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Stevie Wonder – Journey Through ‘The Secret Life Of Plants’ (1979/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 88:41 minutes | 3,86 GB
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks.com | Front cover
Genre: Soul, R&B
Stevie Wonder created the soundtrack for the documentary The Secret Life of Plants (directed by Walon Green) in 1979. The album was released by Motown as the sequel to Wonder’s 1976 Grammy Award-winning Songs in the Key of Life. Although The Secret Life of Plants was not as well-received as Songs in the Key of Life, some critics still found it compelling. Stephen Holden, in a review for the Village Voice wrote that the album has “the painful awkwardness of a barely literate sidewalk sermon”, though Wonder “manages to transform even the worst of this drivel into a spiritual jargon that’s virtually a different language; his very in-articulateness clears the way for us to tune in to the ineffable, nonrational flow that’s his obsession.”
On its release, the album peaked at #4 in the Rock and R&B Billboard charts in 1979, and the single “Send One Your Love” hit #4 as well.
Stevie Wonder broke a three-year silence, one that followed a series of six classic albums released within six years, with this double album, the score/soundtrack to a little-seen environmental documentary directed by Wild Bunch co-screenwriter Walon Green. From the release of Songs in the Key of Life through the release of Plants, Wonder had been active, actually, but only as a collaborator, working with Ramsey Lewis, the Pointer Sisters, Minnie Riperton, Syreeta, Ronnie Foster, and Michael Jackson. Even so, three years was a considerable lag between albums. Anticipation was so high that this release peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and R&B album charts. It quickly slipped to footnote status; when Wonder’s 1972-1980 albums were reissued in 2000, it was left out of the program. Plants is a sprawling, fascinating album. Though it is dominated by synthesizer-heavy instrumental pieces with evocative titles, there is a handful of full-blown songs. The gorgeous, mostly acoustic ballad “Send One Your Love” was a Top Ten R&B single, while the joyous “Outside My Window” registered in the Top 60. Beyond that, there’s the deep classic “Come Back as a Flower,” a gently lapping, piano-led ballad featuring Syreeta on vocals. Otherwise, there are playfully oddball tracks like “Venus’ Flytrap and the Bug,” where Wonder chirps “Please don’t eat me!” through robotizing effects, and “A Seed’s a Star,” which incorporates crowd noise, a robotized monologue, and a shrieking Tata Vega over a funkier and faster version of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The album is not for everyone, but it suited its purpose and allowed its maker an amount of creative wiggle room that few major-label artists experience.
Tracklist:
01 – Earth’s Creation
02 – The First Garden
03 – Voyage To India
04 – Same Old Story
05 – Venus’ Flytrap And The Bug
06 – Ai No Sono
07 – Seasons
08 – Power Flower
09 – Send One Your Love (Instrumental)
10 – Race Babbling
11 – Send One Your Love
12 – Outside My Window
13 – Black Orchid
14 – Ecclesiastes
15 – Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye
16 – Come Back As A Flower
17 – A Seed’s A Star/Tree Medley
18 – The Secret Life Of Plants
19 – Tree
20 – Finale
