Music of My Mind is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records. Wonder used synthesizers for many musical parts on this album. It was a modest commercial success, but critics found the record representative of Wonder's artistic growth, and is generally considered by contemporary critics to be the first album of his classic period.
Recording
Wonder played all of the instruments on this album except trombone by Art Baron and guitar by Howard "Buzz" Feiten. This is the first of a set of collaborations between Wonder and his co-producers Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil. Before the recording of the album, Wonder became interested in using synthesizers after hearing albums by electronic group Tonto's Expanding Head Band. Inspired after a meeting with the group in May 1971, Wonder began utilizing Arp and Moog synthesizers, stating that "the synthesizer has allowed me to do a lot of things I've wanted to do for a long time but were not possible till it came along."
Release and reception
When Music of My Mind was first released on March 3, 1972, it became a modest success with both black and white audiences in the United States, charting at number six and number 21 on the Billboard R&B and pop charts, respectively. Contemporary critics viewed it as Wonder's final step into artistic maturity. In Rolling Stone, Vince Aletti said it showcased the ambitious use of his newfound artistic control and maturity as a songwriter, although he found some of the studio and vocal effects both gimmicky and self-indulgent. Robert Christgau from Creem believed that like Ray Charles, Wonder transcended aesthetic sensibilities on Music of My Mind, which he said featured "some of the most musical synthesizer improvisations yet" but whose individual songs were not as impressive as the "one-man album" concept. Penny Valentine was more enthusiastic in her review for Sounds, viewing the record as a milestone in modern music and a culmination of soul music's creative maturity. She especially praised Wonder's arrangement of "intriguing vocal patterns" on what she deemed "an album of explosive genius and unshackled self-expression". It was voted number 645 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Music of My Mind at number 284 on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 285 in a 2012 revised list. It was re-released in the UK in 2008 to coincide with Wonder's European tour. The songs "Sweet Little Girl" and "Evil" feature prominently at the beginning and end of the second season episode of the acclaimed FXtelevision showAtlanta, "Teddy Perkins".
Track listing
All Songs by Stevie Wonder unless stated otherwise.
