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DISCID=a10c210c
DTITLE=Stevie Wonder / Songs In The Key Of Life (Original) - Disc 1 of 2
DYEAR=1976
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=Love's In Need Of Love Today
TTITLE1=Have A Talk With God
TTITLE2=Village Ghetto Land
TTITLE3=Contusion
TTITLE4=Sir Duke
TTITLE5=I Wish
TTITLE6=Knocks Me Off My Feet
TTITLE7=Pastime Paradise
TTITLE8=Summer Soft
TTITLE9=Ordinary Pain
TTITLE10=Saturn
TTITLE11=Ebony Eyes
EXTD=Songs In The Key Of Life (Original) - Disc 1 of 2\n1992 Motown Record Corporation\n\nReleased September 28, 1976\nCD Edition Released April 13, 1992\nRemastered CD Edition Released May 2, 2000\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Songs in the Key of Life was Stevi
EXTD=e Wonder's longest, most ambitious collection of songs, a two-LP (plus accompanying EP) set that -- just as the title promised -- touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements an
EXTD=d some of the best performances of Wonder's career. The opening "Love's in Need of Love Today" and "Have a Talk With God" are curiously subdued, but Stevie soon kicks into gear with "Village Ghetto Land," a fierce expos of ghetto neglect set to a s
EXTD=atirical baroque synthesizer. Hot on its heels comes the torrid fusion jam "Contusion," a big, brassy hit tribute to the recently departed Duke Ellington in "Sir Duke," and (another hit, this one a Grammy winner as well) the bumping poem to his chil
EXTD=dhood, "I Wish." Though they didn't necessarily appear in order, Songs in the Key of Life contains nearly a full album on love and relationships, along with another full album on issues social and spiritual. Fans of the love album Talking Book can m
EXTD=arvel that he sets the bar even higher here, with brilliant material like the tenderly cathartic and gloriously redemptive "Joy Inside My Tears," the two-part, smooth-and-rough "Ordinary Pain," the bitterly ironic "All Day Sucker," or another classi
EXTD=c heartbreaker, "Summer Soft." Those inclined toward Stevie Wonder the social-issues artist had quite a few songs to focus on as well: "Black Man" was a Bicentennial school lesson on remembering the vastly different people who helped build America; 
EXTD="Pastime Paradise" examined the plight of those who live in the past and have little hope for the future; "Village Ghetto Land" brought listeners to a nightmare of urban wasteland; and "Saturn" found Stevie questioning his kinship with the rest of h
EXTD=umanity and amusingly imagining paradise as a residency on a distant planet. If all this sounds overwhelming, it is; Stevie Wonder had talent to spare during the mid-'70s, and instead of letting the reserve trickle out during the rest of the decade,
EXTD= he let it all go with one massive burst. (His only subsequent record of the '70s was the similarly gargantuan but largely instrumental soundtrack Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.)  -- John Bush\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Three long years in th
EXTD=e making, Songs in the Key of Life is a work of monumental brilliance, two LPs and a bonus EP worth of Stevie Wonder at his mid-1970s peak. Always on the cutting edge of modern recording technology, the album is a tour de force of studio wizardry, y
EXTD=et it's also a deeply personal and humane work which in many regards marks the culmination of Wonder's career to date. Deftly blending the trenchant social commentary of his recent work with an exuberance harking back to his earliest records, Songs 
EXTD=in the Key of Life also resonates with a renewed spiritual dimension which lends the music even greater impact; taken as a whole, the album tells his life story, spanning from childhood ("I Wish") to the birth of his own daughter ("Isn't She Lovely"
EXTD=) and taking time out to pay respects to the masters of jazz ("Sir Duke"), illuminate the struggles of the inner city ("Village Ghetto Land") and confront society's ills ("Pastime Paradise," the basis of Coolio's massive 1995 rap hit "Gangsta's Para
EXTD=dise"). At times it's self-indulgent, to be sure, but even at nearly two hours in length, Songs in the Key of Life possesses the kind of craft, pacing, and overall proportion sorely lacking from most albums even a third as long, and Wonder has yet t
EXTD=o revisit its glorious peaks in the years since. -- Jason Ankeny\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Stevie Wonder \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel includes: Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica, piano, keyboards); George Benson (guitar, background vocals); Micha
