Fulfillingness' First Finale

iTunes Review

Stevie Wonder was on a creative roll for much of the 1970s, creating music that was innovative, irrepressibly funky, and substantive. He was incorporating new technology such as the Moog synthesizer and other cutting edge effects into his sound and using them ingeniously. These were not novelties or gimmicks but a new way for him to express his artistic vision, and his mastery of the production process is on full display on 1974’s brilliant Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Here he offers a bit of everything — introspective love ballads, breakup songs, and political numbers such as the biting “You Haven’t Done Nothin,’” a hard-driving funk tune featuring the backup voices of the Jackson 5. The album also contains the moving, gospel-tinged “Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away,” arguably one of the man’s most touching songs (which is saying something), and the timeless groove of “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” complete with a virtuosic harmonica solo by Stevie himself. As was the norm during this period, Stevie played most of the instruments and sang the majority of the vocals, and the result is a cohesive and rich collection of songs that still sounds thrilling. Genius may be an overused term, but it undoubtedly applies to Stevie Wonder, and this album is one of the main reasons why.