WAY too incomplete to be considered "definitive"

How this album can be considered a "Difinitive Collection" of Stevie's material is beyond me. Yester-me,Yester-you, Yesterday is conspicuously absent although it was cool that they included Fingertips from his younger days when he was known as "Little Stevie Wonder" and why only 2 songs from Songs In The Key Of Life, one of the greatest albums of all time, made the cut is a mystery. Other big radio hits like If You Really Love Me aren't there but Do I Do is. If you're trying to start a Stevie collection this might be good for you. But as a "Definitive" list? It probably should have been a 2 CD set...But still a lot of good stuff here!

eMusic Features

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Covers That Are Better (known) Than The Originals

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Scene: Detroit Soul, 1960s and 1970s

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They Say All Music Guide

When you’re putting together a 21-song collection of a major artist who’s had more than 40 Top 40 hits, inevitably there’s going to be a lot of good stuff left out. Stevie Wonder’s long and varied career (not over when this anthology appeared) really needs more than one disc to even adequately summarize the highlights. But this single-disc comp does squeeze in most of his best-known songs, from 1963′s “Fingertips, Pt. 2″ to the mid-’80s number one hits “Part-Time Lover” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” Along the way there’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” “I Was Made to Love Her,” “For Once in My Life,” “My Cherie Amour,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Superstition,” “Higher Ground,” “Living for the City,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” “Boogie on Reggae Woman,” “I Wish,” “Sir Duke,” and more. There is a sharp decline in quality following “Masterblaster (Jammin’),” but at least that only lasts five songs. Of course, there’s a lot missing too: “A Place in the Sun,” “Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day,” “If You Really Love Me,” and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” to pick only some obvious candidates. Why exactly the 1967 single “Hey Love” (a Top Ten R&B single that barely made the pop charts) is included is a mystery, though at least it breaks up the predictability. For casual fans it’s a decent career-spanning overview, though, and even the most casual fan will sense the musical genius and enormous artistic growth that shines through most of the selections. – Richie Unterberger