Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Did I Hear You Say You Love Me 4:07
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vocoder, synthesizer
-
bass, background vocals
-
guitar, background vocals
-
drums
-
percussion, background vocals
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Pianet, background vocals
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saxophone
-
saxophone
-
trumpet
-
trumpet
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
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- A2 All I Do 5:06
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synthesizer, fender rhodes, drums, bells
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saxophone
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background vocals
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background vocals
-
background vocals
-
Jamil Raheembackground vocals
-
background vocals
-
lyrics
-
- A3 Rocket Love 4:40
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synthesizer, fender rhodes, drums, bass synthesizer, percussion, background vocals
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guitar
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string arrangements
-
- A4 I Ain't Gonna Stand for It 4:39
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drums, background vocals, piano, Clavinet, cabasa
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bass
-
guitar
-
fender rhodes
-
steel guitar
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
- A5 As If You Read My Mind 3:37
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piano, Clavinet, celeste, harmonica
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bass
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
drums
-
percussion
-
fender rhodes
-
background vocals
-
- B1 Master Blaster (Jammin') 5:07
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fender rhodes, Clavinet
-
bass
-
guitar
-
guitar
-
drums
-
percussion
-
organ
-
saxophone
-
trumpet
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
- B2 Do Like You 4:26
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synthesizer, drums, harpsichord, ARP
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saxophone
-
trumpet
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
- B3 Cash in Your Face 4:01
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synthesizer, fender rhodes, drums, bass synthesizer, handclaps
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percussion
-
handclaps
-
handclaps
-
handclaps
-
handclaps
-
Dennis Morrisonhandclaps
-
Kimberley Jacksonhandclaps
-
- B4 Lately 4:04
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bass synthesizer, piano
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- B5 Happy Birthday 5:57
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vocoder, fender rhodes, drums, bass synthesizer, piano, Fairlight
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background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
background vocals
-
Emma Colemanbackground vocals
-
background vocals
-
Malikia Hiltonbackground vocals
-
background vocals
-
Nadra Rossbackground vocals
-
LaDee Streeterbackground vocals
-
Tammy Thomasbackground vocals
-
Venetta Wileybackground vocals
-
- Total length: 45:44
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30 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Hotter Than July [p] 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 120 gram, 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold1980 Vinyl LP 7 C 062-64121
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Hotter Than July Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July Remastered
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Hotter Than July Remastered
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Hotter Than July Digipak, Remastered
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Hotter Than July CD Sized Album Replica, Gatefold, Limited Edition, Remastered
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2005 CD UICY-3884
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold, Numbered Edition, Remastered
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Hotter Than July Remastered, SHM
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Hotter Than July Remastered, SHM
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
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Hotter Than July 33 rpm, Gatefold
48 Reviews
So Stevie's loyal fans didn't have to wait that long after all - just under eleven months after the still commercially successful but publicly poorly received Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants came its eager anticipated follow-up, still considered by many Stevie devotees to be Songs in the Key of Life's true successor in the Stevie Wonder canon. The cover art was certainly appealing, featuring an African looking Stevie in braids and sparkling sunglasses above the title "Hotter than July", which although taken from the lyrics of one of its songs, was rather apposite in describing the predominantly sunny (particularly on this album) and vividly colourful nature of Stevie's music, with its incorporations of the warmer climes of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. But as Stevie had pointed out a decade ago, you can't judge something by its cover alone - so would the fans see a true return to form of the songwriting genius they had come to know and worship over the course of the 1970s, if not since Uptight?
