The ultimate Stevie Wonder compilation?

[Also reviewed on Ciao and Dooyoo]

At The Close Of A Century is a 4 cd compilation of 70 selected Stevie Wonder tracks spanning his career from 1963 up to 1996, with a 92 page accompanying booklet. Stevie Wonder is a soul legend and musical genius (who has won over 20 Grammy Awards) if by some remote chance you are not aware. He has been and continues to be an inspiration for many artists and many of his songs have been covered by others.

The 4 cds are in chronological order and start off with "Fingertips Pts 1 & 2", a recording of a live performance of him aged just 12, singing, playing bongos and also harmonica. The drummer happened to be a certain Marvin Gaye. This track is one of many highlights for me personally - it seems to capture the essence of soul. A young, unrefined Stevie delivers a sweet performance on the harmonica with such enthusiasm and joy that it spreads into the audience. If happiness has a sound, this is it.

Stevie Wonder tracks are usually characterised by his super smooth voice merged with soulful, feel-good melodies and the sheer quality and breadth of tracks in this compilation is just staggering. We have classic Motown ballads such as "My Cherie Amour" (with drums panned to the left, soaring strings and beautiful guitar/flute/piano melodies) and the more upbeat "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" with the brass conveying a party vibe. We also have the "Superwoman" track tinged with sadness, chronicling his relationship with his ex-wife and featuring early experimentation with synthesisers, the distinctive clavinet melody on "Superstitious", the angry cry for the poor on "Living For The City", beautiful guitar driven introspection on "Visions", Latin flavours on "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing", the romantic "Golden Lady", emotional ballad "Lately", reggae tones on "Master Blaster (Jammin')"...... the list just goes on and on.

This compilation is like golden sunshine, and the only reason why this would not be an essential purchase for any music lover is if they already own a number of Stevie Wonder albums. If you don't own any, buy this - I can't imagine you will be disappointed.

Below is a complete track listing:
Disc: 1
1. Fingertips Pts. 1 & 2
2. Uptight (Everything's Alright)
3. Nothing's Too Good For My Baby
4. Blowing In The Wind
5. A Place In The Sun
6. Hey Love
7. I Was Made To Love Her
8. Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
9. I'm Wondering
10. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day
11. You Met Your Match
12. For Once In My Life
13. I Don't Know Why
14. My Cherie Amour
15. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
16. Never Had A Dream Come True
17. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
18. Heaven Help Us All
19. We Can Work It Out
20. If You Really Love Me
21. Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
22. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
23. I Love Every Little Thing About You

Disc: 2
1. Superstition
2. You're The Sunshine Of My Life
3. You And I
4. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
5. Too High
6. Visions
7. Living For The City
8. Golden Lady
9. Higher Ground
10. All In Love Is Fair
11. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
12. He's Misstra Know-It-All
13. You Haven't Done Nothin'
14. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
15. Too Shy To Say
16. Boogie On Reggae Woman
17. Creepin'

Disc: 3
1. Sir Duke
2. I Wish
3. Knocks Me Off My Feet
4. Pastime Paradise
5. Isn't She Lovely
6. Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing
7. If It's Magic
8. As
9. Another Star
10. Send One Your Love
11. All I Do
12. Rocket Love
13. I Ain't Gonna Stand For It
14. Master Blaster (Jammin')
15. Lately
16. Happy Birthday

Disc: 4
1. That Girl
2. Ribbon In The Sky
3. Do I Do
4. Love Light In Flight
5. I Just Called To Say I Love You
6. Overjoyed
7. Part-Time Lover
8. Go Home
9. You Will Know
10. Skeletons
11. Gotta Have You
12. These Three Words
13. For Your Love
14. How Come, How Long