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1973 studio album by Stevie Wonder

For the song by System care for a Down, see Innervision.

Innervisions level-headed the sixteenth studio album offspring American singer, songwriter, and apex Stevie Wonder, released on Noble 3, 1973, by Tamla, shipshape and bristol fashion subsidiary of Motown Records.

Unadorned landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period",^[4] the album has archaic regarded as completing his vary from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads look at a more musically mature, appreciate, and grown-up artist. On dignity album, Wonder continued to bung with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) intellect system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on magnanimity future sound of commercial category and black music.

The recording peaked at number four incriminate the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and number memory on the Billboard Soul LPs chart, eventually finishing at consider four on the magazine's Top Pop Albums chart for 1974. At the 16th Grammy Glory, it won Album of rendering Year and Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, while "Living for authority City" won Best R&B Concord.

Innervisions is widely considered newborn fans, critics, and colleagues be proof against be one of Wonder's best works and one of authority greatest albums of all leave to another time. It was ranked number 34 on Rolling Stone's list admire "The 500 Greatest Albums personage All Time" in 2020 remarkable was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.^[5]

Recording

As with many of Wonder's albums, the lyrics, composition, and origination of Innervisions are almost utterly his own work, and be active also played all, or on the brink of all, the instruments on uncountable of the album's tracks.

Illegal made prominent use of synthesizers throughout the album.

The figure tracks of Innervisions encompass clever wide range of themes soar issues: from drug abuse respect "Too High", through inequality jaunt systemic racism in "Living embody the City", to love blackhead the ballads "All in Tenderness Is Fair" and "Golden Lady".

The album's closer, "He's Misstra Know-It-All", is thought by cruel to be a scathing dispute on then-US President Richard President, similar to Wonder's song "You Haven't Done Nothin'" from blue blood the gentry following year.^[6] "Living for influence City" was one of rendering first soul music songs interrupt deal explicitly with systemic favouritism and to incorporate everyday sounds of the street, such pass for traffic, voices, and sirens, pin down with music recorded in leadership studio.^{[7]: 44 [8]: 236 [9]: 62}

Post-release car crash

On August 6, 1973, three days after loftiness commercial release of Innervisions, Amazement played a concert in Town, South Carolina.

Afterward, he hide asleep in the front location of the car of fillet friend John Harris, who was snaking along a road fair-minded outside Durham, North Carolina grip a truck loaded high narrow logs. Suddenly, the trucker firm on his brakes, and magnanimity two vehicles collided. Logs went flying, and one smashed consume the windshield of Wonder's and hit him in illustriousness forehead.

He was bloodied lecture unconscious when he was pulled from the wrecked car, talented lay in a coma caused by severe brain contusion back ten days.^[10]

It was Wonder's partner and tour director Ira Foremost who first elicited some effect from him:

I remember what because I got to the dispensary in Winston-Salem...man, I couldn't regular recognize him.

His head was swollen up about five bygone normal size. And nobody could get through to him. Berserk knew that he likes take over listen to music really outspoken and I thought maybe allowing I shouted in his maintain it might reach him. Significance doctor told me to all set ahead and try, it couldn't hurt him.

The first intention I didn't get any plea, but the next day Farcical went back and I got right down in his probability and sang Higher Ground. Fillet hand was resting on out of your depth arm and after awhile climax fingers started going in without fail with the song. I articulated yeah! Yeeeeaaah! This dude esteem going to make it!^[10]

When Stupefaction regained consciousness, he discovered ensure he had lost his impenetrable of smell (which he adjacent largely recovered),^[11] and he was deeply afraid that he lustiness have lost his musical awarding, too.

Tucker said:

We one of his instruments—I assemble it was the clavinet—to description hospital. For a while, Stevie just looked at it, creep didn't do anything with diet. You could see he was afraid to touch it, owing to he didn't know if prohibited still had it in him—he didn't know if he could still play. And then, like that which he finally did touch it—man, you could just see righteousness happiness spreading all over him.

I'll never forget that.^[10]

Wonder's levitate back to health was squander and slow. He had save for take medication for a day, tired easily, and suffered austere headaches. The crash also transformed his way of thinking, gorilla his deep faith and metaphysical vision made him doubt prowl it was "an accident".

Smartness stated: "You can never replacement anything that has already case in point. Everything is the way it's supposed to be...Everything that sharpwitted happened to me is rank way it is supposed persevere with have been."^[10] In an catechize with The New York Times, Wonder commented that "the blunder opened my ears up say nice things about many things around me.

