Track Listing

1. Smile Please - Stevie Wonder, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola
2. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Paul Anka, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder
3. Too Shy To Say - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder
4. Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola
5. Creepin' - Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil, Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Minnie Riperton
6. You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola
7. It Ain't No Use - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Minnie Riperton, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder
8. They Won't Go When I Go - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder
9. Bird Of Beauty - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder
10. Please Don't Go - Gary Olazabal, Joan DeCola, Malcolm Cecil, Robert Margouleff, Stevie Wonder, The Persuasions

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3175 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 43 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Stevie Wonder was in the middle of a multi-album roll when he put out this funk and soul collection, clunky title and all, in 1974. As usual, he adds depth and unexpected touches to even the most straightforward love song--the moving piano ballad "Too Shy to Say" has a spooky feeling, as if "I want to fly away with you, until there's nothing more to do" is the saddest line he ever sang. The harder songs, such as the fuzzy funk of "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and the angry "doo-de-wop" attack on then-US President Richard Nixon in "You Haven't Done Nothin'", add urgency without sacrificing the album's cohesiveness. --Steve Knopper

CD Description
While the phrase, "greatest album" is a useless distinctionfor the great Stevie Wonder, the material contained herein finds him at a pinnacle of his more introspective songwriting mode. Released between the chart-topping splendour of INNERVISIONS and the monumental SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, FULFULLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE has spare instrumentation and a particularly personal tone. From gospel-inflected affirmations tothe funky classic, "Boogie On Reggae Woman", this music is spirited.
Stevie sings out on a seamless array of love declarations ("Creepin") and social protestations ("You Haven't Done Nothin"). The melodies are simple and evocative, spiced with jazzy harmonies. Between his gentle clavinet work and his inspired synth romps, the man's got a great keyboard palette, and he surely knows how to use it. Throughout, Stevie provides excellent interplay between foreground and background, rounding out his vocal and keyboard flights with haunting overdubs. Perhaps most outstanding is the moving reverie, "Heaven Is", a hand-clapping groove on the divine. Let's face it -- few soulsters can be quite as mesmerising as Stevie with a line like, "Love is so a-ma-zing".

Customer Reviews

Subdued but still brilliant
Stevie was involved in a serious car crash and he was also between a divorce and a marriage when he was putting together Fullfillingness' First Finale. It's a fascinating album because rather than the joyful, confident but sometimes heavy-handed preaching on Innervisions and Songs In The Key Of Life, here Stevie is trying to overcome his doubt and hurt brought on by recent events. When he sings 'But I can feel it, feel His spirit' on Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away it almost seems like he's trying to convince himself, and Too Shy To Say and Creepin' are both tentative but very beautiful love songs, not to mention They Won't Go When I Go, a stunning flipside to You And I. There is still joy here, though, in Smile Please (you will), Bird Of Beauty and about the happiest breakup song I've ever heard, It Ain't No Use.

The melodies here are often slightly lacking, most of the choruses being of the 'sha-la-la' variety, but the arrangements are superb throughout, with Boogie On Reggae Woman being about the funkiest, sexiest track Stevie ever cut. Also, a little of Stevie's practical joke humour comes out - he got the Jackson 5, then the biggest vocal group in the world, in on You Haven't Done Nothin' just to sing 'doo doowop' a few times.

In summary, Talking Book and Innervisions are better but I find this one more interesting and come back to it more often than any other Stevie album.

Stevie at his best
I find it difficult to proclaim anything SW did as 'my favorite' as there is so much to like about most of the stuff he did (particularly during the '70s). However, I must say that this particular album is the one I find myself coming back to time and time again. For me it is the peak of his partnership with Bob Margouleff & Malcolm Cecil, with the depth and intricity of the arranging greater than any of the previous 3 albums they had made together. It was also their final collaberation.

The way he has 2 'mini' Stevies responding to the main vocal line in 'Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away' is absolutely amazing, particularly the way that they continuosly build in volume and intensity until the full gospel choir take over to join Stevie for the chorus. This inovative use in backing vocals continues in 'It Ain't No Use' and 'They Won't Go When I Go'.

In other tunes, he simply has one line of vocals throughout and uses the other instruments to create the interest, particularly (as always) the synthesisers. My favorite use of these artificial sounds is the bass line'Boogie On Reggae Woman', which is constantly in action, playing a very busy part but without interfering. This tune also contains one of Stevie's best harmonica solo - he creates a sound on that thing that just pierces right through your ears - Amazing!

It's very tempting to go through every song in detail, as there's so much to talk about, but my suggestion is that you buy this album and give it several listens, as it might not appeal to you straight away. But once you get it, you can listen to it as many times as you like and you won't ever get board (and that goes for all of his '70s albums).

Often overlooked
Stevie Wonder had begun his metamorphosis from the teen star to a major and serious artist back in 1971 with "Music of my Mind", where he stretched beyond the boundaries Motown wanted to impose and began to explore the amazing creativity he had. There followed 3 of the most innovative and influential albums of the 70's - Talking Book, Inner Visions and Songs in the Key of Life, each of which could be considered a classic.

Little surprise then that "Fullfillingness...." (which came between Visions and Songs..) has been largely disregarded when critics choose their favourite Stevie Wonder album. That's a shame though, because there are some excellent tracks on display here.

The albums from this phase of Wonder's career always had plenty of variety of mood, with the uptempo and positive rubbing shoulders with the militant and regretful. FFF is no different, opening with "Smile Please" (no prizes for guessing the mood on this one), and a jaunty "Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away", before the wistful "Too Shy..." brings things down tempo. We're back up again with "Boogie On..." , before the mellow "Creepin'" and the funky and angry "You Haven't Done Nothin'", which has a scorching lyric.

"It Ain't No Use" finds Stevie in regretful mood as he says goodbye to his love (would this be the hymn to the end of his marriage to Syreeta?), before "They Won't Go...", which almost comes to a full stop in places, such is the slow tempo. But Stevie Wonder always came across as a positive individual and this reasserts itself at the end of the set, with "Birds Of Beauty", a funky, Latin tinged number, stressing the virtues of a natural high.

You may have heard some of the tracks here, but Wonder's albums always rewarded listening as a whole and this is no exception - Inner Visions remains my favourite, but this runs it close