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Songs in the KEy of Life


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Posted
This album is...so cheesey sounding! I bought Innervisions afew months ago and loved it to bits. then i had to hear Songs in the Key, and well never have i heard so much cheese outside of a dairy. Should i prepare myself for a flame-fest?
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Posted
Some of the lyrics are total cheese.... but the music and melodies are great. Sonically... it was recently remastered for S-it by the same guy who did a hatchet-job on Marvin's "Whats Going On". This guy just makes it his lifes mission to ruin the sound of classic records, I guess... :(
Posted
[quote]Originally posted by jschmidt: [b]Some of the lyrics are total cheese.... but the music and melodies are great. Sonically... it was recently remastered for S-it by the same guy who did a hatchet-job on Marvin's "Whats Going On". This guy just makes it his lifes mission to ruin the sound of classic records, I guess... :( [/b][/quote]could have been that i heard, cos it seemed like he was using a DX7 set to super-cheese mode with absolutely no reverb... or was it just the stereo it was on and me after smoking too much?
Visit my band : www.neonfleacircus.net or www.myspace.com/neonfleacircus
Posted
Difference in opinion on this one...Songs in the Key of Life is considered to be one of Stevie's greastest albums...

Yamaha (Motif XS7, Motif 6, TX81Z), Korg (R3, Triton-R), Roland (XP-30, D-50, Juno 6, P-330). Novation A Station, Arturia Analog Experience Factory 32

 

Posted
[quote]Originally posted by MusicWorkz: [b]Difference in opinion on this one...Songs in the Key of Life is considered to be one of Stevie's greastest albums...[/b][/quote]yeah, i was really eager to hear it for that reason. strange really!
Visit my band : www.neonfleacircus.net or www.myspace.com/neonfleacircus
Posted
To ge the best perspective, pick up "At the Close of a Century", the four disc compliation...It is worth every penny, if only to hear and read about his evolution as an artist... [quote]Originally posted by Cowfingers: [b] [quote]Originally posted by MusicWorkz: [b]Difference in opinion on this one...Songs in the Key of Life is considered to be one of Stevie's greastest albums...[/b][/quote]yeah, i was really eager to hear it for that reason. strange really![/b][/quote]

Yamaha (Motif XS7, Motif 6, TX81Z), Korg (R3, Triton-R), Roland (XP-30, D-50, Juno 6, P-330). Novation A Station, Arturia Analog Experience Factory 32

 

Posted
[quote]Originally posted by MusicWorkz: [b]To ge the best perspective, pick up "At the Close of a Centry", the four disc compliation...It is worth every penny, if only to hear and read about his evolution as an artist... [/b][/quote]well, to tell the truth, i'll probably just keep buying his albums when i see them around (especially if at reduced price!), but thanks anyway. :)
Visit my band : www.neonfleacircus.net or www.myspace.com/neonfleacircus
Posted
I dunno...I guess it's kinda cheesy. Cheesy like a fox! :rolleyes: Actually, I just re-bought it last year and I really, really liked it. I dunno if I really ever paid much attention to the sonics involved but I don't notice much, if any, difference from the album I used to have. I enjoy it mainly for song-quality and the good ol' nostalgia factor. It totally takes me back to my teenage years...
None more black.
Posted
I agree that Stevie can get a cheesy at times. Still think it's a great record though. I indoctrinated myself with his records when I was 20 or so. "Innervisions" is his best IMO. "Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants" is fucked up - Never give a blind musician LSD.
"You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer
Posted
I dunno. I love that record. One of my all time favorites. Hey, but what do I know. To me, Stevie could fart on a record and I buy it and think it's wonderful. I remember waiting for it to hit the stores and buying it the day it came out. Since then , I've bought it on Cd and have the making of it on DVD. Being a frustrated chromatic player myself, I love on the dvd when he shows some of his mistakes on the harmonica solo on Isn't She Lovely that didn't make the CD. Nobody has the tone and vibrato control that he does on harmonica. Maybe you had to be there to understand it's importance. I was playing a club gig in 82 and Stevie came in. He got up and did a set by himself on Ac. piano. Tough act to follow, my friend.
Posted
[quote]Originally posted by Gabriel E.: [b]Through The Secret Life of Plants" is fucked up - Never give a blind musician LSD.[/b][/quote]LOLOLOLOL!
I really don't know what to put here.
Posted
[quote]Originally posted by Cowfingers: [b] [quote]Originally posted by jschmidt: [b]Some of the lyrics are total cheese.... but the music and melodies are great. Sonically... it was recently remastered for S-it by the same guy who did a hatchet-job on Marvin's "Whats Going On". This guy just makes it his lifes mission to ruin the sound of classic records, I guess... :( [/b][/quote]could have been that i heard, cos it seemed like he was using a DX7 set to super-cheese mode with absolutely no reverb... or was it just the stereo it was on and me after smoking too much?[/b][/quote]LOL - a DX7 set to super-cheese mode. Gotta try that one!!! A lot of it was done on a synth called T.O.N.T.O. Some links: [url=http://archive.keyboardonline.com/features/vintagegear/vgear0103.shtml]Tonto - page 1[/url] [url=http://www.robertmargouleff.com/publications/tonto.htm]Tonto - page 2[/url] Pretty heady stuff for its day. Thirty years later the cheese factor might be kinda high. Stevie also seems to have inspired the current vocal stylin's from Teddy Riley to D'Angelo and a lot of folks in between - for better or worse.