For good and not so good, Hotter than July is the definition of a back to basics album, in many clearly identifiable respects. The most obvious is a return to a more poppy, obviously commercial sound that, though unmistakably of its era, clearly harks back to the more singles-oriented, meticulously arranged Berry Gordy-controlled pre-1971 albums with their propensity towards the dance floor rather than profound spiritual thought with the majority (if not all) of the songs centred on simple love themes rather than serious social commentary. It's no coincidence that this album includes a reworking of a 1966 song by the then teenage Stevie for fellow Motown singer Tammi Terrell and is the first of his albums since Where I'm Coming From to use a proper string orchestra on at least one of the songs, provided by previous fellow songwriter and arranger Paul Riser. The layout of the songs is similarly conventional, with five mostly three to five minute songs on each side, without the variety in length of the more flowing, conceptual albums of the previous decade. There's even a slight trace of his earlier flirtations with country with Hank Devito's dulcet steel guitar tones on I Ain't Gonna Stand for It, and the kind of spoken vocal that had been used on his mostly weaker and more sentimental songs is used far more effectively by a more mature and wiser Stevie near the end of Happy Birthday. Finally, there's a distinct grittiness to Stevie's vocals that recall his more daring youthful excursions in the soul covers and his harder clavinet-driven songs of the late 1960s; of course Stevie's singing had always been spectacular since, but the rougher stuff tended to be restricted to his angrier numbers and workouts during his impassioned extended codas. But to Stevie's credit, this isn't simply a case of him going back to his 1960s roots and cynically updating it for the 1980s; at least a couple of the songs show him going for something new, with his first substantial foray into reggae in Master Blaster (Jammin'), which together with Happy Birthday amply demonstrate his genius (previously displayed on many of his songs for Syreeta rather than the more complex numbers of his own contemporaneous albums) for writing harmonically simple but artistically accomplished pop songs without dumbing down his style. And his changing style reflected the way R&B was evolving, for better or for worse, with the move towards a more straightforward four-in-the-bar danceable sound that clearly reflected the influence of disco and perhaps New Wave; the biggest R&B act at the time after Stevie, the Jacksons, reflected this best, and the hit song he penned for Jermaine Jackson, Let's Get Serious would have fitted in rather nicely on this album.
But perhaps all that is a reason why this isn't widely considered up to the same level of his 1972-76 records; and it can't be denied that on this album for the first time since he wrested full artistic control from Motown, Stevie seems to be following trends rather than setting them and the innovation and depth of his 1970s classics is less in abundance. It's a nitpicking criticism, when so many of its songs are so good and show no decline in his mastery for superior funky hooks and heartbreaking ballads, but is clearly a factor towards its snootier critics unfortunately viewing this as a rushed "sell-out" and the start of his artistic decline. Despite all this and a couple of not so stellar songs (more on them later) that just keep it from being considered among his masterpieces, this album definitely is more likely to be underrated than overrated and if you lower your expectations just a tad, you'll find much to greatly enjoy on a near perfect pop album.
However, it's likely that with the more discerning but more forgiving fans who enjoyed the album for what it was, they can't have been highly impressed with the somewhat generic opener Did I Hear You Say I Love Me. It's certainly a solid and catchy funk number, with powerfully driving horns and captivating backing vocals during the "I love you" section and Ben Bridges' guitar lending it a strong rocking feel, but one can't help feel a slight sense of déjà vu while hearing this, feeling that he'd done this all before starting with Signed, Sealed Delivered I'm Yours through Superstition to I Wish and better, and the less imaginative, more robotic rhythm section makes it feel more of its time rather than for the ages like with his previous big funk anthems. However, All I Do is a classic in all but name and the best non-single after Rocket Love and should definitely not be viewed as a hallmark of a declining songwriter desperately falling back on older material for the sake of filling in time on a 45 minute LP; it fits seamlessly in and sounds fully contemporary, to the extent that very few without knowledge of the songwriting credits would guess that it originates from the mid-1960s, and those who'd previously known nothing about that era of Stevie would be astonished to learn from this song alone what a talented songsmith he was already emerging as back then. Alas for poor Tammi Terrell, for reasons probably best known to Mr. Gordy the original never saw the public eye until 32 years after her untimely death when it was released on the UK compilation A Cellarful of Motown in 2002. It's another one of his winning mellow midtempo ballads, beautifully melodic and heartfelt built on an infectious disco-like beat, with its lovely soft Fender Rhodes, flute synthesizer, bells, background vocals and Hank Redd adding a nice little saxophone solo. Perhaps it goes on a little too long, but its more stripped down outro has an effective groove that looks forward to the remix-oriented dance forms of the later 1980s and beyond - yet one more example of Stevie's far-reaching influence.
