Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 122

Thread: Stevie Wonder

  1. #51
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    Posts
    7,264

  2. #52
    ^^ Nice!
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  3. #53
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Which I'm sadly isn't too sure about when it gets to Genesis or Yes - "Invisible Touch" over "One for the Vine", "Leave It" over "Awaken"?
    I disagree. In fact, you can already see the process of Invisible Touch and 90125 being de-emphasized in the legacies of Genesis and Yes in favor of their '70s incarnations.

    To the degree that Genesis or Yes are noted at all 50 years from now, it won't be for their '80s output, but for their earlier music that actually influenced the direction of pop music.

  4. #54
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Utopia
    Posts
    5,390
    Quote Originally Posted by profusion View Post
    Stevie's supernova of creativity from 1970-76 was pretty amazing. Every album in that run was a trailblazer, yet utterly personal to him.

    I do wonder what happened to him after that. It sort of seems like he stopped trying. I like some of his music after that, but it's not even close to being at the same level.
    I would consider Secret Life of Plants to be at least as brilliant as those earlier efforts.
    Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
    https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
    http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx

  5. #55
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Or, perhaps, you just made that assumption all on your own.
    Oh, I'm absolutely sure I did.

    Not at all like this:

    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    In response to this:
    Quote Originally Posted by The Dark Elf View Post
    Funny thing, of the first three reviews I looked at, one rated the London show four stars and the other two rated it five stars. I couldn't find the one you were reading from The Daily Douche.
    I mean, did you assume this was funny - "all on your own"?
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  6. #56
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I mean, did you assume this was funny - "all on your own"?
    No, I personally found his joke funny. I made no assumption, as there was none needed to laugh.

    But, you are free to make a false equivalence if that makes you feel better about yourself.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  7. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    you are free to make a false equivalence if that makes you feel better about yourself.
    No, this argument is far too relevant for me to feel better about myself.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  8. #58
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    Quote Originally Posted by Mythos View Post
    Nope, missed it, in fact I totally forgot what a PROG legend he was...
    Thank you for furthering the intellectual analysis of such a creative artist. I love how insightful you are. What would we have done had you not opened this thread to share such in-depth wisdom?
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  9. #59
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    it would be nice to be able to discuss creative music legends without the troll factory spewing their Symph Weenie garbage in every thread that's not exclusively referencing a Symph Rock band

    can we get back to some serious discussion of this artists work please?
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  10. #60
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    I'll start with the first album of his where he broke the tradition of "the Motown sound"

    from what I've gleaned, Where I'm Coming From is his last album under his initial Motown contract and it was this album when he decided to assert himself as a songwriter.

    The opening piece is Look Around, with it's Classically inspired Harpsichord arrangement, it is a haunting piece.
    The next piece is Do Yourself A Favor. This is my favorite on the album. It is a heavy Funk piece with powerful, socially conscious lyrics. Berry Gordy must have hated it!

    After the 2 opening pieces, Stevie gets more introspective with some very pretty melodies. Stevie would leave Motown after this. It is said that he told Gordy he wanted complete control of his album content and Gordy balked... for a time

    BTW, Stevie was only 20 when he recorded this album
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  11. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    I would consider Secret Life of Plants to be at least as brilliant as those earlier efforts.
    I'll admit I've always overlooked that one. I was thinking more of Hotter Than July, which not only came after a delay of three years, but didn't seem very inspired. And that's not even getting into where he went in the '80s.

    I've always wondered whether becoming so financially comfortable just made him less ambitious...or maybe he just didn't find that many more new things to say.

  12. #62
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    Quote Originally Posted by profusion View Post
    I'll admit I've always overlooked that one. I was thinking more of Hotter Than July, which not only came after a delay of three years, but didn't seem very inspired. And that's not even getting into where he went in the '80s.

    I've always wondered whether becoming so financially comfortable just made him less ambitious...or maybe he just didn't find that many more new things to say.
    could be a combination of both... but then pretty much every 70s artist discussed here at PE falls into that... except perhaps Pekka Pohjola
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  13. #63
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    4,485
    It seems to me that the four new songs on Original Musiquarium (which was otherwise a best of, covering the 1971-81 albums) were the end of an era. 'Front Line' is very underrated, perhaps because the other three were released as singles.