EXTD=el Sembello (guitar); Peter Kleinow (steel guitar); Dorothy Ashby (harp); Bobbi Humphrey (flute); Hank Redd (alto & tenor saxophones); Trevor Lawrence (tenor saxophone); Jim Horn (saxophone); Raymond Maldonado (trumpet, percussion); Glen Ferris (tro
EXTD=mbone); Ronnie Foster (organ); Herbie Hancock, Gregory Phillinganes (keyboards); Eddie Brown (collinga); Nathan Watts (bass, percussion); Raymond Pounds (drums); Carmello Hungria Gracia (timbales); Renee Hardaway (percussion); Al Fann Theatrical Ens
EXTD=emble, Minnie Riperton, Deniece Williams, Syreeta Wright, West Angeles Church Of God Choir, Hare Krishna Singers (background vocals).\n\nRecorded at the Hit Factory, New York, New York; The Record Plant, Los Angeles, California; The Record Plant, Sa
EXTD=usalito, California. \n\nIncludes liner notes by Stevie Wonder\nAll tracks have been digitally remastered.\n\nSONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE is a milestone in Stevland Morris' career and a masterwork of American popular music. Released in 1976, this doubl
EXTD=e LP spent 14 of its 80 charting weeks at number one. From his sharp commentaries on American social history and pro-peace supplications to some of his most intimate professions of love, witness Stevie Wonder at a prolific point in his career, casti
EXTD=ng his music further beyond R&B, funk, and disco than ever before.\n\nPresent here are some of Stevie's greatest hits in their original context: the widely-sampled horn swirls of "Sir Duke," comical baby-noise-laced jamming of "Isn't She Lovely" and
EXTD= fiercely poetic declaration of "As" still shine as brightly as ever. Perhaps less well-known are tunes like, "Joy Inside My Tears," a slow, entrancing, synth-vamp on love's redemptive powers, or the fast-grooving funkout, "Black Man," a compelling 
EXTD=salute to America's pioneers of color. The keyboard sounds are as\n\nIndustry Reviews\nIncluded in Q Magazine's Best Motown Records Of All Time - ...the apex of Wonder's creativity....A big record in many senses.\nQ (10/01/1999)\n\n...[SONGS] best r
EXTD=eflects [Stevie's] global influence on contemporary soul, jazz, funk, rap and pop....[it] speaks to the adult mind, politically, racially and emotionally. It shows how shockingly talented Wonder is...\nMuzik (08/01/1999)\n\nAmazon.com essential reco
EXTD=rding\nOne of the first albums to debut at No. 1 in Billboard, Songs in the Key of Life was the highest high-point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than Innervisions and Talking Book, this 2 LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner 
EXTD=than either of those masterworks. That Songs retains an enormous amount of visionary relevance, though, is demonstrated not only in Coolio's borrowing of "Pastime Paradise" as a template for "Gangsta's Paradise," but in the cold-as-ice synthesized s
EXTD=tring quartet of "Village Ghetto Land." This is Stevie, so naturally that cut's anger is balanced by the ultra-buoyant "I Wish," "Sir Duke," and "Another Star." --Rickey Wright \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA huge, successful mix of styles & sound
EXTD=s, December 10, 1999\nReviewer: MilesAndTrane (Chicago, Il USA)\nThe [then] eargerly-awaited double-album opus "Songs In The Key Of Life" - believe this or not - is considered over-rated and over-produced to some of the most hardcore Stevie fans tod
EXTD=ay. In truth, it really is an impressive statement, like earlier albums in the Wonder catalog, Stevie masters many kinds of music without ever losing his own identity. "Songs In The Key..." boasts many elements; most prominent are funk jams & delica
EXTD=te ballads, but there's also acid-rock, swing, latin, gospel, even Hare Krishna chants. As usual, Stevie has an exceptional gift for lyrics and this album makes no exception. There's destitude horror in "Village Ghetto Land", historical declarations
EXTD= in "Black Man", and biblical wailing in "As". "Joy Inside My Tears" acheives in greater effect what Stevie's "Superwoman" did 4 years earlier, it combines happiness & sadness in the same space. It's as if you can hear Stevie laughing & crying at on
EXTD=ce when this track plays. The very-familiar "Isn't She Lovely" is a beautiful valentine to his wife & daughter. "Another Star" is the epitome of 70's jazz/soul/funk, it mixes lighting voices, wailing horns, rapid percussion & Stevie's beating piano.