However, Rocket Love is even better and was certainly an inspired choice for Wu-Tang Clan member GZA to sample for the lead single Cold World off his 1995 hip hop classic Liquid Swords, to the extent that hearing the latter, which is itself is among the best on an excellent album, can only strengthen the impact of the original. Yet another song about the pains of heartache and dealing with the loss of a girl who dumped a guy almost as quickly as things between them began ("You took me riding in your rocket gave me a star/But at a half a mile from heaven you dropped me back down to this cold, cold world") this has some of Stevie's most anguished vocals and touching lyrics with its inspired references to Shakespeare, Picasso and Brahms, backed by a wonderful increasingly elaborate string arrangement that, similar to Paul Riser's backings on the Stevie-produced Syreeta albums, accentuates the sentiment without ever becoming overbearing or saccharin. Who said that he'd done nothing great since 1976 even after hearing this? The poppier I Ain't Gonna Stand For It is the first of two songs about jealousy and a lover's likely infidelity but couldn't be more different from Lately; there's a fair amount of sardonic humour with Stevie imitating a bored country-and-western crooner in the verses and the chorus's dumb yet insanely catchy "nah-ah"s, but Ben Bridge's fierce electric guitar and the sadness of the middle eight's "Oh, oh, my, my" adds the right amount of emotional depth. The side ends with a more celebratory vibe with the fast latin-styled As If You Read My Mind, driven by its energetic piano-dominated riff, fervent chorus and a fine harmonica solo from Stevie.
Master Blaster, the biggest hit from Hotter than July (reaching #5 on the US pop chart, #2 on its UK counterpart and spending seven weeks at the top of the US R&B) is Stevie's touching tribute to his friend and fellow black pop legend Bob Marley. The two clearly had a lot artistically and temperamentally in common, with their innovative songwriting genius, huge international commercial crossover appeal, intense religious faith, desire for worldwide love, peace and racial harmony and overriding optimism and compassion that shone through every note in their music and the two had performed and toured together a number of times before. However, this is more than just a pastiche; while owing quite a bit to Marley's Island work with the Wailers, with its jazzy horns, convincingly reggae-styled beat, female backing quartet that recalls the I Threes, the triplet rhythms of the word "Jammin'" reminiscent of the coda of Marley's song of the same name and even a slight Jamaican flavour in Stevie's vocals, this is still unmistakably his own creation, a powerful social commentary that for once exhibits hope rather than despair after past turmoil even amidst all the world's ongoing problems, exuding positivity and confidence from every pore.
Do Like You is a charming portrait of Stevie's then three year old son Keita and his emerging talent as a dancer (wonder where he is now?), comparatively lightweight but more than just a "musically lazy singalong" (as dismissed by John Alroy), sounding rather like a sped up version of Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day with his guitar-like harpsichord replacing clavinet with an irresistably joyous chorus. The cutesy intro and outro with the exchanges between Keita and his five year old sister Aisha may wear thin after a few listens, but it's all good fun. Unfortunately, Cash in Your Face is where the momentum begins to stall; whilst not a bad song in its own right, being the fifth uptempo number in a row weakens the impact it would have were it placed in an album with less homogeneity (a minor fault that the classic 1970s records never lacked) and its cutting commentary about racial housing discrimination is blunted somewhat in a song that lacks the strong hooks of most of the surrounding material. However, this is swiftly redeemed by the gloriously aching Lately, a clear successor to Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer but better, without the over-cooked arrangement of the latter, showing him to be more than the equal of his contemporaries Paul McCartney, Elton John and Neil Young as a confessional balladeer, with just piano chords and bass synthesizer backing a vocal of unsurpassed emotional power. The sudden crescendo and shift in key that accompanies the final chorus repeat is just heart-rending, and unlike the relatively insipid slower songs on Journey through the Secret Life of Plants reassure us that he hasn't lost his Midas touch as a man who can convey the most intense heartache through the most simple and relatable of means.
And now we finish on a simultaneously uplifting and thought-provoking note with probably the most famous political campaigning song, Happy Birthday. Anyone who dismisses this as a vapid and over-extended singalong (using its chorus as a jingle on birthday cards in fairness probably hasn't done its reputation many favours) clearly hasn't paid any attention to its lyrical message and the sincerity of Stevie's vocals, with its often stern, occasionally angry but never overly preachy and didactic, and ultimately compassionate and positive delivery built on a life-affirming keyboard-backed melody full of verve and energy, and probably has next to no knowledge of Martin Luther King Jr's tireless fighting for racial harmony and justice, his famous dream speech and the painstaking efforts of Stevie and the US government combined to get Martin Luther King day established as a national holiday in all fifty US states. Its six minutes are fully justified as Stevie eloquently details why King's efforts should never have been in vain or be forgotten in the more thoughtful verses interspersed with a simple and buoyant refrain, with the sadder "Why has there never been a holiday" middle eight adding a depth that is easy to overlook amidst its surface bouncy optimism, with Stevie's backing vocalists having the final say in a wonderfully cathartic coda.
So, if this can't pretend to be on the same level of Stevie's work from Music of My Mind through Songs in the Key of Life, it's better than anything before and since, and along with Talking Book may be a good introduction for any Stevie newcomers who find his best acclaimed work a bit too rich and convoluted. Fans were rightly glad to hear the old Stevie back, and commercially Stevie's career looked to be on firm foundations for a good few years to come. A high 4/5.
For good and not so good, Hotter than July is the definition of a back to basics album, in many clearly identifiable respects. The most obvious is a return to a more poppy, obviously commercial sound that, though unmistakably of its era, clearly harks back to the more singles-oriented, meticulously arranged Berry Gordy-controlled pre-1971 albums with their propensity towards the dance floor rather than profound spiritual thought with the majority (if not all) of the songs centred on simple love themes rather than serious social commentary. It's no coincidence that this album includes a reworking of a 1966 song by the then teenage Stevie for fellow Motown singer Tammi Terrell and is the first of his albums since Where I'm Coming From to use a proper string orchestra on at least one of the songs, provided by previous fellow songwriter and arranger Paul Riser. The layout of the songs is similarly conventional, with five mostly three to five minute songs on each side, without the variety in length of the more flowing, conceptual albums of the previous decade. There's even a slight trace of his earlier flirtations with country with Hank Devito's dulcet steel guitar tones on I Ain't Gonna Stand for It, and the kind of spoken vocal that had been used on his mostly weaker and more sentimental songs is used far more effectively by a more mature and wiser Stevie near the end of Happy Birthday. Finally, there's a distinct grittiness to Stevie's vocals that recall his more daring youthful excursions in the soul covers and his harder clavinet-driven songs of the late 1960s; of course Stevie's singing had always been spectacular since, but the rougher stuff tended to be restricted to his angrier numbers and workouts during his impassioned extended codas. But to Stevie's credit, this isn't simply a case of him going back to his 1960s roots and cynically updating it for the 1980s; at least a couple of the songs show him going for something new, with his first substantial foray into reggae in Master Blaster (Jammin'), which together with Happy Birthday amply demonstrate his genius (previously displayed on many of his songs for Syreeta rather than the more complex numbers of his own contemporaneous albums) for writing harmonically simple but artistically accomplished pop songs without dumbing down his style. And his changing style reflected the way R&B was evolving, for better or for worse, with the move towards a more straightforward four-in-the-bar danceable sound that clearly reflected the influence of disco and perhaps New Wave; the biggest R&B act at the time after Stevie, the Jacksons, reflected this best, and the hit song he penned for Jermaine Jackson, Let's Get Serious would have fitted in rather nicely on this album.
But perhaps all that is a reason why this isn't widely considered up to the same level of his 1972-76 records; and it can't be denied that on this album for the first time since he wrested full artistic control from Motown, Stevie seems to be following trends rather than setting them and the innovation and depth of his 1970s classics is less in abundance. It's a nitpicking criticism, when so many of its songs are so good and show no decline in his mastery for superior funky hooks and heartbreaking ballads, but is clearly a factor towards its snootier critics unfortunately viewing this as a rushed "sell-out" and the start of his artistic decline. Despite all this and a couple of not so stellar songs (more on them later) that just keep it from being considered among his masterpieces, this album definitely is more likely to be underrated than overrated and if you lower your expectations just a tad, you'll find much to greatly enjoy on a near perfect pop album.