    The latest song of his I still hear is 'Part Time Lover'. But then again, it's not like there's been much released in the 30 odd years since.

  14. #64
    So, what are some of the essential live recordings from Stevie?
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  15. #65
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    It seems to me that the four new songs on Original Musiquarium (which was otherwise a best of, covering the 1971-81 albums) were the end of an era. 'Front Line' is very underrated, perhaps because the other three were released as singles.
    I skipped Musiquarium thinking it was a 'best of'... I'll hafta get that album now
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  16. #66
    Member Mythos's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Wolf City
    Posts
    771
    Quote Originally Posted by The Dark Elf View Post
    Really? Are you that narrow-minded? I'll just pretend you're being facetious. Wonder's music in the 70s encompassed soul, funk, rock, jazz and blues. I'd say that's quite progressive.
    I guess I'm narrow minded too, because there's nothing that even remotely ties stevie to any progressive music..I invite you to check out Mr. Wonder on "ALLMUSIC.com" where they list the following: Jazz, R&B, Motown, fuck soul, ect., but somehow left out all of the HUGE accomplishments he made to the "progressive rock" movement...

    Has this ever happened?

    Hey Bob what are you favorite progressive albums?

    Bob: Well, let's see, "Dark Side of the Moon, Foxtrot, Brain Salad Surgery, The Snow Goose, Yessongs and oh yeah, Songs in the Key of Life".

  17. #67
    Fuck soul happens to be one of my favorite underneath-the-genres.

  18. #68
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    look, in the early 70s Stevie was a progressive as any artist of that time. No he was NOT a Symph Rock artist, but there are many artists that even the admins of "ALLMUSIC.com" would consider far superior to a Symph Weenie's precious Symph band. Are you really suggesting that 'if it's not Symph we should not talk about them on the front page of PE'?!... really?! It's my guess that is the reason why someone invoked the "narrow-minded" moniker.

    Why open a thread of an artist you have little regard for? Seems idiotic to me

    Quote Originally Posted by Mythos View Post
    Has this ever happened?

    Hey Bob what are you favorite progressive albums?

    Bob: Well, let's see, "Dark Side of the Moon, Foxtrot, Brain Salad Surgery, The Snow Goose, Yessongs and oh yeah, Songs in the Key of Life".
    probably not... but then again, a well-rounded fan of progressive Rock music *would* likely list other artists than just British or even just white artists. An open-minded Prog fan might actually list other styles than just Symph Rock. They might just list some Jazz Rock <gasp!>
    Last edited by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER; 10-27-2018 at 04:55 PM.
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  19. #69
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    trolls

    ruin

    threads
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  20. #70
    Quote Originally Posted by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER View Post
    I skipped Musiquarium thinking it was a 'best of'... I'll hafta get that album now
    The four new songs on that are all very strong. He negotiated a huge deal with Motown to deliver a double-LP greatest hits collection with four new songs, rather than the single LP the label had proposed. This was actually the first Stevie album I acquired, and it works really well as a collection on its own. It's also interesting that several of the greatest hits hits tracks are presented here in somewhat different versions.

    Interesting read on it:

    http://www.adampwhite.com/westgrandblog/musiquarium

  21. #71
    Quote Originally Posted by The Dark Elf
    Really? Are you that narrow-minded? I'll just pretend you're being facetious. Wonder's music in the 70s encompassed soul, funk, rock, jazz and blues. I'd say that's quite progressive.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mythos View Post
    I guess I'm narrow minded too, because there's nothing that even remotely ties stevie to any progressive music..I invite you to check out Mr. Wonder on "ALLMUSIC.com" where they list the following: Jazz, R&B, Motown, fuck soul, ect., but somehow left out all of the HUGE accomplishments he made to the "progressive rock" movement...

    Has this ever happened?

    Hey Bob what are you favorite progressive albums?

    Bob: Well, let's see, "Dark Side of the Moon, Foxtrot, Brain Salad Surgery, The Snow Goose, Yessongs and oh yeah, Songs in the Key of Life".
    Well, I guess we can remove any hint of facetiousness from the equation.

    In my original post, I stated Wonder was "quite progressive". I don't believe I hinted, inferred or otherwise commented that Stevie was
    PRAWG RAWK, which it seems is limited in interwebz definitions to being a rock mutation predicated on pretentious and lengthy symphonic bastardizations in odd time signatures played by upper middle-class, white, blue-balled university boys with British accents who lived south of Leeds and East of Cardiff (hence, your mention of Floyd, Genesis, ELP and Camel).

