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On this work, the original album cover art design was converted to black and white and tinted with dark orange. It was then pasted at left. For the image at right, the original image was inverted, converted
to black and white and tinted with the same colour.
I was really surprised at the result of the inversion - it turned the stack of concave dishes into layers of convex shells. And not only that. On the image at left the smallest dish is at the outermost;
at right the smallest shell is at the innermost. To top it all, the image of the artist at left appears to be in full frontal lighting; at right it appears to be in the dark with only the spotlight
outlining it from bottom right.
Here's the original album cover art design.
No. 53, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 57, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time;
No. 89, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000; No. 250, Billboard, The 300 Best-Selling Albums of All Time.
Illustration by Tony Warren. Album produced by Stevie Wonder. Motown 1976.
My immediate impression of Songs in the Key of Life is that the album has none of the pinched, overwrought, overre-fined quality one might expect from material that's been coddled and
polished over a period of two years. If there are scattered traces of icy, brittle perfection, the overall feeling is expansive, spontaneous and startlingly immediate. Wonder's particular
genius is that his carefully crafted perfection sounds so convincingly offhand. Unfortunately, the album cover — featuring Wonder's image sinking into a vortex of what resembles
orange crepe paper — looks not only offhand but like a last-minute amateur effort; the effect is hideous and offensively cheap. Vince Aletti for Rolling Stone, abridged. Full article.
Many musicians have remarked on the quality of the album and its influence on their own work. For example, Elton John said, in his notes for Wonder on the 2003 Rolling Stone 's
list of "The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time": "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. For me, it's
the best album ever made" In an interview with Ebony magazine, Michael Jackson called Songs in the Key of Life his favourite Stevie Wonder album. George Michael
cited the album as his favourite of all time and with Mary J. Blige covered "As" for a 1999 hit single.
R&B singers in particular have praised the album – Prince called it the best album ever recorded, Mariah Carey generally names the album as one of her favourites, and
Whitney Houston also remarked on the influence of Songs in the Key of Life on her singing. The album’s tracks have provided numerous samples for rap and hip-
hop artists; for example, "Pastime Paradise" was reworked by Coolio as "Gangsta's Paradise". In 1995, smooth jazz artist Najee recorded a cover album titled
Najee Plays Songs from the Key of Life, which is based entirely on Wonder's album. In 1999, Will Smith used "I Wish" as the base for his US number-one
single "Wild Wild West". More
(A) Love's in Need of Love Today - Have a Talk with God - Village Ghetto Land - Confusion - Sir Duke
(B) I Wish - Knocks Me Off My Feet - Pastime Paradise - Summer Soft - Ordinary Pain
(C) Isn't She Lovely - Joy Inside My Tears - Black Man
(D) Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I Am Singing - If It's Magic - As - Another Star
"Sir Duke" live from Nam ChulHee on YouTube.
