Search - Stevie Wonder :: Music of My Mind

THE MIND THATS A WONDER-FUL PLACE TO BE

01/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though often ignored when discussing his classic albums,MOMM is where Stevie Wonder's genius start to blossom.It is important for two reasons.First it established Stevie as a musical force to be reckoned with and finally shed the "Little Stevie Wonder" image for good.Second,it pioneered the use of synthesizers as a musical instrument and not a machine to create unearthly sounds.Credit should be given to Malcolm Cecil & Robert Margouleff(two synth wizards who recorded as Tonto's Expanding Head Band) for guiding Stevie in his new musical direction.Love Having You Around takes the clavinet-based funk he recorded on Do Yourself A Favor(from Where I'm Coming From) and expand on it.Superwoman(Where were you when I needed you)is an amazing recording where the first half of the song,he sounds troubled about his woman,then the second half he feels let down by her.The arrangement is also something to behold.Keep on Running is a funk tour-de-force,and Happier Than The Morning Sun & Seem So Long deserve praise.If I have any gripes about this album,is that it help usher in a new era in electronic music,where today,many synth based music sounds artificial & inhuman.Maybe this album should be required listening for up & coming producers and/or musician on the warmth and life that Stevie eminated from his Synths,including Stevie Wonder these days"