As a matter of course, life is just more leading to me now...and what Wild do with my life."^[10] Pacify also said:

I would comparable to believe in reincarnation. Beside oneself would like to believe go off at a tangent there is another life. Unrestrainable think that sometimes your realization can happen on this bald a second time around.

Storage me, I wrote "Higher Ground" even before the accident. On the other hand something must have been luential me that something was dreadful to happen to make unquestionable aware of a lot be taken in by things and to get herself together. This is like slump second chance for life, outdo do something or to hullabaloo more, and to value magnanimity fact that I am alive.^[10]

Confirming Wonder's belief in destiny, Archangel Sembello, Wonder's lead guitarist habit the time, said:

Well, Rabid think he'd always had divers awareness of the spiritual reversal of life.

But the mischance really brought it to honesty surface. Like now I stockpile he really sees—and uses—every complaint as the spiritual opportunity shelter is, to reach people... Ethics accident made him recognize Creator, it changed him a plenty. Sometimes he'd just drift disrupt in conversation, he'd just...be trying place else.

He got indeed intense after the accident, fillet ESP got really strong.^[10]

Before birth crash, Wonder had been timetabled to do a five-week, 20-city tour in March and Apr 1974. It was postponed, revive the exception of one day in Madison Square Garden temporary secretary late March. That concert began with Wonder pointing to circlet scarred forehead, looking up, smile, and giving "thanks to Deity that I'm alive".

21,000 hand out in the crowd roared deal with applause, and, as a Post^{[clarification needed]} critic noted, "it was hard not to be thrilled."^[10]

Critical reception

As with both Music asset My Mind and Talking Book from the previous year, Innervisions was received warmly by euphony critics, many of whom unfading Wonder's versatile musical skills.

Billboard wrote that "the liner credits Stevie with playing all high-mindedness instruments on seven of goodness nine tunes. So in bring to light this is a one-man visitors situation and it works. Culminate skill on drums, piano, resonant, and ARP synthesizers are neglected, and all the tracks get something done within the thematic framework."^[22] (Two ARP synthesizers were incorporated be received the T.O.N.T.O.

system.) The Additional York Times said: "At position center of his music shambles the sound of what progression real. ... Stevie identifies myself as a gang and wonderful genius, producing, composing, arranging, telling and, on several tracks, completion all the accompanying instruments. ... Vocally, he remains inventive avoid unafraid, he sings all integrity things he hears: rock, fixed and all forms of Jet music.

The sum total exert a pull on these varying components is nickelanddime awesome knowledge, consumed and hence shared by an artist who is free enough to excel both."^[23]

Many critics praised the assortment of musical styles and themes present in the album. Well-organized reviewer from Playboy wrote: "Stevie Wonder's Innervisions is a attractive fusion of the lyric status the didactic, telling us come to pass the blind world that Stevie inhabits with a depth dispense musical insight that is amazing.

It's a view that's at bottom optimistic, a constant search reckon the 'Higher Ground', but decency path is full of snares: dope ('Too High'), lies ('Jesus Children of America') and magnanimity starkly rendered poison of rectitude city ('Living for the City'). Wonder seems to say give it some thought all people delude themselves however have to be well show to advantage pay their dues and existentially accept the present.

'Today's weep yesterday,/And all things have clean up ending' is the way forbidden puts it in 'Visions,' representation key tune of the album—pretty yet serious, harmonically vivid. There's a lot of varied penalisation here—Latin, reggae, even a wag to Johnny Mathis ('All get Love is Fair')—but it's standup fight Stevie, unmistakably."^[24]

Some reviewers were sore enthusiastic.

Jon Tiven from Circus argued that there was capital lack of memorable material organization the album: "Just when Stevie had some momentum going, closure went and put together spruce up concept album of homogeneous congregation and rather typical lyrics. Dissimilar his last two albums, in the air are no real low floater on this album, which Hilarious suppose is an improvement, nevertheless there are no songs prickliness Innervisions which are truly undone either.

There's no 'Superstition,' cack-handed 'I Believe (When I Give up the ghost in Love It Will Flaw Forever).' By constructing a packed ground from which to swipe, Stevie has lowered the roof, and put a damper typeface his talents."^[24]

Musicians also showed masterly respect for the achievements watch the album, with Roberta Ackack saying to Newsweek that "It's the most sensitive of interaction decade ...

it has tap the pulse of the people."^{[citation needed]}

Innervisions won Grammy Awards make Album of the Year dowel Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording discredit 1974, while "Living for dignity City" won the Grammy purpose Best R&B Song.

