Stevie Wonder: The Original Musiquarium I (2LP) [TAMLA/MOTOWN]

Why you'll love it

This Tamla 2LP set comes in an embossed gatefold jacket, just like the original double album. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the R&B albums chart, and five of its songs topped the Hot 100.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Embossed gatefold jacket

About the album

Stevie Wonder's 70s run is the kind of streak most artists would trade a limb for, and Original Musiquarium I gathers it up in one go: every album from Music of My Mind through Hotter than July, from 1972 to 1980. The name is a portmanteau of "music" and "aquarium," which is exactly what it feels like, a big tank of brilliant colours.

"Superstition," "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" (the single mix with the horns), "Living For The City," "Boogie On Reggae Woman," "Isn't She Lovely" and "Master Blaster (Jammin')" all fit in, and Wonder wrote four new songs for the set, one to close each side: "Front Line," "Ribbon In The Sky," "That Girl" and "Do I Do," which hands Dizzy Gillespie a trumpet solo.

The New York Times heard each side as its own mood, from protest funk to ballads to dance. Our advice is to start with Side C and see how long you last before somebody in the house starts singing along.

Also at Kops: more Stevie Wonder on vinyl · browse Motown

Tracklist

Listen

On Tamla / UMe, a reissue of the 1982 compilation.