RobT

 

Famous Musical Quotes: "I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve" - Xavier Cugat

Posted
Are you kidding!!? That's a great album. One of my favorites. I guess you had to be there at the time. This was recorded long before there were DX-7s, my man. Fender Rhodes and Wurlizters. Stevie played most of the instruments, which may explain a certain cheese. Get with the program! :D

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

Posted
[quote]Originally posted by henryrobinett: [b]Are you kidding!!? That's a great album. One of my favorites. I guess you had to be there at the time. This was recorded long before there were DX-7s, my man. Fender Rhodes and Wurlizters. Stevie played most of the instruments, which may explain a certain cheese. Get with the program! :D [/b][/quote]Henry - Stevie is still the man! I agree it is a great album. I remember spending my paper route cash to buy that album the day it came out. Seems like music was more magic then...

RobT

 

Famous Musical Quotes: "I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve" - Xavier Cugat

Posted
I've got to say, SITKOL is one of my favorite albums, especially when you mute out the original bonus tracks - to me , they never fit the rest of the LP. And I'm one of the other three people on the planet who liked Secret Life...I saw his concert promoting the album, and it was about 3 hours of some of the best playing I've ever heard. Unfortunately, his work after that left me cold. Re: cheese - I thought that one of the advances on SITKOL was a demo of a new Yamaha machine that was the first FM production prototype synth. I remember hearing the strings on Village Ghetto Land, and thinking that someone was going to make a lot of money with a poly synth that could do that. (drum roll for the DX7, please.) At the time, I was in a 2-keyboard band with a Moog demo artist, and the two of us were using 2 hands to produce 4 part harmonys. We used to play around with fourth and fifth tunings on the Minis to try for 6 parts. Some very Gregorian harmonies were part of all our kits then, remember?
Posted
[quote]Originally posted by Cowfingers: [b]I bought Innervisions afew months ago and loved it to bits. [/b][/quote]That album was the seed,the masterpiece.Everything else seemed somewhat watered down after that burst of inspiration,with exceptions of course.
"A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows"
Posted
[quote]Originally posted by RobT: [b] [quote]Originally posted by henryrobinett: [b]Are you kidding!!? That's a great album. One of my favorites. I guess you had to be there at the time. This was recorded long before there were DX-7s, my man. Fender Rhodes and Wurlizters. Stevie played most of the instruments, which may explain a certain cheese. Get with the program! :D [/b][/quote]Henry - Stevie is still the man! I agree it is a great album. I remember spending my paper route cash to buy that album the day it came out. Seems like music was more magic then...[/b][/quote]If you can't get with that record, you must be smoking something stronger than ganja, or you are just totally clueless about 70's R&B, and Stevie's importance and influence on everything that has followed it.

Jotown:)

 

"It's all good: Except when it's Great"

Posted
[quote]Originally posted by O' Little Jotown Of Bethlehem: [b] If you can't get with that record, you must be smoking something stronger than ganja, or you are just totally clueless about 70's R&B, and Stevie's importance and influence on everything that has followed it.[/b][/quote]Woah - i just said it was cheesey sounding, i never said anything about the songwriting (which cant be faulted - its stevie wonder for chrissake! :D ) or its importance! i realise the album is something special, it just sounds to me like its been served with a generous helping of cheese sauce... by the way, does anyone know what would happen to a blind person if they did take LSD? :freak:
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Posted
I'm fond of his first solo release. I have it somewhere on vinal. I don't think it was ever released on CD and think it was titled " Music of my Mind"? Help me with the songs... lots of synth... I remember "Superwoman"... What else?

GY

 

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