Stevie Wonder - Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Stevie WonderEdition: Music CD
Audio: German (Unknown); English (Original Language); German (Published)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1993-04-05
Music Label: Universal I.S.
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Earth's Creation
- The First Garden
- Voyage To India
- Same Old Story
- Venus' Flytrap And The Bug
- Ai No Sono
- Seasons
- Power Flower
- Send One Your Love
- Race Babbling
- Send One Your Love
- Outside My Window
- Black Orchid
- Ecclesiastes
- Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye
- Come Back As A Flower
- A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley
- The Secret Life Of Plants
- Tree
- Finale (Stevie Wonder/Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants)
Free Music Notes for Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
Free Music Review: Criminally Overlooking, This album is Worth a Critical Reassessment...
Hit: 5 Stars
Between the period of 1971 - 1976, few could argue that brilliance of Stevie Wonders musical output. A period that saw such groundbreaking releases such as: "Talking Book", "Innervisions", "Fulfillingness' First Finale", "Songs in the Key of Life"....all albums that took driving funk & Motown Soul, and mixed them with warm keyboards, and lyrical content that touched upon: Politics, Love, Social injustice, Joyous Good times, and religion, and self-belief....to conquering effect. Which is what made this release of after 1976's "Songs in the key of Life", all the more curious and bizarre. Because instead of following on, from the ambitious wide-ranging arrangements, exuberant synthesizer, and tightly sequenced funk of "Songs in the key of life". Stevie instead bucked all current convention, and released this...a meditative mostly instrumental album of quietly intimate sounds, Precious moods, and reflective arrangements. Gone were the finger-pointing political statements, Biting Funk, and celebratory grooves. This was an album that was a decidedly much softer proposition, with an overall sound, that was considered, too intimate and inward-looking to suggest Radio air-play, and a cycle of loosely themed (semi-linked) songs, that were too downtempo, to be really considered hit single material (although "Send One Your Love" and "Outside My Window", were released as singles). What followed was mass confusion, on the radio/Critics part....with most, simply baffled by Stevie's musical direction, and large-scale indifference on the part of consumers. And so, this left the album, largely ignored by the general public, and quickly lead to Stevie reverting back to type, with 1980's upbeat soul/funk workout "hotter than July".
Looking back on "Journey through the secret life of Plants", and giving the album a much need re-evaluation, it's not hard to see why, it was so off-handedly dismissed on its release. This was such an unusual release from what had gone before, it's a soundtrack to a film (that may or may not have been released) and at the time it was like throwing a musical `Curve-ball', to the record buying public. But, that doesn't mean that it deserved to be largely passed over. No, in fact it's quite the opposite....looking at this album now, long after his most recognised work, has become familiar to us all, highlights what (with hindsight), is a massive mistake on the critics/buying public. What was tight and edgy in his previous albums, has become a softer, more reflective sombre mood, the instruments take the centre stage here, with the few vocals tracks that are contained throughout the album, mostly limited to assisting the instrumentals (rather than being at the forefront). "Voyage to India" is probably closest to a regular Stevie track, "Ai No, Sono" features a lovely children choir, and "Power Flower" has the vocal pushed firmly into the background, and sounds like a vocal instrument that complements the instrumentals. I defy anyone to not be moved by the sheer elegance of the arrangements, the contemplative mood, and gentle lush keyboard work, that runs throughout this album. For a rough idea of what to expect, if you are familiar with the track "You've got it bad, Girl" from Stevie's "Talking book" album, well imagine the warm electronic arrangements, sentimental template, and innocent conception of low key R&B, without the vocals. Then that will give you a rough idea of what to expect. I don't know if it's because it's a (mostly) instrumental soundtrack album, but it sounds like Stevie worked long and hard to get these arrangements, up to such a highly proficient level. This is probably because, seeing as this music would be judged on a purely musical level (with no lyrics, as such to fall back on). That this release really had to be able to stand up on its own, without Stevie's lyrics to fall back on, and it is arguably some of the most gorgeously expressive (instrumental) music that Stevie has committed to record. With such stylistic exercises in composition, and a beautifully subtle kaleidoscope of contrasting textures, this is a unique, and peerlessly melodic sounding record, that stands on its own, as something vastly different, from anything that Stevie had attempted before (and probably one, of the reasons, for its commercial failure). But looking back on the album some twenty odd years on, it's a truly remarkable sounding record that, rewards each listen with little sounds and glistening moods, it's a soundtrack that sounds unlike anything else (although how well suited to the film, is hard to ascertain, as nobody seems to have seen the film). And if that sounds like something you'd want to listen to, they you really owe it to yourself, to give this a listen. Sure!!...there will be those that think this album is a pointless exercise, like listening to a "Marvin Gaye" album minus his singing. But it'd take a cold, cold heart not to acknowledge that Artistically, Stevie has taken the bold step of creating something that pushed his music into an entirely new (although unsuccessfully commercial) direction. And listening to it today, without having judged it, after having come off the back of an incredible run of albums, this is one of those albums that will rope in new fans, that are prepared to put any preconceptions to one side and meet the music on its own terms (rather than what came before it), and although it probably can't quite stand up as well as his peak-period albums, this is arguably, deserving of almost as much recognition of any of Stevie's other landmark releases.
Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants Poster
Full title - Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants. 1993 reissue of 2 CD set originally released on Motown in 1979. 20 tracks in a standard double jewel case. Lyrics included in sleevenotes.Classic Rock Music CDs
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