[The multitude of songs on "Songs in the Key of Life"] is a generous portion by anybody's standards, but one that is praiseworthy only if the material presented on all that vinyl warrants so much of one's time. In this case it doesn't.

Let me point out right away that I am a Stevie Wonder fan. In fact, I went out and bought [the] album as soon as it became available, and buying albums is something people on my end of the record business rarely do. Though I confess to being disappointed, I must add that I don't feel the expenditure was a total waste—the album, besides representing the latest work of an important artist, does contain material of musical value, and, had I been given the opportunity to hear it beforehand, I would still have bought it.

Starting at the top of the program, side one...