EXTD= The album is so varied that it may not have an immediate, exciting appeal to the ears. Like other brilliant music, sometimes it takes several listenings to decipher what it's all about.\nSome of the tracks extend themselves to 7 or 8 minutes, but y
EXTD=ou don't really notice, you could go on singing La-La-La forever. There really is a lot to swallow at once. Once again he repeatedly seems to be reaching for truth. It's as if he's always saying - of all things a blind person could say - "With love,
EXTD= there is always light at the end of the tunnel". It is a landmark album.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWonderful Album, July 26, 2000\nReviewer: Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA)\nStevie Wonder spent almost three years working on this album and the time was
EXTD= well spent. The music is probably the most personal and outspoken of his career. He sings about his childhood in songs like "I Wish" & "Easy Goin' Evening", his heroes in "Sir Duke", the birth of his daughter in "Isn't She Lovely" and while "Contus
EXTD=ion" is an instrumental the title is a reference to the life-threatening auto accident he was involved in. Mr. Wonder has always been a strong voice for the civil rights movement and the struggles for his race's equality and he expresses his feeling
EXTD=s on those matters in "Village Ghetto Land", "Pastime Paradise" & "Joy Inside My Tears". He also gives us a history lesson in "Black Man". "Love's In Need Of Love Today" and "Have A Talk With God" are pleas for togetherness and understanding. Mr. Wo
EXTD=nder could always write great love songs and they are here as well in the forms of "Ebony Eyes", "As", "Knocks Me Off My Feet" and others. As I've just mentioned, the album broaches many diverse subjects, but it all comes together in the end. Usuall
EXTD=y on double albums, there is filler, but not here. Every song serves a purpose and help create a cohesive musical statement. Stevie Wonder has been called a musical genius and this album is further proof that the title is an appropriate one.\n\nAMAZ
EXTD=ON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSecond best, but still an all-time classic, August 31, 2003\nReviewer: songlife (Dayton, OH)\nAnyone who says this is Stevie's best, I won't argue too strongly. I thought that for a long time too. But I've been listening & th
EXTD=inking about it for nearly 18 years, and I now believe "Innervisions" holds that distinction. "Innervisions" is a masterpiece, SITKOL is not, due to reasons I'll go into below. And yet, SITKOL has some of Stevie's very best music, so I probably will
EXTD= continue to go back and forth on the issue, in my mind. Ultimately though, it's irrelevant to compare it to other albums. SITKOL has so much truly amazing music that it will forever be in history as one of the top 10 albums anyone ever made, in any
EXTD= genre of music. But it has it's share of annoyances, too.\nOne problem I have with it is Stevie's inability to edit himself on some of these songs, like Black Man, Isn't She Lovely, and Joy Inside My Tears. They go on far too long after the story h
EXTD=as been told, without much progress, even getting tedious toward the end. Also, the tired "black people are mistreated & downtrodden" theme crops up way too many times. Being proud of your race is fine, but thinking you speak for an entire race is a
EXTD=rrogant, and devoting too many songs on an album to it is detrimental to the album as a whole. Black Man was just a bad idea to begin with (and poorly executed), and Village Ghetto Land was already done on Talking Book, and much better, as Big Broth
EXTD=er. The line about children eating dog food is pathetic and poorly written. VGL is the worst song on the album, it doesn't fit, and stands out like a sore thumb. When you're working as hard as Stevie obviously was on making a classic album, you have
EXTD= to avoid stuff like that, and he didn't. He wanted to make his point, and he let the album's quality go down because of it.\n\nSimilarly, the religious stuff bothers me too. Stevie's strength is writing songs that appeal to all different kinds of p
