Product Description

SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE is a milestone in Stevland Morris'career and a masterwork of American popular music. Releasedin 1976, this double LP spent 14 of its 80 charting weeks at number one. From his sharp commentaries on American socialhistory and pro-peace supplications to some of his most intimate professions of love, witness Stevie Wonder at a prolific point in his career, casting his music further beyond R&B, funk, and disco than ever before.
Present here are someof 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 fiercely poetic declaration of "As" still shine as brightly as ever. Perhaps lesswell-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 salute to America's pioneers of colour. The keyboard sounds are as variedas ever, the bass as waggish as Bootsy, the arrangements a consummate preparation of melody and harmony. KEY OF LIFE isan inspired work in which Stevie marvels at life's unexpected miracles.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Love's In Need Of Love Today
2. Have A Talk With God
3. Village Ghetto Land
4. Contusion
5. Sir Duke
6. I Wish
7. Knocks Me Off My Feet
8. Pastime Paradise
9. Summer Soft
10. Ordinary Pain

Disc 2:

1. Isn't She Lovely
2. Joy Inside My Tears
3. Black Man
4. Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing
5. If It's Magic
6. As
7. Another Star
8. Saturn
9. Ebony Eyes
10. All Day Sucker
11. Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #721 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-08
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Double CD, Original recording remastered
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 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 string 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

Customer Reviews

Stevie's Magnum Opus
I can't add much to what's already been written here. This is an essential album - though I regard all of the following as essential too:

Talking Book
Innervisions
Fulfillingness First Finale

If you're new to Stevie's work, please don't buy a collection, you'll be missing out on so much!

an absolute classic stevie wonder youre cool!
this a fantastic double album all the songs are fab i also recommend the albums music of my mind talking book and innervisions and original misquarium there fantastic buy this you wont regret it!1

"Wonder" ful
Have the vinyl. Now got the CD and its still timeless. I have many favourites. Love "I am singing" this sums up stevies life in music.
The song writing is 1st class. in my view far better than Lennon/Mccartney ever were. This guy does the lot himself. This album should be in every collection. best selling double album of all time, i believe. Well justified.