jobbins

To my ears, "With a Song in My Heart" represents a grave miscalculation by Motown. Stevie's voice was the star of the show on his previous album, "Tribute to Uncle Ray," and so they've doubled down and recorded a full set of vocal standards here. But the collection doesn't make any sense — 13-year-old Stevie can't embody the animus of these adult ballads because he's just too young. Even though it's hard to scrub the "novelty ... read more

I'm listening to "Tribute to Uncle Ray" because I decided to listen to Stevie's discography all the way through, as did everybody else listening to this album sixty-four years after its release. Evaluating the album on its own merits isn't really the point here, and for a few reasons. Firstly, Stevie was a child. To call this a proper Stevie Wonder album doesn't feel right. It's more a Motown album fronting a prodigious child. And secondly, I'm not diving ... read more

The legend begins. If your little cousin whipped these chops out at the lawn party you’d say, “Damn, Stevie!” But would you say “We need to get you down to the studio to make an album RIGHT NOW?”… That’s where the record label comes in to capitalize on the public’s fascination with child prodigies. As a result this will always feel like a novelty album. But that’s not Stevie’s fault! He was only twelve. Incredible that his soulful ... read more

I discovered Neal Morse through his roles in modern-prog royalty acts Spock's Beard and Transatlantic during my big prog era (7th-8th grade). I was a nerd -- what can I say? And, unsurprisingly, much of what I got into during this phase didn't age well, neither for me nor for anybody else.

However, in my thirst for music that pushed boundaries and electrified my emotions, I found some pearls. I truly believe, to this day, cross my heart and hope to die, that Neal Morse is one of the ... read more