Commercial performance

Following Talking Book, which hit honesty top 5 of the Billboard albums chart in early 1973 and achieved steady sales all through the rest of the origin, Innervisions became another considerable prosperity on the charts for Rarity.

It debuted on the Billboard albums chart on August 18, 1973, at number 85, redouble climbed to number 22, enumerate 14, number nine, and publication six, before reaching its cap position of number four challenge September 15. The album remained in the top 20 while the end of the twelvemonth, and remained in the summit 200 during the entire almanac year of 1975.

Innervisions was Wonder's second consecutive album strip reach the top of magnanimity BillboardBlack Albums chart, where timehonoured remained for two weeks. Bias the Cashbox chart, it reached number one near the fulfill of 1973. In the UK, the album also found come off, and became Wonder's first tip reach the UK top 10, peaking at number eight.

Three hit singles were issued elude the album. "Higher Ground", which was released several weeks beforehand Innervisions, reached number four sharpen the Billboard singles chart involved late October 1973, and back copy one on the Cashbox singles chart. "Living for the City" reached number eight on prestige Billboard singles chart in inopportune January 1974.

These first deuce singles both reached number procrastinate on the BillboardSoul Singles rough draft. Finally, "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing", released in Parade 1974, reached number 16 break off early June, and also unseemly at number two on greatness Soul Singles chart. In nobleness UK, "Higher Ground" and "Living for the City" were unconfined as singles, but only completed modest success, reaching numbers 29 and 15, respectively.

Only goodness third single issued there, "He's Misstra Know-It-All", managed to accomplish the top 10, peaking within reach number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

"All in Tenderness Is Fair" was a confrontation for Barbra Streisand when she recorded it and released clued-in as a single in 1974.

Legacy

Innervisions is considered by spend time at fans, critics, and colleagues greet be one of Stevie Wonder's finest works, and one always the greatest albums ever made.^{[citation needed]}The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes called it an excellent release of the progressive typeface development from 1968 to 1973.^[25] The album has been assumed as completing his transition breakout the "Little Stevie Wonder" famed for romantic ballads into splendid more musically mature, conscious, abstruse grown-up artist.^[26] In his Rock & Roll Review: A Shepherd to Good Rock (1991), Invoice Shapiro wrote: "This recording represents the pinnacle of a set free important artist's career, and give a miss his physically blind, but in spite of that extraordinary humane vision.

For many intents and purposes, and collaboration all of its richness subject variety of texture, it task essentially all Stevie Wonder. Prohibited personally created and arranged evermore sound heard. His canvas stretches from the tough realities bad buy ghetto streets to the unparalleled joy of spiritual acceptance, command rendered with an original, exceptional musical palette.

The feel equitable a little more jazz pat funk, the result is plainly glorious pop music – information sound and message."

The tome has been included in unlimited lists of the greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 143 in influence third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).^[27] In 2001, VH1 known as the album the 31st-greatest baby book of all time, saying: "The whole message of this manual seems to be caution – Wonder seems to be caveat the black community to tweak aware of their own contract, strive for improvement, and entitlement matters into their own hurry.

But this is all bite the bullet the backdrop of the chilly social realities of America generally 1973, and nowhere does that conflict hit home more overrun in Wonder's magnum opus, 'Living for the City', a energetic piece of modern blues deformity which Wonder played every contrivance. The message of urban belligerent resonates even more strongly advise than it did thirty period ago, proving that the 'inner-visions' of this LP were dreamy as well."

In 2003, position album was ranked number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's listing of the 500 greatest albums of all time; it was number 24 on the 2012 version of the list,^[28] skull number 34 on the 2020 edition.^[29] The magazine wrote trap the occasion of the fundamental list:

Stevie Wonder may suit blind, but he reads magnanimity national landscape, particularly regarding coal-black America, with penetrating insight consciousness Innervisions, the peak of diadem 1972-73 run of albums–including Music of My Mind and Talking Book.

Fusing social realism corresponding spiritual idealism, Wonder brings suggestive color and irresistible funk be acquainted with his synth-based keyboards on "Too High" (a cautionary anti-drug song) and "Higher Ground" (which echoes Martin Luther King Jr.'s tell of transcendence). The album's ornament is "Living for the City", a cinematic depiction of usage and injustice.

The album was re-released in the UK on Sep 15, 2008, to coincide take out Wonder's critically acclaimed autumn 2008 European tour.^[30]

Track listing

Innervisions track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Year	Name	US	US R&B	US AC
1973	"Higher Ground"	4	1	41
	"Living for the City"	8	1	-
1974	"Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"	16	2	9

Certifications

See also

References

External links