#superstitution

About a year ago, maybe less than that, I talked about Stevie Wonder, more specifically a couple of greatest hits albums. Well, I might have just reviewed one, because the first one that I got was a collection of his early work as a teenager, not quite before he got huge as a Motown soul / R&B singer. I liked that collection fine, but I wasn’t hugely feeling it. Not much of the compilation did a lot for me, but I love Stevie Wonder’s voice. He’s got one of the best voices in all of music. I wanted to listen to one of his albums, especially since he was quite seminal in funk music’s heyday. The question, however, was which album do I review? There’s a lot of them, but I settled with 1972’s Talking Book, because it was cheap on Amazon, as well as featuring my favorite song of his – “Superstition.” One of the best funk songs ever written, I had to get the album for that song, but this album also features another one of his biggest songs, that song being “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.” I like that song a lot, too, and I was very excited to listen to this, because I think part of why I didn’t care for that compilation too much wasn’t that the songs weren’t good. They were stellar, but the compilation was very long, bloated, and exhausting to sit through, because there was a lot to get into. It was a good introduction to his work, but it was a bit long. This LP, however, is only around 43 minutes, and it’s a much better introduction. I’d suggest listening to something like this, because it does give you a couple of his bigger hits, but it’s got a lot of other stuff, too. Sometimes greatest hits albums can be too long, bloated, and feel exhausting after awhile, just because there’s too much packed into the album. That’s why I tend to prefer greatest hits albums that are pretty short, usually right around an hour, because they might not meander as much. I’ve got a bunch that are pretty long, and while they’re good, most of them are a bit too long for my liking.

Hell, I got a Barry White greatest hits album at Walmart about a week ago, but I got another one today, because it was a lot shorter (as well as an official one that he released in 1975). Moving on, though, I settled with Talking Book, and I’ve been listening to this thing for a bit over a week, so does this album do more for me than the greatest hits album did? I would say yes by a long shot, because this album is great. It’s a fantastic soul / funk album that does everything right. This LP needs to be more appreciated, but as it stands, it’s lovely. For starters, Wonder sounds awesome on this record. That shouldn’t be a shock, as this is Stevie Wonder in his prime. All throughout the 1970s, Wonder was his prime, releasing stellar album after stellar album, with this one being no exception. Talking Book not only features two of his biggest, as well as best, songs, but it features a lot of other great stuff, too. Songs like “Maybe Your Baby,” “Big Brother,” and “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be My Last)” are utterly fantastic, and the nice thing, too, is that they all sound different. This LP is very diverse, featuring soul, funk, and R&B, among other things, so there’s a lot going on, but it’s never too off-putting, weird, or inaccessible. Like I said, though, it’s Wonder himself that brings these songs to life. He’s got a beautiful voice, and he uses it very well, whether he’s crooning on the more soulful cuts, or using his voice in a more energetic and groovy sense within the funkier songs. Not only is the sound of this LP diverse, and versatile, but so is Wonder himself. He works wonders on this entire LP, and it’s one of the best soul albums I’ve had the chance to listen to in awhile. There’s a reason that people love Stevie Wonder, even today, because he’s got some very timeless, fantastic, and groundbreaking music that’s stood the test of time. While I didn’t care for the greatest hits album too much, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it. I mentioned that earlier, but I really do want to stress that I love Stevie Wonder.