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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?


Butchered in remastering.   October 9, 2003
 12 out of 14 found this review helpful

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.


Take A Swim In The Musiquarium   December 21, 2000
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

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.


Stevie: Past & Present   April 30, 2004
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is a kind of 'best of' album, however Stevie pieced this one together himself in 1982 with love & care, picking a selection of personal favourites from his awesome 70s body of work, and recording four new songs to go with them, spreading them over a two disc set.

Not much point going over the old material present, as Stevie never made a misstep in the 70s. Truly mind blowing work. The new songs are hitting and reveal Stevie on top form after the rushed 1980 effort `Hotter Than July'. The highlight has to be the closing `Do I Do', a 10 minute exercise in FONK with a classic hook. `That Girl' rides an awesome beat, and `Ribbon In The Sky' and `Front Line' are both great new cuts. Another benefit is the inclusion of `Send One Your Love', the super sweet and dreamy sounding highlight from the abortive `Secret Life Of Plants' soundtrack that otherwise wouldn't get any play.

This album flows like a real album in itself, and is by far the best introductory item to new fans, but also a sweet thing to play for people like me with the other albums. After this album in 1982, Stevie only recorded a few more albums and never really got back on form, but nothing can undo the body of work he laid down before this. Stevie, You're The Man!


Wonder Hits   October 20, 2000
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Original Musaquarium I is a greatest hits album that spans the most fruitful period of Stevie Wonder's career, 1972-1980. The album does not leave out any of the hits from that era. You get "Higher Ground", "Superstition", "Master Blaster", "Isn't She Lovely", "I Wish", "Sir Duke" among others. If you already own these songs on other releases, there is a bonus of four new songs. "Front Line" has a rock edge to it and is a stinging condemnation of the treatment of Vietnam vets, "Ribbon In The Sky" is a classic Wonder love song, "Do I Do" spans twelve minutes and shows off a jazzy side and "That Girl" shows off his vocal prowess and has some great harmonica playing. Many people are considered musical geniuses, but only a few actually are. Stevie Wonder is one of the few.