Original Musiquarium I [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Stevie Wonder | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 17, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1982
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Motown
• ASIN: B00004ZDVQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,124 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

This 16-song set presents the hits Wonder scored after he negotiated artistic control for himself in the 1970s. It's a wondrous collection, ranging from the driving pop-funk of "Superstition" and the streetwise "Living for the City" to the sweet "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," now a pop standard. In addition to the hits, Musiquarium includes four great new songs, two of which ("Do I Do" and "That Girl") would go on to become hits soon enough. In the years since this set was originally released, Wonder's output has been spotty at best, but Musiquarium reminds us that Stevie Wonder is a giant of soul and pop. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone Should Swim In This Essential "Musiquarium", October 24, 2000

By 

Anthony G Pizza "trivialtony" (FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Original Musiquarium I (Audio CD)

It says much for how consistent Stevie Wonder's 1970s music was that "Original Musiquarium," joining his best-known songs from his most successful era with four then-new recordings, fits together lyrically, musically, emotionally as a concept album.

Wonder's innovation during this remarkable period never seemed to cease; this continued right up to "Musiquarium's impeccable pacing. "Ribbon In The Sky" slides beside classic Wonder ballads like "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," and 1971's haunting "Superwoman." The war protest "Front Line" furthers a social protest timeline begun by "Superstition" and "You Haven't Done Nothin'." Wonder's Carribean-flavored "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and "Master Blaster," play nicely against each other while the curtain-closer "Do I Do" (with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet) pieces with "Songs In The Key Of Life"'s most jazz/R&B-flavored moments.

The four new songs not withstanding for completists, this is why "Musiquarium" is the only greatest hits collection essential even to those owning the original LPs. How many artists can you say that about?

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Butchered in remastering., October 8, 2003

By 

dave-G - See all my reviews

This review is from: Original Musiquarium I (Audio CD)

If you love Stevie Wonder's music, you owe it to yourself to hunt-down a non-remastered version of these collections. I had the earlier versions, and lost one of the discs, so came back to Amazon to buy it again, and ordered this, thinking "hmm, remastered, and both discs in the same package" ...

Big disappointment. It sounds compressed and equalized excessively, it's harshly brighter, more distorted sounding and overall unpleasant to listen to. Also, the level of the analog tape hiss is notably hotter than on my "old" version! Certainly compressing and EQ'ing old masters can effectively raise the level of hiss, but this seems like more than what I would expect from that and I can't figure why. I almost wonder if this remastering was mistakenly done from an analog copy of the original master tapes (which is not unheard of). Regardless, it just plain sounds wrong.

Save yourself a minor heartache.. If the non-remastered versions are no longer available, buy used.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take A Swim In The Musiquarium, December 21, 2000

By 

DEAN M. Dent (SAN LEANDRO, CALIFORNIA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Original Musiquarium I (Audio CD)

Between the strict hitmaking machinery of Motown between 1963-1971,and his MOR 80's and beyond,are these historical recordings from 1972's Music Of My Mind,through 1980's Hotter Than July.Musiquarium focuses strictly on the hits(Superstition,...Sunshine..,Sir Duke,etc)as well as include four new songs,three of which are now regarded as Wonder classics(That Girl,Ribbon In The Sky and Do I Do).Unfortunately,Stevie's gift for making music of this calibre has dissipated,but Misiquarium is a great intro for anyone who thinks his best songs includes I Just Called To Say I Love You,and other 80's songs.The newly Remastered CD is also an essential purchase,especially in light of the previous pressing which is sonically inferior considering that Stevie digitally remastered the old tracks when compiling Musiquarium in '82.