Customer Reviews
Brillant - By: Mr. J. J. Wollaston, 04 Jan 2008 
Bought this cd a few weeks ago & just can't stop listening to it. Whatever mode i am in, it cheers me up & makes me smile great album really worth getting.
ESSENTIAL STEVIE WONDER - By: Ian Phillips, 04 May 2006 Stevie Wonder (born Steveland Judkins Morris) began singingin a choir with his mother & siblings at a very early age at the Whitestone Baptist Church, which layin his hometown of Saginaw.
By the age of 10, Stevie Wonder was a child prodigy. He proved a master on the piano, harmonica & drums & was adept at poetry & song-writing. Stevie was soon recommended by John Glover (who he was extensivley working with at the time) to Ronnie White, then a member of the fantastic, Smokey Robinson And The Miracles, who were signed to Detroits, Tamla Motown Records, founded by Berry Gordy who was instantly astounded by this child genius.
Dubbed Little Stevie Wonderin his early career, he was rapidly signed to Motown Records, home to some of the most important namesin the history of black music including Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye. It was clear from an early age that Stevie Wonder indeed was a deeply gifted singer/songwriter & muscian.
Fingertips, releasedin 1963, proved an exhilirating masterpiece. Fingertips was virtually a harmonica instrumental but its just so totally infectious & caught onto the public like a magnet. Fingertips quickly catapulted to the top of the U.S charts & became the firstin a long line of classics.
It was clearly his Motown work that remained some of his most popular & compelling output. The vibrant, Uptight (Everything's Alright) was a highly infectious affair as was the more sparse production of Yesterme-Yesteryou-Yesterday. The rolling undertones of playful funk on the classic, Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) were three classics that perharps were pure examples of how Stevie Wonder gradually adapted to more Pop styles where his work still vastly contained elements of traditional black rhythm & blues but was able to cross boundaries & break down many racial barriers (muchin the way Diana Ross had). Though commercialin each of the tracks content, they all still firmly retained that earthy, soulful style, owing much to Stevies credible & unique vocal style.
Stevie proved to be a masterful lyric writer & conveyed an effortless flair for ballads such as on the passionate, timeless, My Cherie Amour (written with Henry Cosby) & the more subtle & profound, A Place In The Sun.
Like Marvin gaye, his work steadily progressed from the formulaic sounds of Motown to more creative, artistic & indepth material, releasing a string of quality studio albums throughout the 1970's. The startling Superstition was a sharp, nifty, funky number where Stevies voice effectivley cuts through the stark musical arrangements. He delivered a more anthemic message on the compelling, Higher Ground.
The awesome, Living For The City, was an exciting, severn-minute epic which echoed the restrictions & perils of ghetto life. Much of his work steered more into profound political & social issues that perfectly captured contemporary times & deservedly gained wide acknowledgement from critics.
Like Diana Ross (a close friend of the divas & he'd also written the dazzling compostion, Too Shy To Say for her 1977 studio album, Baby It's Me) his work eventually settled into the more Adult-Contemporary market that occupied the lower reaches of the charts yet fully remained an A-list novelty act. Such saccharine numbers like I Just Called To Say I Love You, may have become big cross-atlantic hits but this type of material lacks the dynamic of some of his earlier work.
Even so, Stevie Wonder continues to this day to enjoy a large & loyal following. This being the definitive collection of Stevie Wonders work makes it essential to any serious Soul/R&B/Motown collection.
The definitive Steve Wonder htis collection...for now... - By: Lawrance M. Bernabo, 07 Nov 2003 The first collection of Stevie Wonder hits came outin 1968, when he was still a teenager. Of course, as a pre-teen "Little" Stevie gave Motown its first #1 album. In retrospect 1968 turned out to be a pivotal yearin Wonder's career, which began covering Ray Charles songs & whose first hit "Fingertips, Part 2" actually came as a pre-teen, because that was the year he finally started writing most of the songs on his album (e.g., "My Cherie Amour"). The Wonder years definitively comein the early Seventies when he was putting out albums like "Music of My Mind," "Talking Book," "Innervisions," & "Songsin the Key of Life." This explains why the middle part of this collection is the best. Stevie Wonder is one of those artists where an album like this presenting his best work should give you impetus to go check out his best albums. Certainly there are artists where a good hits collection is all you need to havein your music library, but Stevie Wonder would not be one of those artists whose distinctive blend of odd riffs, incessant modulations & unpredictable melodies take advantage of his three-octave range. Yes, if you have but one Stevie Wonder album "The Definitive Collection" would be the one to get, but you should also explore at least the middle pair of the above referenced quartet.
The best Stevie Wonder compilation - By: P D Harris, 12 Oct 2003 It is easy to be confused by Stevie Wonder compilations. In the nineties, a double CD was releasedin America titled Song review, while a single CD was releasedin Britain with the same title & artwork. More recently, a single CD was releasedin America titled Definitive collection, so (conversely) a double CD was releasedin Britain with the same title & artwork. This British double CD is much better than the earlier American double CD titled Song review, which had fewer tracks & missed out some important songs. Indeed, this is the best compilation of Stevie's music that I've seen. Even on two CD's, it is not possible to include every Stevie Wonder recording worth hearing, but all the big hitsin Britain & America are here.
You probably have your own favorites. I particularly like You are the sunshine of my life, For oncein my life, Yester-me yester-you yesterday, Living for the city, I just called to say I love you, Sir Duke, A placein the sun, Lately & Happy birthday. Other classics (also excellent) include Superstition, I wish, Isn't she lovely, Ebony & ivory (with Paul McCartney), Never had a dream come true, Uptight & so many others.
If you only want one collection of Stevie Wonder music, this is by far the best. If you want to build a collection of his music, this is a great starting point.
Stevie WONDERFUL! - By: , 03 Feb 2003 This collection of Mr Wonder's greatest hits is perfect for any situation, any mood & any person I can think of. Although most of these songs were released decades before I was even born, it is nevertheless my most prized possession at the moment. Stevie is a legend, & it obvious that pretty much every genre of music holds the same view - as you wade through the infamous classics & the lesser-known (to my generation at least) gems, you'll be amazed to discover how many people have sampled Stevie Wonder's music,in varying ways. Who'd have thought that gangster rap & UK garage would cunningly employ Stevie's genius to make him a best-seller a second time round. Ignorant young'uns like myself will say countless times "Oh my goodness, Stevie Wonder wrote that rift/those lyrics/that hook, etc! And there I was thinking it was a new piece of genius"
Listening to this Definitive Collection was a great learning experience for me. The immense respect I already had for Stevie Wonder quadrupled when I heard Fingertips (Parts 1&2). The "13-year-old genius" has remained that way throughout his career, as this CD demonstrates, & he will always have his place amongst the diamonds that emerged from the Motown era & just kept on runnin'!
This album would be a great Valentine's present, if just for the classic, & oh-so-eighties (synthesizer!), "I just called to say I love you"
A must-have for anyone who has a little bit of soulin them.
