The record on the 1001 albums list was "Talking Book" by Stevie Wonder.
I've had this album for quite a while. This one has some of the big hits like "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" and the absolute monster "Superstition." The are a few deeper cuts on here that I also really love. "You And I", "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" and "Big Brother" are a few deep cuts that in my mind are also classics. And beyond those highlights there aren't any bad tracks.
Circling back to "Superstition" I need to wax on a little bit about how great that song. The hooky rhythm is so good. It makes you have to groove along. And thinking about how Stevie played most of the instruments on the song or course is always something I think of for just about any Stevie Wonder song, but this one is quite impressive. In looking at the credits he plays everything except the trumpet and sax on this song. And this song has so many layers. Truly impressive. For many years I just dug on the song never really thinking much about the lyrical content, but in recent years as I've learned more about that song and how it was very much a political song in reaction to Nixon. I think knowing that I listen to the song very differently now and I love it even more, because I find it even more relevant to our times. To me that will make this song always relevant.
When you listen to the album "Superstition" is followed up by "Big Brother" and when you think about the political context of "Superstition" the follow up of "Big Brother" right after that track is a really powerful one two punch. That is what good sequencing on an album can do.
This is something I saw today.
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