1001 Albums: Songs In The Key Of Life

#367

Album: Songs in the Key of Life

Artist: Stevie Wonder

Year: 1976

Length: 104:29

Genre: R&B / Soul / Pop / Avant-Pop / Progressive Soul / Soul Jazz

“Tell me, who of them will come to be?
How many of them are you and me?
Dissipation
Of race relations
Consolation
Segregation
Dispensation
Isolation
Exploitation
Mutilation
Mutation
Miscreation
Confirmation to the evils of the world”

Pastime Paradise

We’ve hit, what I believe is, the final album by Stevie Wonder. I wish I could go on and on about how amazing this album is and how much of a talented, powerhouse of a musician Stevie Wonder is. I mean the fact that he was releasing album after album that was one banger after another and managed to come to a conclusion of an era with a double LP that manages to have no filler is absolutely amazing. That takes a level of creativity that is insurmountable and a well of ideas so deep that there’s no light (although this album feels like a bright light). I wish I could express all those things in such colourful detail as to fill out multiple paragraphs that will hopefully keep you engaged, but I just can’t. I don’t have the proper words to do that and as I had mentioned on a previous album, there’s only so much I feel I can talk a bit Stevie Wonder before it starts to get stale and repetitive. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing I can add at this point. This album is just fantastic and you’ll have to take my basic word on that.

This is where my musical limitations really start to shine. I’ve always been upfront about the fact that I’m purely a music enthusiast and know absolutely nothing about theory and can’t really break down a lot about why I think something may be good or bad. A lot of it is mostly purely on a personally emotional level that I can describe my feelings, which works out really nicely for some music, but I struggle with a bit more for other albums. It’s not that Stevie Wonder doesn’t evoke any emotions in me, his music does and especially here on Songs in the Key of Life (which might be my favourite, I even own this one on vinyl). There is this wonderful warmth throughout the album and he sings with such a calming tone that it’s hard not to smile while listening through all this. But that’s about as far as that goes. I enjoy it, it makes me happy, but I sadly feel I cannot go any deeper into why, and I really wish I could because Stevie Wonder deserves better than my rather shallow attempts at talking about his wonderful album. HE DESERVES BETTER.

Something I do love about this album, particularly the vinyl format of it, is how this double LP comes with a little mini third disc. It’s like a little baby vinyl record that this double LP gave birth to. Stevie Wonder had so many songs that he just needed to add this tiny extra disc for all of us to enjoy. He didn’t have to do that, but he did and I am grateful for that. I also love that with this album we get to hear the original, Pastime Paradise, a song that I went on quite a journey to finally, eventually, get to. Originally hearing it in the form of Weird Al’s parody, Amish Paradise, which led me to Coolio’s reinterpretation, Gangsta’s Paradise, which then had me learn there was an original version with Stevie WOnder’s, Pastime Paradise. I have to say the journey was worth it to get there because Pastime Paradise is easily the best of the three.

It’s funny, coming up soon I’m doing one of my monthly improv shows where improv troupes do sets inspired by albums in my record collection. For next month, seeing as it is February and black history month, I decided all the albums for that particular show will be by black artists. One of the albums is indeed this one right here, Songs in the Key of Life. Writing this out, it makes me realize how much I’ll need to really think about this album and do some deeper research because I’m going to need much more to say than just… this album good! I’m not complaining, if it helps me put into words what I want to express much better than that’s great! Plus I’m always down for a little history lesson when it comes to artists and their music! Let’s hope I can do it justice on that day!

Favourite Song: Pastime Paradise

-Bosco

Ps. Sir Duke is a banger.

1001 Albums: Fulfillingness’ First Finale

#305

Album: Fulfillingness’ First Finale

Artist: Stevie Wonder

Year: 1974

Length: 42:21

Genre: Progressive Soul

“You make me smile
You make me sing
You make me feel good everything
You bring me up
When I’ve been down
This only happens when you’re around”

Too Shy To Say

Heyoooo!

Another Stevie Wonder album! I did not expect there to be another one until Songs in the Key of Life. Even though I’ve listened through the next chunk of albums already, it was also a long time ago when I did (has to be at least three years now since I heard this). So I completely forgot that there was this one sitting here waiting to be rediscovered by me. Good thing because I have exactly zero memory of ever listening to this album the first time around, so it will be like listening to it for the first time again!

Full disclosure, I am absolutely exhausted as I write this post. It is 4:40 am, I’ve been awake since Noon the day before and haven’t had any moment to sleep yet. I am at work waiting for things to copy and this album happens to be the exact amount of time I need to waste as I wait. Good thing it’s Stevie Wonder, there’s a relatively easy-listening quality to his music that feels soothing in a lot of ways, so tired me can actually enjoy it. Can you imagine if it was a metal album or something, headache city for sure.

For those wondering why I’m both awake and at work at 4:30 am, it’s because I work overnights. The joys of working in the film industry is that you have incredibly erratic schedules that make zero sense to people with regular 9 to 5 jobs. Inconsistency is the name of the game. If you were to ask me when I sleep, my answer would always be, I have no idea, whenever I can I guess? I know having a consistent sleep schedule is incredibly important for you’re overall health and all that. But who needs a regulated sleep schedule when you can listen to Stevie Wonder at 4:30 in the morning?

