It’s always gratifying when a master artist resumes his or her
\nwork. This is certainly the case with Stevie Wonder, who has
\nreturned to the music scene with
\nA Time To Love<\/i>, released a few weeks ago. Listening to that
\nalbum sparked a mini-Stevie Wonder marathon for me.<\/p>\n
Let’s first start off with the obvious; Stevie Wonder is a
\nbrilliant musician. The albums he recorded from
\nTalkimg Book<\/i> to
\nHotter Than July<\/i> contain some of the most brilliant music of
\nthe ’70s.
\nInnvervisions<\/i> is no exception; there are some truly
\nstaggering moments to be found. However, no matter how many times
\nI’ve listened to the album, there are certain spots that fail to do
\nanything for me.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, some of those spots come at you right away. “Too
\nHigh” and “Visions,” are not awful songs; both of them sound good,
\nbut there are some Wonder tracks you just lock into and feel, and
\nthat didn’t happen with these two. Something about “Too High” comes
\noff a little stilted and “Visions” is a standard ballad, albeit
\nwith some pretty guitar strumming thrown in.<\/p>\n
Once the first two tracks are finished, then one can get to the
\ngood stuff. “Living In The City,” has to be in the all-time Top
\nFive of Stevie’s songs. His sneering vocals, the menacing
\nsynthesizers riffs, the mini-play put on during the last few
\nminutes, and the thundering gospel-inspired ended are breathtaking
\nto listen to. Not many artists could capture the sense of social
\ndespair that Wonder could, but he pulls it off.<\/p>\n
The gorgeous “Golden Lady” immediately follows, allowing for
\nsome of Stevie’s best vocal work on the album. Then of course,
\ncomes “Higher Ground.” Man alive, if you could define funk with one
\nsong, this would be it. There’s no way to resist its bouncing beat
\nand strong rhythm.<\/p>\n
The aforementioned songs were favorites of mine from the very
\nfirst listen, while some were growers. “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A
\nThing,” was one such track. However, I was quickly won over by its
\nLatin-inspired beat and the incredibly catchy refrain. While the
\nsubject material is a little bleak, “Jesus Children Of America,”
\nmost definitely falls under the category of a “deep track.” The
\nsocial indignation Wonder expressed during “Living For The City” is
\nreprised here, except the tone is much harsher. Mix that with the
\nsound of “Higher Ground,” and you’ve got a standout track.<\/p>\n
I really wanted to give this album an “A” but there are a few
\nsongs that just don’t sit with me. However, don’t let that stop you
\nfrom picking up
\nInnervisions<\/i>. There are plenty of brilliant bits that make
\nyou sit up and wonder how it’s possible one man can be so
\ngifted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6336],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38585","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-stevie-wonder","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38585"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}