Even more so than usual, Stevie Wonder brings life to the songs on Talking Book. Not as in, like, a life-affirming in message or tone, but rather he creates music that itself twists about with a life of its own, keyboard runs slithering with unpredictable swerves. The production is peerless, the songs bristling with originality, an on a per-song-level the album's an undeniable masterpiece.
Two knocks: Wonder's voice remains reedy and strained during every other phrase, a taste perhaps I still have yet to acquire. And on an album level, there's little flow or cohesiveness: this is still just a collection of (admittedly, pretty brilliant) songs that doesn't carry the kind of long-game arc I crave 4/5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment