One Of The Greatest Live Albums Ever Made

1995's "Natural Wonder" captures the raw energy, unbrideled passion and undeniable excitement it feels to be at a Stevie Wonder concert. This is something few artists can do at their concerts. Stevie Wonder is one of those few. On this two disc collection (culled from his 1995 "Conversation Peace" tour), wonder performs 24 classic songs with all the skill and soul you'd expect from Stevie.



Stevie truly pours his heart into his songs. Just listen to the passion he puts into songs like "Love's In Need Of Love Today", "Stay Gold", "If It's Magic" "Ms. And Mr. Little Ones" (a new song when it was released and a personal favorite) and "Overjoyed". And naturally, Stevie isn't afraid to have a little fun, funking it up on "Sign Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", "Sir Duke" and "I Wish", as well as transforming the tender ballad "Ribbon In The Sky" into an almost nine minute jazzy jam.



I was also glad that Stevie decided to revive several lesser knowns gems such as "Pastime Paradise", "Another Star", "Village Ghetto Land" and "Rocket Love". These songs stand well against concert warhorses such as "Higher Ground" and "Superstition".



My only gripe is basically the one another reviewer, and that's that several songs ("Master Blaster (Jammin')", "Living For The City", "Another Star") were a lot shorter than the original versions. Usually when you go to a concert, you expect the songs to be longer than the studio versions. But I won't fault the entire album because of that. Also, I noticed the list of songs that reviewer would have liked seen on this album is the same as mine. But again, I won't fault the entire album for these minor complaints.



This is an album that I think everyone should own. Also worth picking up is "At The Close Of The Century" and all of Stevie's studio albums, which are among the greatest albums of all time.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN A GRAMMY-WINNING SMASH!!

Why this album wasn't a major, major hit for Stevie Wonder just

mystifies me. It's the first and only live album of his adult

career, and it is simply awesome. This is absolutely one of the

best live performances I've ever heard, right up there with "Judy

At Carnegie Hall", "Band Of Gypsies" by Jimi Hendrix, the

"Woodstock" soundtrack and any number of live recordings by

Joni Mitchell, the Stones, Aretha, Ella, James Brown, Bob

Seger, ANYBODY. Stevie's pipes are in amazing shape and his

performance is positively exuberant. Someone who has been

around as long as he has could have easily just gone through

the motions and still delivered a good show. But Big Little

Stevie gives his all and then some to the point where you wonder

how he does it! Not really a "Live Greatest Hits", this is

more a "History Of Stevie". Many of his biggest hits are here,

especially on the second CD, but so are some album faves and

lesser known gems. All are delivered with passion and buckets

of soul. The opening 1-2 punch of "Dancing To The Rhythm" and

"Love's In Need Of Love" will leave you breathless. It really

is that great. And the addition of the strings to an already

fine band is the icing on the cake. If you like Stevie you will

LOVE LOVE LOVE this CD!!!

The Closest Thing to Being There!

For those of us that live in the "boondocks" where artists rarely or never appear, "live" recordings provide us with the stadium or concert hall experience.



"Natural Wonder," recorded in both Israel and Japan is, as the title implies, a stupendous performance by one of the 20th century's true geniuses. Backed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and a band featuring instrumental heavyweights Nathan Watts, Darryl Jackson, along with others, the Motown legend delivers with an intensity that makes him the envy of his contemporaries and his successors.



The album begins with "Dancing to the Rhythm," a highly charged tune that has Wonder's mellifluous vocal instrument matched by an outstanding Paul Riser string arrangement. This song, along with "Stevie Ray Blues," and "Mr. and Mrs. Little Ones, are previously unreleased tunes but they meld seamlessly with his more familiar hits.



And what hits they are!!!



The Academy Award-winning "I Just Called to Say I Love You". The pop/R & B smashes "My Cherie Amour," "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours," "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and so many others.



One would have to be six feet under to not be moved by "Rocket Love" or "I Wish".



The album may be ten years old but Wonder's music is timeless, still resonating with soulful passion as they did when they were first heard.



And that makes Stevie one for the ages!