Full title - Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants. 1993 reissue of 2 CD set originally released on Motown in 1979. 20 tracks in a standard double jewel case. Lyrics included in sleevenotes. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
The Secret Life Of Plants (1978 Documentary Film),Stevie Wonder,Motown / Pgd,Funk,Motown,Pop,Pop-Soul,Pop/Rock,R&B,Soul,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues
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Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
Stevie Wonder Manufacturer: Polygram Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B000024C7W Release Date: 1993-04-05 |
Tracks:
- Earth's Creation
- The First Garden
- Voyage To India
- Same Old Story
- Venus' Flytrap And The Bug
- Ai No Sono
- Seasons
- Power Flower
- Send One Your Love
- Race Babbling
Tracks:
- Send One Your Love
- Outside My Window
- Black Orchid
- Ecclesiastes
- Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye
- Come Back As A Flower
- A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley
- The Secret Life Of Plants
- Tree
- Finale (Stevie Wonder/Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants)
Album Description
Full title - Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants. 1993 reissue of 2 CD set originally released on Motown in 1979. 20 tracks in a standard double jewel case. Lyrics included in sleevenotes.Album Details
Actually a Soundtrack for a Film that May Never have Been Released (Few People Even Say They've Seen It), this Mostly Instrumental Double Disc was Issued on the Heels of Wonder's Supreme Milestone 'fulfillingness' First Finale'. Not an all Out Pop Project, Yet it Yielded Two Hit Singles of 'send One Your Love' and 'outside My Window'. It Merely Marked Time Between It's Predecessor and 'hotter Than July', which Released in 1980.Customer Reviews:
beautiful music, rich with imagery and color..............2007-05-13
JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS was music composed for a documentary (of the same name) based on what was originally a very engrossing book. The film celebrated and explored the "secret" world of plants, their mating habits, interactions and cycles in a way that was previously unexamined in quite the same way in nature films and on public television. This film sounded fascinating.....unfortunately, it was unreleased to the general public, and remains unreleased today. Except for the two weeks it was in the theatres, and its rare appearances at smaller film theaters, it remains unknown and impossible to find. Through this beautiful album, we are transported to that secret world. Wonder's innovative and beautiful attention to detail in his distinctive percussive numbers, that incorporate African-derived rhythms, djembe drum and chants in songs like "Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye" (on disc 2), Japanese-inspired melodies ("Ai No Sono") and synthesized dance numbers, illustrating the journey and (even) social life of the plant ("Power Flower" and "A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley") are just beautiful. A song particularly worthy of more appreciation and airplay is the beautiful and haunting "Come Back As A Flower" (Stevie's duet with Syreeta Wright), and sounds like a life affirming anthem, promoting love, peace and environmental awareness.
The lyrics in many of these songs are rich with double meaning, alluding not only to the environment, the life cycles of plants ("Black Orchid" and "The Secret Life of Plants"), but also to the African/African-American experience in the world. The lyrics make reference to appropriation, forceable possession and exploitation. I truly don't think the critics were ready for Stevie, when he took on such strong subjects. It's surprising to me, because in SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, he sang about ghetto life, growing up and the like and the album was received far differently. I only hope that we one day have the privilege of seeing THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS, the documentary that this music was inspired by. It couldn't come at a better time. What's more, the book is definitely overdue for a reissue. Don't overlook this beautiful album! It's poetry set to music.
Better than I remember.......2007-03-24
A movie soundtrack........2007-01-28
The overall themes, summarized at the start and end, are pleasant enough. Race Babbling is an interesting funk/disco experiment (how often does disco get to be experimental?) Send One Your Love is a nice ballad along Stevie's usual lines, the instrumental version of it is just as nice as the one with a vocal. Flower Power is a nice bit of soft R&B, hinting the direction he was heading. My favorite songs are 'Outside My Window' with a very catchy singalong chorus, the spooky, weird, solemn instrumental "Eccliastes", and the "Seed's a Star" medley, these would have been good picks for an album of pop songs. "Black Orchid" is pleasant, but sounds to me like a somewhat inferior rewrite of "I Believe When I Fall In Love" (especially in the verses with his voice doing the big melodic jumps), "Power Flower" is an acceptable song with nice harmonies. "Venus and Flytrap" is another rehash of the themes in this album, with interesting arrangement.
I think you could have taken the best from this album and from his next, "Hotter Than July" and come up with an album of 10 songs that stood with his best works (i.e. everything from 1971 to 1976). People don't realize that Stevie Wonder is also an ordinary person whose tastes and motivations change over the years - do you listen to exactly the same music now that you did ten years ago? For this album, he got to experiment and try things out, not caring if it was a hit or not. I mean, when you have millions of dollars, probably scoring the next big hit is a lot less pressing then when you're living dirt-poor, hoping for a breakthrough. So he gets to indulge himself here, sometimes it's really good, and even when it's not, it's far from 'terrible'.
Weirdly great!.......2006-10-01
"Come back as a Flower" still gives me goose-bumps, "Same old Story", the title track and "Black Orchid" are stand-outs.
