AMG Review of Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder's Songs

John Bush
All Music Guide

Aside from his tremendous powers of performance, Stevie Wonder stands as one of the greatest songwriters of the late 20th century, probing the joyous peaks and depressing valleys of love and relationships. The Motown tribute album Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder's Songs has its highs and lows as well; with Stevie himself in the producer's chair (along with new-era Motown exec Kedar Massenburg), the album certainly has a lot of promise. It boasts plenty of neo-soul balladeers -- India.Arie, Mary J. Blige, Brian McKnight, Joe, Musiq -- as well as mainstream stars like Eric Clapton and John Mellencamp, who took musical cues from classic Stevie Wonder LPs like Talking Book or Songs in the Key of Life. But since there's little chance of matching these virtually untouchable originals, interpreting his songs with rearrangements would be the best way to make a tribute. Unfortunately, there's far too little going on here than familiar versions of familiar songs with a slightly different voice attached. Clapton gets the opener, an energetic but perfunctory version of "Higher Ground." Far better is a version of "That Girl," with Joe crooning the song while Mr. Cheeks (from the Lost Boyz) improvises some rapping over the top. Most of the neo-soul names struggle to add anything to Stevie's incredible originals, though Musiq's sweet scatting and note changes makes for a refreshing "Visions," and Dave Hollister's slower, more dramatic version of "Love's in Need of Love Today" is worth a listen. India.Arie contributes the lone new song, an embarrassing Stevie tribute track named "Wonderful" that drops a few song titles.