Damn, Stevie has calculated how far Heaven is. Don’t know how he did it but according to this album (which I am not taking as scientific documentation) it is 10 Zillion Light Years away. That’s really far. No idea how he calculated that large number. He definitely didn’t travel all that and I don’t think there’s a pocket calculator that could hit a number that high. He must be a mathematical genius. I’m sure that’s it, you can’t convince me otherwise.

Oh Stevie, stop it, you’re making me blush. I hear you serenading me, telling me you want to be with me. Shucks, Stevie, I barely know you, but how can I resist?

I like those synth sounds. I am a fan of the synthesizer, a big fan, and these bass synths sound great. There’s something about these old school bass synths that sound kind of farty, which is really funny. Like Stevie somehow managed to take a really farty sound and turn it into sophisticated music. It’s truly art at it’s finest when you really think about it.

I was reading that this album was part of Stevie Wonder’s classic period. According to Wikipedia, it is the fourth of these albums! I wonder if Songs in the Key of Life is number 5. Probably is, I wouldn’t be surprised. I wonder what came after his classic period. Did we get all 5 of his classic period albums on this list? (Give me a second as I check)… No, we didn’t get Music of My Mind on this list which was considered his first of the classic period. But I was right about Songs in the Key of Life, it is indeed number 5!

What does the title of the album mean? What is Fulfillingness’ First Finale? Why is it the first finale? How many finales will there be? Was this his way of saying he was almost done his classic period and the big finale was coming but first here’s this? Or is he saying we will be fulfilled but fulfillment never truly ends, so it’s like always experiencing a finale of sorts and this is when you experience it the first time?

I have no idea what I’m saying, I’m exhausted and loopy.

You Haven’t Done Nothing sounds suspiciously very similar to Superstition. I know it’s the same person, but they’re eerily very close in sound it’s almost as if he used the same music twice… but then again some bands just do the same thing over and over and over and it works for them. So why fix what ain’t broken? Doesn’t bother me, it’s a killer tune! As the next tune would say, It Ain’t No Use… worrying about it (see what I did there?).

Just realized the first song is called Smile Please. For you Stevie, anything. 🙂

Damn, that was a great piano ballad. Hitting those keys hard and passionately. Loved it.

Alright, it seems the album is coming to an end and just on time as my stuff is ready! Which is rather fitting as the final song is Please Don’t Go. Sorry Stevie, but I have to. Thank you for keeping me company in my time of need Stevie, it was much appreciated!

Favourite Song: You Haven’t Done Nothin’

-Bosco

1001 Albums: Innervisions

#293

Albums: Innervisions

Artist: Stevie Wonder

Year: 1973

Length: 43:52

Genre: Progressive Soul / Funk / Soul / Rock / Jazz

“Psst, hey, hey brother, hey come here slick
Hey you look, you look hip man
Hey, you wanna make yourself five bucks, man?
Yeah, brother
Look here, run this across the street for me right quick
Okay, run this across the street for me”

Living For The City

Stevie Wonder is becoming one of those artists I always kind of knew but never dived into their works but the more he shows up on this list and the more I listen to him the more I’m realizing I might actually like his work a lot. There’s something soothing yet playful about his songs, a sort of sunny optimism mixed with a calm spirit. Even when he’s singing about social issues and harder topics, it never feels despairing or depressing. There’s a quality to it that feels peaceful that I can’t quite seem to put my finger on what it is exactly, but it’s there and all I know is that listening to this, it felt really nice.

I always knew Stevie Wonder was a talented musician but something I only discovered after listening to this album was that he was basically a one-man band, not only creating all the music himself but also playing almost every single instrument you hear on the album. I always knew him as a piano man, but finding out he also bangs a good drum just blew my mind. Remember he did all this while being physically blind which just impresses me beyond belief. I can barely play any instruments and I have 20/20 vision. Playing one type of instrument can be hard enough but being able to play a variety from different families is beyond impressive to me. Stevie Wonder was just a natural at music it seems and it’s nice to see all that hard work pay off for him as it seems all his albums from what was deemed his “Classic Period” are include don this list. Rightfully so, I think.

It’s funny because my past experience with this style of music, especially his use of synths, which even though I absolutely love synths, used for pop music they can tend to veer towards the incredibly cheesy sometimes. He seems to toe the line between cheesy/ sappy and endearing/ soulful and, for me at least, it never crosses into the sappy territory and always manages to stay soulful throughout. Personally, this could have easily been an album that I found myself cringing throughout but I’m happy to say it never happened and I found it to be overall a pleasant experience. Stevie Wonder continues to grow on me with every album I hear, not to say I ever disliked him at any point and that he needed growing on me, I always enjoyed his work, but hearing more of it has definitely helped me get a new-found admiration for him and his work.

I’m keeping this one shot and sweet, mainly because I find myself with not much to say and to prevent myself just repeating the same thing over and over, I’ll wrap it up.

Favourite Song: He’s Misstra Know-It-All

-Bosco