Stevie Wonder
Songs In The Key Of Life

THE REVIEW

THE ULTIMATE MASTERPIECE OF SOUL-MUSIC

(The 21 'Songs In The Key Of Life')

1976: After an extremely tumultuous period during which Wonder secluded himself to find the most authentic creative inspiration, he released "Songs In The Key Of Life." This is the album that most characterizes this artist, unanimously considered his most important work, a true milestone not only of 'Soul' but more broadly of all modern music. One of the most substantial and robust works by the author: as many as 21 pieces collected in two albums (vol. I and vol. II). Almost all are splendid and memorable songs that follow in an endless variety of melodic styles: there's truly something for everyone.

Besides being the author of all the tracks, Stevie masterfully engages in vocals, keyboard-bass, harmonica, piano, and drums (with a crystal-clear technique and such a pronounced sense of rhythm that he influenced an entire generation of drummers, who would make him an absolute reference point).

The vol. I contains 12 tracks, opening with the seven-minute beautiful soul-ballad "Love's In Need Of Love Today." Memorable and original "Village Ghetto Land," where Stevie's voice, accompanied here by a harmonious melody of only strings, paints us a slice of everyday life in a black ghetto of an American metropolis (where Wonder comes from). The heart of the entire album, the most representative and famous part of the work, is undoubtedly the duo "Sir Duke" (dedicated to the great jazz musician Duke Ellington)-"I Wish," two extraordinary 'Soul' tracks located in the central part of vol. I, rich with wonderful brass and compelling and spectacular rhythms. One of my favorites is undoubtedly "Pastime Paradise," magical and mysterious atmospheres envelop a splendid text that rebukes those who cannot live in the present, taking refuge in the memory of past days or in the eternal hope of better future days, forgetting to live their own present. Also very successful are the tracks that engage Stevie on the piano, again from vol. I, I recall: "Knocks Me Off My Feet," "Summer Soft," and the concluding "Ebony Eyes" an energetic and contagious declaration of love towards black girls coming from the 'Ghetto's streets.'

The vol. II contains 9 tracks and opens with the famous song, dedicated to the birth of the author's daughter, "Isn't She Lovely." Predictable but very effective anti-racism slogan in the beautiful "Black Man." As a counter-response to the slow ballad of vol. I "Village Ghetto Land," here we find the equally successful "If It's Magic," this time not strings and voice, but harp and voice. Also worthy of a special mention are the wonderful "As" and "Another Star". "All Day Sucker" is a very interesting funky piece, a precursor of a movement in black music that will retrace the new path indicated by these notes, landing on the shores of Rap. It is a piece that immediately appears very modern and seems incredible today that it was written only in 1976. "Songs In The Key Of Life" also contains 2 instrumental tracks: the very fast "Contusion" in vol. I and "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)" chosen as the closure of vol. II, a sweet and slow melody masterfully guided by Stevie's harmonica.

This album, as you may have understood, is a very rich work, from which more generations of musicians will draw freely, not only as a source of inspiration but also to make covers, reinterpretations, and samples of all kinds: "Pastime Paradise" will be 'rapped' by Coolio in "Gangsta's Paradise" (soundtrack of the film "Dangerous Minds") and "I Wish" will be totally ruined by Will Smith who transformed it into "Wild Wild West" (soundtrack of the film of the same name). More will be revisited by different artists "As", "Another Star" and others again, but never even coming close to the impeccable result of the original versions.

After leaving this monumental work as a legacy to 'soul music,' Wonder will never retrace his steps, never again tread the paths of 'soul music'. In fact, after three years of silence, he will release an album like “The Secret Life Of Plants” 1979, beautiful but totally out of any scheme and from the author's musical past, then will record in the '80s increasingly pop-singer/songwriter albums and less and less in the tradition of black music (with sometimes excellent results and sometimes more disappointing). Never again, in fact, will there be an overall convergence of the public and totality of the critics in considering a Wonder album an absolute masterpiece, after the perfect 'Songs In The Key Of Life'.