young Americans: 448
1975: Fame: 633
1976: Golden Years: 1078
1976: Wild Is the Wind: 870
1977: Sound and Vision: 1388
1977: Heroes: 57
1980: Ashes to Ashes: 747
1980: Fashion: 1895

Stevie Wonder: 1970-1980

Albums:

1971: Where I'm Coming From: 1999
1972: Music of My Mind: 671
1972: Talking Book: 94
1973: Innervisions: 33
1974: Fulfillingness' First Finale: 591
1976: Songs in the Key of Life: 43
1980: Hotter Than July: 1368

Songs:

1972: Superstition: 30
1972: You Are the Sunshine of My Life: 564
1973: Higher Ground: 721
1973: Living for the City: 312
1974: You Haven't Done Nothin': 1359
1980: Masterblaster (Jammin'): 1432

Prince: 1980-1990

Albums:

1980: Dirty Mind: 337
1982: 1999: 148
1984: Purple Rain: 45
1985: Around the World in a Day: 962
1986: Parade: 492
1987: Sign o' the Times: 19
1988: Lovesexy: 1284
1990: Graffiti Bridge: 1936

Songs:

1980: When You Were Mine: 1426
1981: Controversy: 1634
1982: 1999: 249
1982: Little Red Corvette: 80
1984: When Doves Cry: 41
1984: Let's Go Crazy: 1258
1984: Purple Rain: 430
1985: Raspberry Beret: 1378
1986: Kiss: 144
1987: Sign o' the Times: 129
1987: If I Was Your Girlfriend: 893
1987: U Got the Look: 1128
1987: I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man: 1775
1988: Alphabet St.: 954

Moonbeam said:

I don't know Stevie's work well enough to say, but based on what I've heard, he can't touch either Prince or Bowie. The Cure was pretty solid from '79 to '89 too.

GangstaFam said:

I mean this in the best way: once you get to know Stevie's work I think you will realize he belongs in the conversation, and probably outshines both on the factors I discussed. And this is coming from someone who regards Prince as his all-time favorite and Bowie as a legend. Stevie dominated the music scene for virtually the entire decade of the 1970's.[/
[Edited 4/21/05 14:47pm]

Moonbeam said:

Well, it's a comprehensive resource, and definitely great evidence to further the argument, but I still believe that when you look at all the factors, Stevie, over the course of a 10-year period, towers over virtually everyone else.

GangstaFam said:

namepeace said:

I posted something like this a while back. Stevie had an incredible creative streak during the 70's, especially '72-76. The man was untouchable, hitting his high peak with Innervisions(IMO). Aside from Prince, Bowie, Springsteen, U2, very few artists can match that.

uPtoWnNY said:

Nothing new under the org Sun! I KNEW this was familiar ground.

And I agree 100%

I think Stevie's Greatest run was '72-'76. Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants is good but its nowhere near the level of the previous works and Hotter Than July is very spotty. I think Stevie's creative brilliance is shown from Music of My Mind through Song's In The Key of Life. The albums are essential because the quality of material is just astonishing.

I would rank Prince's '80-'88 run right behind it. Prince covered more bases during his streak, but Stevie get's the nod because he had fewer collaborators. It's a tough call because they were both so damn good at their peaks.

GangstaFam said:

Stevie literally dominated the decade. Neither Prince nor Bowie were household names for that long. The Grammy Awards might as well been called the Stevie Wonder Recognition Show for 4 consecutive years. Prince dominated a good portion of the 80s but not like Stevie did from 1970 through 1980.

Certainly.

namepeace said:

Stevie's music was good before & after this, but these albums seem to be the reason he's called a genius. I think five classics in a decade is amazing but others could more easily compete with this than eleven like you claim, like Dylan, Prince, Bowie, Elvis Costello, Springsteen.

And nobody answered, what is Portrait?

I think both Bowie and Prince covered more ground in terms of musical styles than Stevie did, but song writing-wise, Stevie's on top. But I certainly wouldn't want to put either above the others.

GangstaFam said:

are you serious? stevie totally owned and destroyed the 70's. check his string of 70's albums then come back to this post

Moonbeam said:

I like how you left off batman

Moonbeam said:

just seeing this layed out like this makes me giddy, what's the emoticon for that?

namepeace said:

Well based on these criteria...

They were all about equally prolific, with the edge given to Prince if you include all the side projects and outtakes.

They're all about equally acclaimed critically with the edge probably going to Bowie.

And as far as commercial success in the U.S., Prince outsold either one, right?

GangstaFam said:

Actually, I think Stevie enjoyed more consistently high commercial success in the 70s than prince did in the 80s, and I don't know how they each exactly compare in terms of prolificness, but I do know that stevie has as many if not more outtakes than prince, and he did produce and write songs for many other artists (though he didn't have any protege acts whose albums were practically unofficial albums of his own the way prince did, unless you count syreeta wright's two albums).

lilgish said:

Batman and Controvsery both failed to make that site's top 2000, so I didn't exlude their ratings because there are none.