Stevie Wonder - Assembling The Best Sounding Hits Collection

Stevie Wonder

I've been looking for a great Stevie Wonder Compilation on CD. Almost all the threads on this are closed.
Seems like most of the CDS don't pass the Steve Hoffman sound quality standards.

So, I've been thinking of my own compilation using the following CD's.

Stevie Wonder: 12 Albums Collection SHM-CD (2012)

Tamla Records/Motown Record/Universal Music Japan UICY-20346~59

1966 - Up-Tight
1966 - Down To Earth
1969 - My Cherie Amour
1971 - Where I'm Coming From
1972 - Music Of My Mind
1972 - Talking Book
1973 - Innervisions
1974 - Fulfillingness' First Finale
1976 - Songs In The Key Of Life (2CD Set)
1979 - Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants (2CD Set)
1980 - Hotter Than July
1985 - In Square Circle

Of course this misses the earlier Stevie Wonder songs. I believe I can get most of them from The Hitsville Boxset.

Are these Japanese SHM-CD the best way to go?

Any thoughts and/or suggestions are most welcome.

 

Much as I love it, Stevie is sadly under represented on the Hitsville 1959-1971 box. Only 4 of his songs feature from the 104 tracks

 

Although it doesn't include the early and late stuff, Original Musiquarium I Volumes I & II is a great set to start with that covers 1972-1980:
Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I, Volume I
Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I, Volume II

 

The Essential Stevie Wonder

A double CD set in a fatboy case from 1987. The tracks lead up to his masterpiece album years. It won't ever be a demo disc, Stevie Wonder has too many wonky recordings. But it's pre -loudness and continues to serve my purpose.

 

The Wonder of Stevie. A 4CD promo fatboy mastered by Chris Bellman & Bernie Grundman. Awesome

 

Song Review: A Greatest Hits Collection sounds pretty good to me. It is available as a single or double disc release and was mastered by Chris Bellman, who does a much better work than Kevin Reeves or Suha Gur.
The original CD releases of Greatest Hits (1968) and Greatest Hits Vol 2, both mastered by John Matousek, sound great, too.

 

The MQA CD coming out in mid-Jan. 2020 has the best tracklist I've seen.

 

I haven't heard about that comp yet. Could you provide a link, please?

 

Apart from Isn't She Lovely, which I can't abide, this is a spectacular collection and sounds great too.

 

The Definitive Collection [Hi-Res CD (MQA x UHQCD)] [Limited Release] Stevie Wonder CD Album

Isn't She Lovely is not on this compilation.

Here's in a non-MQA version:

https://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Collection-Stevie-Wonder/dp/B00006JSS8

 

AFAIK, that comp was mastered by Kevin Reeves. I bought it some years ago and wasn't very happy with the mastering... Will this 2020 reissue be mastered again?

 

You left out two early LPs I think are essential. For Once In My Life (1968) and Signed, Sealed And Delivered (1970) had four hits apiece on them (eight in total) as well as some incredible deep cuts ("Ain't No Lovin,'" "Do I Love Her," "I'd Be A Fool Right Now").

There's also a non-LP hit, "Travelin' Man," that was put on the second greatest hits vinyl album (from 1971) and his original (self-penned) rendition of the Aretha hit "Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," which made it onto the Looking Back set from 1977, but was cut ten years prior.

I think his late '60s output gets overlooked because of what came later, but I've listened to the aforementioned albums as much if not more than the classic-era stuff. Even when he's doing covers of standards or songs written by others (Ron Miller, Pam Sawyer, etc.), he's still a great singer and harmonica player and it's still generally top-shelf stuff.

 

Yes, it is a new 2019 remastering

"Features the DSD master in 2019, using US original master tapes. The DSD master is available in 352.8kHz/24bit high resolution perfect for MQA-enabled audio players"

 

Would it be possible to find the Discogs link for it? The only thing I can find is a compilation of covers or songs written by SW but recorded by other artists. If I do a search on Discogs for Bellman or Grundman involving Stevie Wonder, I get no relevant hits.

 

Stevie Wonder - The Wonder Of Stevie

 

I’ve been tempted to buy the following a few times but never pulled the trigger:

Stevie Wonder - The World Of Stevie Wonder

Sound quality is reportedly really good.

 

Personally I love the soundtrack Jungle Fever, but my CD has a very thin sound. Anyone heard the SHM-CD ? Thanks.

Stevie Wonder - Music From The Movie "Jungle Fever"

 

This is definitely the best sounding Stevie Wonder compilation, along with that early Motown cd (Love Songs, I think it was called).

 

It’s certainly easier to get than the Wonder of Stevie set mentioned above.

 

I second this. Sounds great and great tracklist too.

 

I'm totally content with this one and it sounds fantastic to me:

At the Close of a Century - Wikipedia

 

I'm glad I picked up that Wonder of Stevie 4-cd set a few years ago after seeing it recommended here. There is a current listing on eBay for one that's only $3.13, but it has a day left to go so who knows how high the bidding will go.

 

ye

Yes I have this too and it sounds really great.

 

All of these are the NR'd remasters which suffer from overcompression and sound positively dead next to the original Motown CDs. Dig deep into the Stevie Wonder threads and you'll find our host recommends the original Motown CDs over the remasters. For Innervisions, the MFSL is preferred and for Fulfillingness' First Finale, the Audio Fidelity.

 

Especially now that you alerted everyone here.