EXTD=eople. You shouldn't have to be the same religion as him, or religious at all, to appreciate his music, yet he requires that in some songs on SITKOL, for example "Have A Talk With God" and "Pastime Paradise". I believe he got carried away with the r
EXTD=eligious & racial issues that concern him, and his music suffered because of it. Those songs tend to be less interesting musically, because Stevie was so intent on getting his message across that he focused more on the words. I guess when he was wri
EXTD=ting a lot of these songs, he was thinking that only black christians would be listening to them. He was overly zealous about it and ended up causing people who aren't in those categories to tune out those particular songs. Even today, he continues 
EXTD=to be a great songwriter who makes good albums, not great, because on every one he can't stop himself from including two or three songs about god and the mistreatment of black people, which drag his albums down like a Spike Lee movie. Message to Ste
EXTD=vie: if you want to make a gospel album, just DO it, stop trying to make your albums part gospel. We expect sophisticated, life-loving, pop music from you, not lectures about racial issues and religion. I deeply appreciate you as a musician, but I w
EXTD=onder if your strong personal & spiritual views have been holding you back from making great albums like you did in the 70's. Slavery was many years ago, it's time to move on to new topics.\n\nHe does far better on the songs which celebrate life, na
EXTD=ture, & love. Those songs are the true heart of SITKOL. What was originally Side 4 of the album is the most beautiful suite of songs he ever wrote: Ngiculela, If It's Magic, As, Another Star. Stunning, sophisticated music, unequalled by anyone else 
EXTD=to date (including Stevie), as far as I'm concerned. If you're a songwriter/musician and you want to learn, listen to those. The other standouts are Sir Duke, I Wish, Summer Soft, Knocks Me Off My Feet, & Isn't She Lovely. The rest of the songs I ha
EXTD=ven't mentioned yet are all very good as well, with the exception of Contusion, which is way too stiff and studio-cold compared to the way he used to do it live with Wonderlove. \n\nSo, yes, this album is one of the best in history, despite it's con
EXTD=siderable flaws. The great is so amazingly strong that it overpowers the mediocre. But I still say that Stevie's ultimate creation is Innervisions. On that album, he had not yet reached the height of his success and the conceitedness that apparently
EXTD= went along with it, and therefore was able to focus and edit himself down to one album and make it perfect. On SITKOL, he seems unfocused at times. Frankly, there's just too many songs there. No one can write 3 albums worth of material, cram it all
EXTD= together and have it all be great & fit together. He needed a producer with a stronger will than his to say "Stevie, these songs are too long, and some of them are too ambitious." He did not have this person, therefore we were 'treated' to the aiml
EXTD=ess noodlings of Contusion, the failed electronic gimmickry of Village Ghetto Land and HATWG, and worst of all, the insufferable children's screaming on "Black Man".\n\nThe recent reissue of SITKOL, by producer Harry Weinger, is very good. It could 
EXTD=have been better if Stevie would ever let anyone use his demos and alternate takes for these reissues, which he owns. He refuses, and all we get are the albums with no extras. Apparently he has to die first before we'll ever see his dozens of unused
EXTD= songs included on reissues, as in Marvin Gaye's case. Let's hope he changes his mind. Not likely, since he seems to have retired from the music biz.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nDigital Sound Defiles a Pop Classic, May 20, 2001\nReviewer: jordw86
EXTD= (Los Angeles, CA United States)\n"Songs in the Key of Life" is truly Stevie Wonder's opus. It is hard to imagine this, having already fallen in love with "Talking Book" and "Innervisions." Many, including myself, consider it to be the greatest pop 
EXTD=album ever recorded. It is just about the most magnificent, wide-ranging and deeply moving recording I've ever heard. This record truly displays the depth and integrity of Stevie's gifts as a composer, instrumentalist, vocalist and producer. His cho
