T/S -- Innervisions vs. What's Going On?

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Which of these two "cast-in-stone" canonical fixtures deserves the crown as the quintessential early '70s soul masterpiece?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 21:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Me? I vote Innervisions by a mile.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 21:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Innervisions by two miles and a header past Seaman.

― Neudonym, Tuesday, 4 March 2003 21:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Innervisions of course- a lot more variety (both in styles and subject matter), for one.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 00:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I think I like the songs I like on Innervisions more than anything on What's Going On?, but from what I remember of it (I don't own it), What's Going On? is more consistently good. I just bought Innervisions on CD (after having it on cassette for a while, but not having played it that much lately) and I'm a little disappointed that I don't really want to listen to it straight through. For one thing, I am not interested in hearing "Living for the City" another time.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 5 March 2003 00:22 (twenty-three years ago)

What's Going On? is more consistently good

Fair enough. Many of the songs segue into the next, creating a nice flow, whereas to some ears, Innervisions is ever shedding its skin from song to song (not to my ears, of course, as I am always amazed upon every listen at Stevie's grasp of complimentary keys).

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 00:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I prefer "Innervisions" although I consider it the weakest of Stevie Wonder's 72-76 albums.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

blind vs snowblind

― dave q, Wednesday, 5 March 2003 13:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Innervisions, no doubt. Stevie has more... he just has more. More chops. Tighter songs. Better voice. All that.

But understand, I mean no offense whatsoever to Marvin, or to What's Going On. It's just that when you're talking soul music, there's almost no way to beat peak Stevie.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 13:47 (twenty-three years ago)

'what's going on' easily.
*however* 'what's going on' vs 'songs in the key of life' -
different story.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 5 March 2003 14:38 (twenty-three years ago)

"Innervisions" - Stevie Wonder is a musical genius, I can't think of a single artist who has produced a comparable run of albums such as Stevie did from 1971-76. I like "What Goes On" but Stevie is much more of a musical innovator - particularly in the use of electronics which doesn't get anything like the credit for he should be getting.

― Dadaismus, Wednesday, 5 March 2003 14:54 (twenty-three years ago)

"What's Going On" is better. I prefer Marvin to
Stevie, Marvin is more, ah, conflicted. Both are great, however, and "Too High" is awesome. However, I think Marvin's rhythm is better than Stevie's. Stevie Wonder=McCartney, Gaye=Lennon, but Marvin Gaye is better than John Lennon by a De-troit mile.

― Jess Hill (jesshill), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 14:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Innervisions kicks Songs In The Key Of Life's arse so easily it isn't even funny! Songs... is way too long.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 14:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Stevie Wonder's best album is "Fulfillingness First Finale".

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 6 March 2003 00:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Wow, Gier. An opinion of your I can get with... or at least make sense of. That is a very undervalued record.

My fave, though, is probably Talking Book, as cheesy as that sounds. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" gives me a little lump. (Don't tell my girlfriend -- I'll be derided as "weird" and "a big pussy.")

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Thursday, 6 March 2003 01:55 (twenty-three years ago)

"Talking Book" is great too (and while I am "melody-loving" enough to appreciate "...Sunshine...", the real gem on that album is "You And I").

I'd rank his albums from his "golden period" like this:

1. Fulfillingness First Finale
2. Songs In The Key Of Life (yes, this one is a classic!)
3. Talking Book
4. Music Of My Mind
5. Innervisions

These are also his best fine albums, with "Hotter And July" and "Conversation Peace" (speaking of underrated...) the ones that come closer than the others.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 6 March 2003 01:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Provocative ranking, Geir. I might be tempted to simply flip it upside-down and call that my ranking, but in reality I'd probably rank out his "golden era" stuff like so:

1. [i]Innervisions[/i]
2. [i]Fulfillingness' First Finale[/i]
3. [i]Songs in the Key of Life[/i]
4. [i]Hotter Than July[/i]
5. [i]Music of My Mind[/i]
6. [i]Talking Book[/i] (largely on the strength of the fantastic "You and I" and, of course, "Superstition")
7. [i]...Secret Life of Plants[/i]

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 6 March 2003 21:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, shoot now. That looks like [HELL][/HELL], doesn't it?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 6 March 2003 21:02 (twenty-three years ago)

6. [i]Talking Book[/i] (largely on the strength of the fantastic "You and I" and, of course, "Superstition")

"Superstition" is my least favourite Stevie Wonder track of all time. Way too repetitive with hardly any harmonic variation at all. A dud!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 6 March 2003 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know whether you're joking or not, but even assuming you're not a huge funk-jam fan, you don't have to look further than "Maybe Your Baby" (also on Talking Book) to see the difference between a simple riff ("Baby") and honest-to-goodness songwriting ("Superstition").

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Friday, 7 March 2003 01:14 (twenty-three years ago)

The ballads on "Talking Book" are all about honest-to-goodness songwriting. I prefer the slower tracks on most Stevie Wonder albums. Those are his real gems.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 March 2003 01:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Fair enough, we're in agreement that Stevie as a balladeer is a genius. Though in brainstorming my favorite Stevie tunes, I find that the better portion are uptempo tracks (or at least not strictly ballads). For the record, my favorites include: "Summer Soft," "Do I Do," "Golden Lady," "Another Star," "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me," "Rocket Love," "Bird of Beauty," "Too High," "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," "Do Like You," "You and I," "Jesus Children of America," and "Please Don't Go." Most of those aren't ballads.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Friday, 7 March 2003 01:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Several good ones among those anyway. "Golden Lady" is definitely among his better moments, for instance.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 7 March 2003 03:01 (twenty-three years ago)

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