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Stevie Wonder - The Definitive Collection
:Album Details:Compact Selection of Great Early Hits from the Former Boy Wonder of the Keyboard and Resident Genius of Berry Gordy's Motown Records. :Like the Beatles' The Beatles 1, this rundown of Stevie Wonder chestnuts is merciless in cutting a huge list of classic tracks down to a single disc's worth of the most recognizable. Anyone who's treasured even one or two of these songs and yet never bought a Wonder record will be more than pleased with the acquisition of The Definitive Collection. These ...
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Songs in the Key of Life
:Album Description:Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Universal. 2006. essential recording:Songs in the Key of Life (1976) was the highest high point of Stevie Wonder's career. More sprawling than Innervisions and Talking Book, this two-LP-plus-EP was also less of a consistent stunner than either of those masterworks. That Songs 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 ...
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Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye
: :This compilation includes 15 of Marvin Gaye's signature songs, including 9 No. 1 soul-chart hits. It's a handy compression of his Motown career, but those who want a deeper understanding of the artist should opt at the very least for the packed double-disc Best of Marvin Gaye. --Rickey Wright
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The Ultimate Collection
: :A brave effort at cramming one disc full of Temptations classics, The Ultimate Collection nevertheless makes a couple of puzzling choices. Why, for instance, include 'Error of Our Ways,' a very minor mid-'90s hit, and ignore 'Beauty Is Only Skin Deep' or 'I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You),' both number ones from their classic period? Still, for the price, it's hard to argue with. --Rickey Wright
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What's Going on
: essential recording:Sly & The Family Stone might have psychedelicized soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalized it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning. Gaye co-wrote the songs and produced the album, flavoring it with layer upon layer of his own multi-tracked vocals, oceans of hand ...
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The Big Chill - 15th Anniversary: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
:Album Description:Part of the Motown Remasters series. UK reissue of the classic 60's soundtrack to the 1983 hit movie. :Motown just keeps packaging and repackaging those classic '60s hits. But whether you're looking for a souvenir of Lawrence Kasdan's movie or just another Motown sampler, you could do a lot worse than the Big Chill soundtrack --which also throws in a dab of Three Dog Night ('Joy to the World') and Aretha Franklin ('(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman') and even Procul Harum ...
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Innervisions
: essential recording:One of Stevie Wonder's best albums, and the one where his more fanciful, free-form moments gel perfectly with his knack for irresistible pop singles, 1973's Innervisions swings between delicate and airy ballads, Latin-influenced rhythms (the hit 'Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing'), and his own synth-heavy versions of gut-bucket soul (the determined spiritual questing of 'Higher Ground'). The striking juxtaposition between 'Vision,' a barely breathed hope that a world of peace might be upon us, and the great 'Living for the City,' a funky, ...
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The Ultimate Collection
: :Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 25-cut disc is the single most impressive one of Motown's Ultimate Collection series (which features 17 artists). Combining Smokey's endlessly inventive twists on romance (good and bad) with the Miracles' handful of straight-up party hits, it showcases one of American pop's most sure-footed and touching acts. The frontman's prowess as singer, writer, and producer lights up each of these single mixes; less-celebrated tracks like 'My Girl Has Gone,' '(You Can) Depend on Me,' and 'The Love I Saw in You ...
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The Ultimate Collection
: :Cramming 25 songs onto a single CD, this set captures the Tops during their peak 1960s years, when they rode the pens of Holland, Dozier, and Holland to the top of the charts. Combining the writers' pop melodies, a gentle Motown groove, and Levi Stubbs' earthy lead vocals, the group landed 11 Top 40 singles by 1967, all of which are included on this compilation. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Collection omits later gems such as 'Keeper of the Castle,' 'Ain't No Woman,' and 'When She Was ...
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Pure Disco
: :Cramming 25 songs onto a single CD, this set captures the Tops during their peak 1960s years, when they rode the pens of Holland, Dozier, and Holland to the top of the charts. Combining the writers' pop melodies, a gentle Motown groove, and Levi Stubbs' earthy lead vocals, the group landed 11 Top 40 singles by 1967, all of which are included on this compilation. Unfortunately, The Ultimate Collection omits later gems such as 'Keeper of the Castle,' 'Ain't No Woman,' and 'When She Was ...
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