However, it's likely that with the more discerning but more forgiving fans who enjoyed the album for what it was, they can't have been highly impressed with the somewhat generic opener Did I Hear You Say I Love Me. It's certainly a solid and catchy funk number, with powerfully driving horns and captivating backing vocals during the "I love you" section and Ben Bridges' guitar lending it a strong rocking feel, but one can't help feel a slight sense of déjà vu while hearing this, feeling that he'd done this all before starting with Signed, Sealed Delivered I'm Yours through Superstition to I Wish and better, and the less imaginative, more robotic rhythm section makes it feel more of its time rather than for the ages like with his previous big funk anthems. However, All I Do is a classic in all but name and the best non-single after Rocket Love and should definitely not be viewed as a hallmark of a declining songwriter desperately falling back on older material for the sake of filling in time on a 45 minute LP; it fits seamlessly in and sounds fully contemporary, to the extent that very few without knowledge of the songwriting credits would guess that it originates from the mid-1960s, and those who'd previously known nothing about that era of Stevie would be astonished to learn from this song alone what a talented songsmith he was already emerging as back then. Alas for poor Tammi Terrell, for reasons probably best known to Mr. Gordy the original never saw the public eye until 32 years after her untimely death when it was released on the UK compilation A Cellarful of Motown in 2002. It's another one of his winning mellow midtempo ballads, beautifully melodic and heartfelt built on an infectious disco-like beat, with its lovely soft Fender Rhodes, flute synthesizer, bells, background vocals and Hank Redd adding a nice little saxophone solo. Perhaps it goes on a little too long, but its more stripped down outro has an effective groove that looks forward to the remix-oriented dance forms of the later 1980s and beyond - yet one more example of Stevie's far-reaching influence.
However, Rocket Love is even better and was certainly an inspired choice for Wu-Tang Clan member GZA to sample for the lead single Cold World off his 1995 hip hop classic Liquid Swords, to the extent that hearing the latter, which is itself is among the best on an excellent album, can only strengthen the impact of the original. Yet another song about the pains of heartache and dealing with the loss of a girl who dumped a guy almost as quickly as things between them began ("You took me riding in your rocket gave me a star/But at a half a mile from heaven you dropped me back down to this cold, cold world") this has some of Stevie's most anguished vocals and touching lyrics with its inspired references to Shakespeare, Picasso and Brahms, backed by a wonderful increasingly elaborate string arrangement that, similar to Paul Riser's backings on the Stevie-produced Syreeta albums, accentuates the sentiment without ever becoming overbearing or saccharin. Who said that he'd done nothing great since 1976 even after hearing this? The poppier I Ain't Gonna Stand For It is the first of two songs about jealousy and a lover's likely infidelity but couldn't be more different from Lately; there's a fair amount of sardonic humour with Stevie imitating a bored country-and-western crooner in the verses and the chorus's dumb yet insanely catchy "nah-ah"s, but Ben Bridge's fierce electric guitar and the sadness of the middle eight's "Oh, oh, my, my" adds the right amount of emotional depth. The side ends with a more celebratory vibe with the fast latin-styled As If You Read My Mind, driven by its energetic piano-dominated riff, fervent chorus and a fine harmonica solo from Stevie.
Master Blaster, the biggest hit from Hotter than July (reaching #5 on the US pop chart, #2 on its UK counterpart and spending seven weeks at the top of the US R&B) is Stevie's touching tribute to his friend and fellow black pop legend Bob Marley. The two clearly had a lot artistically and temperamentally in common, with their innovative songwriting genius, huge international commercial crossover appeal, intense religious faith, desire for worldwide love, peace and racial harmony and overriding optimism and compassion that shone through every note in their music and the two had performed and toured together a number of times before. However, this is more than just a pastiche; while owing quite a bit to Marley's Island work with the Wailers, with its jazzy horns, convincingly reggae-styled beat, female backing quartet that recalls the I Threes, the triplet rhythms of the word "Jammin'" reminiscent of the coda of Marley's song of the same name and even a slight Jamaican flavour in Stevie's vocals, this is still unmistakably his own creation, a powerful social commentary that for once exhibits hope rather than despair after past turmoil even amidst all the world's ongoing problems, exuding positivity and confidence from every pore.
