Songs In The Key Of Life (studio album) by Stevie Wonder

A brilliantly composed album from Stevie Wonder that leaves a lasting impression on everyone who hears it. There is something for everyone to love on here with there being a great range of song styles that are all performed to a high level. Some are more infectious and accessible than others with the likes of Sir Duke and I Wish getting instantly stuck in my head when I first heard this release. He also has some more progressive songs which are similar to Living For The City on Innervisions as they are given time to build up and have some truly outstanding moments that are really rewarding due to the time given to the songs. His musicianship is phenomenal across the whole release on here as well with some brilliant instrumental performances from both Stevie and a few members of his ensemble. His song writing is genius once again and is well worth exploring when revisiting the record multiple times and his voice is simply sensational. I do think there is a reasonable amount of filler on here that could be cut however with a few songs feeling insignificant. Overall, an extremely strong release from Stevie Wonder that is just slightly weaker than Innervisions for me but is still an elite record.

Album Rating: 78.94
(1,342/17)

1.Love's In Need Of Love Today. 78
2.Have A Talk With God. 72
3.Village Ghetto Land. 69
4.Contusion. 68
5.Sir Duke. 80
6.I Wish. 85
7.Knocks Me Off My Feet. 80
8.Pastime Paradise. 98
9.Summer Soft. 73
10.Ordinary Pain. 78
11.Isn't She Lovely. 75
12.Joy Inside My Tears. 82
13.Black Man. 86
14.Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing. 65
15.If It's Magic. 72
16.As. 91
17.Another Star. 90

Brilliant, mindful compositions that never fail to feel fresh upon re-listen.

Great groovy, funky album with awesome lyrics almost all the time. My favorites are: Village Ghetto Land, Sir Duke, I Wish, Pastime Paradise, Ordinary Pain, Isn't She Lovely, As and Another Star.

i am in an eternal battle of what i like more, this one or Innervisions jajaja

From AAL2014 01/25/2022 01:58

WOO! TOP 100!!! Long overdue. Keep climbing Stevie!

This site overrates white artists and underrates Black artists and this album being outside the top 100 illustrates that.

The musicianship is basically flawless. It’s jazz chops married to pop sensibility.

There were a couple of songs (Summer Soft, Joy Inside My Tears) that give a first impression of being slow and sappy. Even they find a killer groove before long. Also, there’s a sense of optimism tucked into this album, despite several of the songs reporting on the pain and broken nature of this world.

For me, the album’s a bit too long. I Am Singing and If It’s Magic could be chopped to make this a crisper album.

Sin ser el tipo de música que más me gusta, hay que reconocer que suena muy bien y es un grandísimo disco, con muy buenos singles que ya son clásicos.
La única pega que pongo es que es demasiado largo.

I gave this a listen in 2020 after enjoying his Innervision album. Wonder has always been on my periphery - enjoying his singles throughout the years but never enough to get an album. But when I heard this I discovered that I had heard many of the songs but never always knew they were Wonder nor that they were all from this one majestic album. Too many great songs to list out. If you haven't heard this album yet and have any form of soul in you then get it.