Rewind album: Songs in the Key of Life, by Stevie Wonder (1976)
Double albums are often sprawling, bloated beasts that say more about an artist's ego than their talent. The Beatles' , The Clash's and Pink Floyd's all contain some great tracks, but would have been improved by severe trimming.
Stevie Wonder
Motown Records
Double albums are often sprawling, bloated beasts that say more about an artist's ego than their talent. The Beatles' , The Clash's and Pink Floyd's all contain some great tracks, but would have been improved by severe trimming.
Stevie Wonder's , on the other hand, has no padding at all: there's hardly a track you'd leave off a mixtape. It's so good that even the inclusion of a third disc of bonus outtake material soon after its 1976 release couldn't dilute its majesty.
is regarded as Wonder's definitive record - a tough call on a man who just a few years earlier had recorded the peerless . Over the 17 tracks (21 if you include the bonus ), it crosses from soul to funk to jazz and pop so seamlessly it's as if Wonder had been building up for this album.
Which in many ways he had.
