Do any of you think that Stevie Wonder's "Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants" is a Masterpiece. Why or why not

It's a masterpiece in my mind. I think it's brilliant.
Why?
Personally, I enjoy the thematic unity and cohesion of the whole thing. Lyrically and musically, it's one single piece of art. I love how the melodies of some songs show up in other songs. It takes creativity and dedication to a theme to accomplish that without sounding redundant.
Do critics acknowledge it as a masterpiece? Who cares. I just know that I was inspired by it in many, many ways.

A masterpiece, yes.

The texture is so rich. It's
like an audio version of the movie
'Baraka'. Beautiful and overwhelming.





typo edit on 'Baraka'
ps: watch this movie if you haven't
[Edited 2/15/06 6:05am]

Hmmmmm...well, I think Journey Through The Life Of Plants is a brilliant record, but in my humble opinion, it isn't a "straight-forward" masterpiece. I love it's cohesion and the way Stevie performed, arranged, and produced the record. It just has the beauty and emotion no other album can surpass. I think critics were cruel and harsh about the album. It was just an epic project and Stevie found many incredible ways of doing it. Read my review:


Songs In The Key Of Life was Stevie Wonder's undisputed tour-de-force. With that opus, he mastered mostly everything he acquired from the four other classics he released in his 1970's prime: Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfilligness' First Finale, and somehow covered all of the elements from those classics with two records. The production, brilliant songwriting, rhythms, and approach of that record was stunning and with all of those elements, he won tons of awards and outstanding recognition. I personally can only think of one album that can actually top that record and that record has to be his perfect 1973 masterpiece, Innervisions. But, four years had passed and many fans were waiting for a new album. Disco had took over big time and many R&B artists were just getting into that formula to probably chunk out a big hit. Stevie just had to experiment and release Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants, the soundtrack to a film no one probably ever saw. Secret Life Of Plants was the record that critics and most of his fans just hated. Some said it was a flawed album that was filled with killers and fillers. I'll partially agree with that. The Secret Life Of Plants is as different as anything Stevie ever recorded, but it is a great album. It's a moody concept album consisting some interesting instrumentals about plants. On this album, Stevie expands his sound by showing different musical influences from other places like Africa or even China, which makes it such an epic proportion. He also plays or tries many abstract instruments played from different parts of the world, even though mostly everything he plays here are done with synthesizers. There are lots of variety in this album: funk (Race Babbling), ballads (Power Flower, Send One Your Love, Come Back As A Flower) chants (Kesse Ye Lolo de Ye), rock theatrics (A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley) and even jazz (Venus' Flytrap and The Bug). I admire this album for its groundbreaking sounds Stevie patched out of various synthesizers to actually give us a real feeling of how it might sound in a jungle or even in gardens. They might sound dated today, but it's truly amazing of how he created them back in 1979. Just like Songs In The Key Of Life or Innervisions, he is taking us on a journey through the development and amazement of plants. That is really what makes this album special, even though there are some weak spots here. So, Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants is one of Stevie's more misunderstood and criminally underrated works, but it is an antonishing record that just takes you on a one-of-a-kind journey with amazing songs, top-notch arrangements, and mind-bending sounds. It's just a shame critics dismissed this one back in 1979. Anyone expecting another Talking Book or Innervisions will be disappointed because it's different and it would be advised for those listeners to skip this one. But, if you are looking for a more beautiful and experimental record, check this one out. B+

One of my all time favorite albums..I consider it an esoteric masterpiece that deserves every discriminate music lovers attention.