Do Like You is a charming portrait of Stevie's then three year old son Keita and his emerging talent as a dancer (wonder where he is now?), comparatively lightweight but more than just a "musically lazy singalong" (as dismissed by John Alroy), sounding rather like a sped up version of Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day with his guitar-like harpsichord replacing clavinet with an irresistably joyous chorus. The cutesy intro and outro with the exchanges between Keita and his five year old sister Aisha may wear thin after a few listens, but it's all good fun. Unfortunately, Cash in Your Face is where the momentum begins to stall; whilst not a bad song in its own right, being the fifth uptempo number in a row weakens the impact it would have were it placed in an album with less homogeneity (a minor fault that the classic 1970s records never lacked) and its cutting commentary about racial housing discrimination is blunted somewhat in a song that lacks the strong hooks of most of the surrounding material. However, this is swiftly redeemed by the gloriously aching Lately, a clear successor to Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer but better, without the over-cooked arrangement of the latter, showing him to be more than the equal of his contemporaries Paul McCartney, Elton John and Neil Young as a confessional balladeer, with just piano chords and bass synthesizer backing a vocal of unsurpassed emotional power. The sudden crescendo and shift in key that accompanies the final chorus repeat is just heart-rending, and unlike the relatively insipid slower songs on Journey through the Secret Life of Plants reassure us that he hasn't lost his Midas touch as a man who can convey the most intense heartache through the most simple and relatable of means.
And now we finish on a simultaneously uplifting and thought-provoking note with probably the most famous political campaigning song, Happy Birthday. Anyone who dismisses this as a vapid and over-extended singalong (using its chorus as a jingle on birthday cards in fairness probably hasn't done its reputation many favours) clearly hasn't paid any attention to its lyrical message and the sincerity of Stevie's vocals, with its often stern, occasionally angry but never overly preachy and didactic, and ultimately compassionate and positive delivery built on a life-affirming keyboard-backed melody full of verve and energy, and probably has next to no knowledge of Martin Luther King Jr's tireless fighting for racial harmony and justice, his famous dream speech and the painstaking efforts of Stevie and the US government combined to get Martin Luther King day established as a national holiday in all fifty US states. Its six minutes are fully justified as Stevie eloquently details why King's efforts should never have been in vain or be forgotten in the more thoughtful verses interspersed with a simple and buoyant refrain, with the sadder "Why has there never been a holiday" middle eight adding a depth that is easy to overlook amidst its surface bouncy optimism, with Stevie's backing vocalists having the final say in a wonderfully cathartic coda.
So, if this can't pretend to be on the same level of Stevie's work from Music of My Mind through Songs in the Key of Life, it's better than anything before and since, and along with Talking Book may be a good introduction for any Stevie newcomers who find his best acclaimed work a bit too rich and convoluted. Fans were rightly glad to hear the old Stevie back, and commercially Stevie's career looked to be on firm foundations for a good few years to come. A high 4/5.
Published
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hotter than like early september
A mix of quality that fluctuates between near-perfection and near-disaster, Stevie Wonder's first normal-length LP since his classic era is generally considered the end of the best period of his career, and it sits very comfortably between the perfection that came before and the minefield that came after.
Wonder is a great singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist, harmonica player, drummer and arranger, and the frustration with this album is all that talent is still there but not being tapped into fully. In the 1970s he often felt ahead of the curve, in his own lane and not fitting in with the sound of the time: if anything, the sound of the decade was moulding itself around him. In the 1980s, Stevie goes a little safe and follows the synthy, poorly-aged sound of the 80s, and while he doesn't exactly sell out this project certainly feels more radio-friendly than normal.
The prime example would be the tragic closer Happy Birthday, which has a glorious melody undercut by tacky-sounding production and being a couple of minutes too long. The opener too, Did I Hear You Say You Love Me, suffers from no Stevie on drums (a terrible creative decision when he's brilliant with the sticks) and feels a little out of the pocket with a straight rhythm and a guitar riff that doesn't work as well as it should.
However, after one of the greatest out-of-nowhere transitions I've ever heard (and I must say the songs do flow into each other exceptionally, adding a surprising amount to the listening experience) we move into All I Do, a brilliantly smooth Pop ballad with Michael Jackson on backing vocals that feels like it would be a highlight of almost any of his albums. Then with Rocket Love's smooth string arrangements and fantastic refrain, it feels like we're comfortably into another great album of Stevie's.