    That being said, I once had an argument with someone on these very boards who stubbornly held to the inane claim that Jethro Tull was not prog rock, so I guess one must adhere to a very dogmatic interpretation whenever someone even mentions the word "progressive". But when I say Wonder was progressive, I will stick to the word. His music crossed over into so many genres, and his influence was so profound to so many musicians (and that would include a multitude of rock musicians), that one could say he was perhaps more progressive than many performers whose music was labeled as progressive rock.

    And referring back to your mention of "Dark Side of the Moon, Foxtrot, Brain Salad Surgery, The Snow Goose, Yessongs and oh yeah, Songs in the Key of Life", I would say that albums like Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale were played on the same turntables as the prog rock albums you mentioned in the early to mid 70s. I certainly recall FM rock stations in Detroit like WABX, WWWW and WRIF playing "Superstitious", "You Haven't Done Nothin'", "Living for the City" and "Higher Ground" right alongside rock hits of the time, like "Court of the Crimson King", "Aqualung", "Karn Evil 9", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", "Whipping Post", "Hocus Pocus" and "Highway Star".
    "And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."

    Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/

  22. #72
    Inner Visions, Music Of My Mind and Fullfillingness' First Finale are all great albums, and totally of interest to those who are interested in interested in hearing a musician stretch his music beyond the cliche trappings of the genre he's associated with. On these album, Stevie played most of the instruments himself, with some great synth and keyboard work on several songs, notably on Evil and Living For The City. In case you didn't know, he's also a great drummer.

    There's no extended stretches of 17/16 time signature, and no songs about flying purple wolfbats, biomechanical chimeras, or the eleventh Earl Of Mar. But I think the music is exceptional, and I think a truly adventurous listener would enjoy the records in question.

    Seriously, if you only know Stevie as the guy who sang I Just Called To Say I Love You (dreadful song), Part Time Lover and Ebony & Ivory, you've seriously not heard him at the height of his powers.

  23. #73
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Kingdom of YHVH
    Posts
    2,770
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Seriously, if you only know Stevie as the guy who sang I Just Called To Say I Love You (dreadful song), Part Time Lover and Ebony & Ivory, you've seriously not heard him at the height of his powers.
    heh... indeed, those are the guys that give all of Stevie's albums across the board a 7 on Gnosis. They have never heard the deep cuts like Evil, They Wont Go When I Go, Blame It On The Sun, Jesus Children Of America or Visions.

    I did a short summary of Where I'm Coming From above. Anyone care to summarize his next work; Music Of My Mind?
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  24. #74
    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    I would consider Secret Life of Plants to be at least as brilliant as those earlier efforts.
    I agree, but especially the 2nd LP/CD in that package.

  25. #75
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    in a cosmic jazzy-groove around Brussels
    Posts
    6,091
    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Inner Visions, Music Of My Mind and Fullfillingness' First Finale are all great albums, and totally of interest to those who are interested in interested in hearing a musician stretch his music beyond the cliche trappings of the genre he's associated with. On these album, Stevie played most of the instruments himself, with some great synth and keyboard work on several songs, notably on Evil and Living For The City. In case you didn't know, he's also a great drummer.

    Mmmhhh!!!!... I'll find something worthy from any/all of his 70's albums , though the extremes SS&D and Secret Life (which released really close to 1980) are weaker, though the core is between TB and FFF... But even in the best albums of his, there were still stinkers like Sunshine Of My Life or the insufferably long Isn't She Lovely.

    Seriously, if you only know Stevie as the guy who sang I Just Called To Say I Love You (dreadful song), Part Time Lover and Ebony & Ivory, you've seriously not heard him at the height of his powers.
    agreed , but the problem is his often shitty lyrics >> it seems that every hit (or normal) song of his is either about love or sunshine, or both.

    Quote Originally Posted by yesstiles View Post
    I agree, but especially the 2nd LP/CD in that package.
    Yeah, it passes the bar as good 70's album. Strangely both KoL and Secret life were double albums observing lengthy breaks in between albums (2y and 3y respectively), when he seemed so ever present in previous years.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •