It's a world unto itself. A world of possibilities, of ideas, of dreams and of intimations. It's a world of music, and at times it's a better world than ours. Songs In The Key Of Life is Stevie Wonder's genius in full bloom and on display, in all its ambition and single-mindedness and multifaceted exuberance. Despite the fact that it's absolutely sprawling (in the days of vinyl, it was spread across two full-length LPs and a bonus EP), it has a kind of unity and internal logic that's so strong that even the record's weaker songs seem absolutely necessary. The best songs, meanwhile, are just plain incredible. "I Wish" is a rattled funk monster, and "Village Ghetto Land" is a bitterly ironic piece of social commentary. "Sir Duke" is an ecstatic tribute to Mr. Ellington, and "Contusion" is a ripping slab of jazzy prog-funk. And then you've got the stark, spooky melodicism of "Summer Soft," and the rapturous "Joy Inside My Tears." "Have A Talk With God" expresses personal faith without being preachy, and "Knocks Me Off Of My Feet" professes helpless love without sounding corny. What else? Well, there's "Isn't She Lovely," which is jut fantastic (even though it could stand to be a couple of minutes shorter). And then there's that flawlessly cosmic paean to universal love, "As." And a lot of other great stuff. Like "Black Man." And "Ordinary Pain." And "Saturn." And... oh, just buy the darned thing already!
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