I Ain't Gonna Stand For It represents one way in which Wonder branched out into different strands of music, however this time it was with a rather tasteless impression of a country singer which isn't quite rectified with an admittedly great chorus. However, the best song on the album is Master Blaster (Jammin'), a perfect ode to Bob Marley with a glorious instrumental build at the start which slowly expands until it feels like it's overflowing with joy. Lately threatens to take its crown late on as one of his strongest melodramatic ballads and the most heartfelt song on the album (possibly because there are no drums).
Surprisingly, a few songs here are disappointingly fine. Do Like You, Cash In Your Face and As If You Read My Mind showcase a strong ability to write good hooks but not much else, so by the time the album has finished there is a slight sense of waste, in that with trimming this could be a frankly excellent album. However, as it is there is a consistent sheen, almost a plasticity that holds this back from the heights of earlier efforts. If you go back and listen to a song like Love Having You Around it is littered with mistakes that only add character, as cliche as it may be.
6.4/10
Best Songs: Master Blaster (Jammin'), Rocket Love, Lately, All I Do
Best Songs: Master Blaster (Jammin'), Rocket Love, Lately, All I Do
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Disregarding The Secret Life of Plants soundtrack, Hotter Than July was the proper follow-up to the mammoth blockbuster Songs in the Key of Life. To be fair to this album, it pretty much had everything going against it. For one thing, trying to follow an album like Songs in the Key of Life is pretty much an impossible task for anybody, and to Stevie's credit he doesn't really attempt to. If anything, Hotter Than July is more about scaling things back. Instead of these lush funk arrangements we've grown accustomed to over the past five albums, a lot of the backing on this album is driven by synths and sequencers. That's not necessarily a bad thing, the album still sounds good (if a bit dated) and the songs hold up well.
But then the other thing going against this album is that it had been a four-year gap between this and the last album and in that time, the R&B/Soul/Funk movement had changed drastically. Disco had taken the reigns as the predominant popular soul genre; and on the streets of New York, hip-hop was starting to incubate as the new sound of the future. And that's not even touching upon where Michael Jackson and Prince would take the genre over the following ten years. So when factoring in the amount of time it took for this album to get made and the wait that fans had to sit through until they got something from Stevie, a more modest understated album like this felt underwhelming and out of touch. Time has been nothing but kind to this album however, and it now stands as probably the last consistently good album statement in Stevie Wonder's career. Not as masterpiece, but a fine pleasure nonetheless.
But then the other thing going against this album is that it had been a four-year gap between this and the last album and in that time, the R&B/Soul/Funk movement had changed drastically. Disco had taken the reigns as the predominant popular soul genre; and on the streets of New York, hip-hop was starting to incubate as the new sound of the future. And that's not even touching upon where Michael Jackson and Prince would take the genre over the following ten years. So when factoring in the amount of time it took for this album to get made and the wait that fans had to sit through until they got something from Stevie, a more modest understated album like this felt underwhelming and out of touch. Time has been nothing but kind to this album however, and it now stands as probably the last consistently good album statement in Stevie Wonder's career. Not as masterpiece, but a fine pleasure nonetheless.
Published
A great close to Wonder's classic period (and yes, this is definitely a part of his classic period).
A great, lean, funky set of songs, and he's still experimenting with new sounds and genre fusions. Although "Master Blaster" may actually be my least favorite of the group, but it seems like many others like it a lot. "Do Like You" is my pick for under appreciated jam on this record.
A great, lean, funky set of songs, and he's still experimenting with new sounds and genre fusions. Although "Master Blaster" may actually be my least favorite of the group, but it seems like many others like it a lot. "Do Like You" is my pick for under appreciated jam on this record.
Published
Has the reputation of being a bit by numbers and I can't really disagree. The production is a bit on the slick side and the material can't really compare to the stuff on Stevie's run of classic 70's albums but this is still fairly enjoyable when judged on its own terms.
