Songs in the Key of Life

Songs in the Key of Life

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<I>Songs in the Key of Life</I> (1976) was the highest high point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than <i>Innervisions</i> and <i>Talking Book</i>, this two-LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner than either of those masterworks. That <I>Songs</I> 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." The 2000 reissue boasts radically improved remastered sound. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>