Fulfillingness' First Finale

Editors’ Notes We find Stevie Wonder in a ruminative, reflective place on 1974’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale. A supreme humanist, he encourages the enthusiastically sunny “Smile Please” to coexist with the desolate confessions of “Too Shy to Say.” The spry, needling, synth-soaked funk of “Boogie on Reggae Woman” almost steals the show, though the melodic intelligence of “Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away” is just as crucial. Even the downcast moods of “Creepin’” and “Please Don’t Go” provide more than enough musical fizz to tickle the ears of a heartbroken listener.