Published
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A1
Did I Hear You Say You Love Me
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A2
All I Do
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A3
Rocket Love
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A4
I Ain't Gonna Stand for It
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A5
As If You Read My Mind
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B1
Master Blaster (Jammin')
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B2
Do Like You
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B3
Cash in Your Face
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B4
Lately
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B5
Happy Birthday
While my own date range for Wonder's best works is a matter of internal debate, I do not hesitate in agreeing with that group of fans which insists that 1980 must be a part of it.
Hotter Than July was Wonder’s nineteenth studio album released on Motown's Tamla label on September 29, 1980.
Dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., it reached #3 on the Billboard 200 chart. This was his most successful album in the UK, peaking at #2 and producing four Top Ten singles.
It’s been certified Platinum by the RIAA, denoting sales for more than 1 million copies in the United States. To date, Hotter Than July has sold 7-8 million copies worldwide.
By the time 1980 came around, after an incredible run in the 1970s ended with the commercially and critically disappointing curveball that was Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, Wonder and Motown promptly released Hotter Than July, the proper follow-up to Songs In the Key of Life in the Stevie canon.
There are some noticeable differences from his past work on the album that make it sound especially ‘80s. Firstly, the production is far thinner than any of his ‘70s albums making each of the instrumentals sound incredibly bright in quality. Stevie made heavier use of digital synths on it than he had previously, giving it a typical early ‘80s pop vibe overall. But other than synths and pop, the album is full some other prominent instruments and genres. The piano and drums present on almost all of the upbeat pieces provide base structure to the songs. Trumpets, saxophone, bass, guitar and percussions are also found on the most of the tracks mostly to give it a flavor of funk, jazz, soul and R&B. He also carried on his tradition of penning songs normally not associated with his trademark sound, from the top-shelf disco "All I Do" to the reggae-influenced smash "Master Blaster (Jammin’)” to the country-tinged “I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It”. The album’s two ballads are brilliant too and the production is great overall. I would put it in the same range as Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall, but with better lyrics.
In conclusion an outstanding, consistent and accessible album from Stevie that ranks near with his best works and deserves to be mentioned among his classics.
4/5
Highlights: Master Blaster (Jammin’), Lately, Rocket Love, All I Do, I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It, Happy Birthday, Cash In Your Face.
Published
It's not Songs in the Key of Life, but Stevie made the transition into the 80s more gracefully than most, and this is a fine, underrated album that features several notable standouts (the disco/R&B classic All I Do, Rocket Love, I Ain't Gonna Stand for It, the funky As If You Read My Mind, the reggae-influenced Master Blaster, the beautiful ballad Lately, and the all-time classic Happy Birthday).
This is seriously one of the most slept on albums that I've ever personally encountered, at least. I regret that it ever took me so long to give this album a chance; it's great.
This is seriously one of the most slept on albums that I've ever personally encountered, at least. I regret that it ever took me so long to give this album a chance; it's great.
Published
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A1
Did I Hear You Say You Love Me
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A2
All I Do
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A3
Rocket Love
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A4
I Ain't Gonna Stand for It
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A5
As If You Read My Mind
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B1
Master Blaster (Jammin')
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B2
Do Like You
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B3
Cash in Your Face
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B4
Lately
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B5
Happy Birthday
Hotter Than July Review
Another great funk album from Stevie Wonders discography. This album has energy, which I like very much. But with that said, a few of the tracks are a little funk generic and forgettable in my opinion. The beginning of the album though is marvellous and a few tracks very stand out as some of Stevies best songs.Fav Tracks:
Did I Hear You Say You Love Me, All I Do, I Ain't Gonna Stand For It and Master Blaster (Jammin)
Published
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Catalog
1 Jun 2024
31 May 2024
31 May 2024
31 May 2024
30 May 2024
30 May 2024
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A1
Did I Hear You Say You Love Me
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A2
All I Do
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A3
Rocket Love
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A4
I Ain't Gonna Stand for It
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A5
As If You Read My Mind
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B1
Master Blaster (Jammin')
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B2
Do Like You
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B3
Cash in Your Face
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B4
Lately
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B5
Happy Birthday
29 May 2024
29 May 2024
29 May 2024
28 May 2024
26 May 2024
25 May 2024
25 May 2024
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22 May 2024