Released: 1972
Tracks: Love Having You Around; Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You); I Love Every Little Thing About You; Sweet Little Girl; Happier Than the Morning Sun; Girl Blue; Seems So Long; Keep on Running; Evil
Best track: Superwoman
Tracks to skip: Sweet Little Girl, Keep on Running
This was the first album where Stevie Wonder really took control of his music and pretty much did everything exactly the way he wanted. He got better as the years went by (up to a point), but this first attempt at an ‘independent’ record is only good, not excellent. Wonder played every single instrument on this (yup, a blind a guy playing drums, very good I must add) except for a trombone on Love Having You Around and the lead guitar on Superwoman. All the rest is him. For that reason alone (besides all his absolutely amazing songs and immense talent) he’s such a huge hero for me.
The track Superwoman is absolutely one of the coolest songs ever written by anybody. That was the track that just sent me off; I still have no idea how an ‘average’ human can make something so amazing. I love it, it’s beautiful. Other songs are great too, Morning Sun and especially Evil…incredible. Most of the songs are pretty good, but the two mentioned above aren’t that great and they NEVER END. That’s a problem that Stevie Wonder seemed to have during the 70’s, he never knew when to just cut a song off. His songs frequently go on forever. Most on this album are no exception. He was only 21 when he made this (oh kill me now, my life is totally worthless compared to his) so there will be some small degree of immaturity here, but for the most part the thing’s pretty amazing.
His other mid 70’s albums are a lot better, but this sets the bar pretty high. It’s worth it for Superwoman alone (don’t buy any of his compilations, just dive right in to his catalog), but others are good too.
Rating: 89
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