Bloated, yes, but more Stevie Wonder is nearly never a bad thing. Looking back at it about 20 years later, it's helped by the fact that some recognizable hip hop has re-purposed and/or ripped off songs from here, with "Pastime Paradise" providing the backbone for Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise" and "I Wish" becoming (...*sigh*...) Will Smith's "Wild Wild West," proving if nothing else the durability of Wonder's compositions. Elsewhere, "Love's in Need of Love Today" is heart-warming and stunning opening song, a seven minute wonder of sheer bliss, and it's impossible to listen to "Sir Duke" and be unhappy. Try it. Impossible. And that's just the first LP. Side three has the hit "Isn't She Lovely?," featuring some of the best harmonica playing in Wonder's long career of excellent harmonica playing. If the second LP features some songs that are overlong ("Black Man" is a bit ham-fisted and overlong), the EP attached to the original album (tacked onto the end of disc 2 of the CD) has some brief but wonderful songs to make up for it.
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