Innervisions (Digipak)

iTunes Review

By 1973, Motown's hit-making assembly line had broken down, with most of the label's flagship artists leaving to pursue more fulfilling artistic statements. Stevie Wonder made the most of his newfound freedom, releasing the finest album of his career, Innervisions. A convergence of Eastern spirituality, political morality, and social awareness, Innervisions wrapped Stevie's most infectious deep-pocket grooves around seriously incisive commentary. Clocking in at more than seven minutes, "Living For The City" is the album's centerpiece, a gospel- and blues-drenched journey through the inner-city nightmare. As for "Higher Ground," the Chili Peppers later injected a shot of punk mayhem into it, but they couldn't touch the original's searing funk, or its yearning for spiritual salvation. Yet for all the album's politicized fury, Wonder also delivers a track, "All in Love is Fair," that links to the best of his romantic pop past. Innvervisons a classic album that transcends the time it so accurately captures.