EXTD=ice of musicians on this record (including Herbie Hancock, George Benson, and Greg Phillangaines) is of course top-notch. Musically and artistically it is a masterpiece on every conceivable level. However, I am saying all of this of the original rec
EXTD=ording, not the one you see here.\nI have been trying for some time now to dispell the notion that digital remastering somehow enhances the quality of an older record. I have heard remasters that were excellent, and I think for recordings of the 195
EXTD=0's and 60's vintage they can improve the overall fidelity of early stereo. However, Stevie's albums in the early and mid 70's were also masterpieces of recording technology. I have such fond memories of hearing this record on LP and being so entran
EXTD=ced by the warmth and intimacy of the sound. Analog masters sound as though the musicians are with you in the room! Many new recordings lack this quality, sounding sterile and reproduced. I was greatly disappointed with this particular remaster, as 
EXTD=well as all of the Stevie Wonder remasters that were recently released by Motown. It sounds to me as if someone simply compressed all of the waves and then cranked up the treble about a hundred notches. Some of the cymbal crashes on this record left
EXTD= my ears ringing, I can't understand why so many people prefer to listen to this. \n\nHaving come of age after the advent of CDs, I feel I am being as objective as one can be. I think this is not simply an issue of preference, or analog vs. digital.
EXTD= I think this about preserving and respecting the original 'voice' of the record. Stevie Wonder, in addition to all of his musical accomplisments, was a master producer. He knew what he wanted to hear, and when I listen to the original recording I a
EXTD=m so stimulated by the entire sonic experience. There are textures and nuances in many of the layers (especially the intricate bass lines and synth work) that have been obscured by the high frequency, high compression sound format that has somehow b
EXTD=ecome the standard. I am afraid that the fascination with technological advancement has superceded the pure listening experience, and it's disappointing. \n\nNevertheless, the music speaks for itself. I would only advise that those who wish to hear 
EXTD=the album how it was intended to be heard in 1976 buy the original.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMasterpiece Albums - Less Great Mastering Job, May 12, 2000\nReviewer: A music fan\nThe five albums by Stevie that Motown chose to remaster are five o
EXTD=f the greatest pieces of music ever created (in my humble opinion...) Just wanna' say however that they blew a once in a lifetime opportunity with the remastering of these albums. Whoever they got to do the re-mastering must have some high-end heari
EXTD=ng loss, because he tweaked the highs way too much, perhaps trying to go for a contemporary R&B, over-hyped sound. It's pretty consistent across all the new CDs, which I eagerly bought - a sharp, brittle high end. And too much compression as well, s
EXTD=ort of squishing the life out of the tunes. I'm just thankful I bought a copy of Mobile Fidelity's Gold Master's Series "Innervisions" before they went out of print. To my ear, that's what all Stevie's records should sound like. And for now, I'll ha
EXTD=ppily keep listening to the original versions of all these classic albums.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAmazing--But be careful which version you buy, January 11, 2000\nReviewer: Ben Marlin (Gainesville, Florida)\nThis album is a joyful, exausting
EXTD= tour-de-force of musical styles from one of popular music's greatest geniuses. Stuff like Innervisions may be stronger, but nothing beats this album for sheer number of great songs in one package. Just beware of the version that comes in the single
EXTD=-CD case: for some inexplicable reason, Motown chose not to include the second booklet of liner notes, leaving you without lyrics and credits for half the songs. Stick with the thicker, double-CD case. Still, you can't go wrong with this album!
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