At the time, critics panned this work, but almost 30yrs later, things have changed. This title is well worth tracking down or splashing out for an import. There are still some new ones out there!!
Criminally Overlooking, This album is Worth a Critical Reassessment..........2006-06-27
Looking back on "Journey through the secret life of Plants", and giving the album a much need re-evaluation, it's not hard to see why, it was so off-handedly dismissed on its release. This was such an unusual release from what had gone before, it's a soundtrack to a film (that may or may not have been released) and at the time it was like throwing a musical `Curve-ball', to the record buying public. But, that doesn't mean that it deserved to be largely passed over. No, in fact it's quite the opposite....looking at this album now, long after his most recognised work, has become familiar to us all, highlights what (with hindsight), is a massive mistake on the critics/buying public. What was tight and edgy in his previous albums, has become a softer, more reflective sombre mood, the instruments take the centre stage here, with the few vocals tracks that are contained throughout the album, mostly limited to assisting the instrumentals (rather than being at the forefront). "Voyage to India" is probably closest to a regular Stevie track, "Ai No, Sono" features a lovely children choir, and "Power Flower" has the vocal pushed firmly into the background, and sounds like a vocal instrument that complements the instrumentals. I defy anyone to not be moved by the sheer elegance of the arrangements, the contemplative mood, and gentle lush keyboard work, that runs throughout this album. For a rough idea of what to expect, if you are familiar with the track "You've got it bad, Girl" from Stevie's "Talking book" album, well imagine the warm electronic arrangements, sentimental template, and innocent conception of low key R&B, without the vocals. Then that will give you a rough idea of what to expect. I don't know if it's because it's a (mostly) instrumental soundtrack album, but it sounds like Stevie worked long and hard to get these arrangements, up to such a highly proficient level. This is probably because, seeing as this music would be judged on a purely musical level (with no lyrics, as such to fall back on). That this release really had to be able to stand up on its own, without Stevie's lyrics to fall back on, and it is arguably some of the most gorgeously expressive (instrumental) music that Stevie has committed to record. With such stylistic exercises in composition, and a beautifully subtle kaleidoscope of contrasting textures, this is a unique, and peerlessly melodic sounding record, that stands on its own, as something vastly different, from anything that Stevie had attempted before (and probably one, of the reasons, for its commercial failure). But looking back on the album some twenty odd years on, it's a truly remarkable sounding record that, rewards each listen with little sounds and glistening moods, it's a soundtrack that sounds unlike anything else (although how well suited to the film, is hard to ascertain, as nobody seems to have seen the film). And if that sounds like something you'd want to listen to, they you really owe it to yourself, to give this a listen. Sure!!...there will be those that think this album is a pointless exercise, like listening to a "Marvin Gaye" album minus his singing. But it'd take a cold, cold heart not to acknowledge that Artistically, Stevie has taken the bold step of creating something that pushed his music into an entirely new (although unsuccessfully commercial) direction. And listening to it today, without having judged it, after having come off the back of an incredible run of albums, this is one of those albums that will rope in new fans, that are prepared to put any preconceptions to one side and meet the music on its own terms (rather than what came before it), and although it probably can't quite stand up as well as his peak-period albums, this is arguably, deserving of almost as much recognition of any of Stevie's other landmark releases.
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The Secret Life Of Plants (1978 Documentary Film)
Stevie Wonder Manufacturer: Motown ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Pop
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ASIN: B000001AJG Release Date: 1992-05-11 |
Tracks:
- Earth's Creation
- The First Garden
- Voyage To India
- Same Old Story
- Venus' Flytrap And The Bug
- Ai No, Sono
- Seasons
- Power Flower
- Send One Your Love (Instrumental)
- Race Babbling
Tracks:
- Send One Your Love
- Outside My Window
- Black Orchid
- Ecclesiastes
- Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye
- Come Back As A Flower
- A Seed's A Star/ Tree Medley
- The Secret Life Of Plants
- Tree
- Finale
Album Description
Full title - Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants. 1993 reissue of 2 CD set originally released on Motown in 1979. 20 tracks in a standard double jewel case. Lyrics included in sleevenotes.Album Details
Actually a Soundtrack for a Film that May Never have Been Released (Few People Even Say They've Seen It), this Mostly Instrumental Double Disc was Issued on the Heels of Wonder's Supreme Milestone 'fulfillingness' First Finale'. Not an all Out Pop Project, Yet it Yielded Two Hit Singles of 'send One Your Love' and 'outside My Window'. It Merely Marked Time Between It's Predecessor and 'hotter Than July', which Released in 1980.Customer Reviews:
beautiful music, rich with imagery and color..............2007-05-13
JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS was music composed for a documentary (of the same name) based on what was originally a very engrossing book. The film celebrated and explored the "secret" world of plants, their mating habits, interactions and cycles in a way that was previously unexamined in quite the same way in nature films and on public television. This film sounded fascinating.....unfortunately, it was unreleased to the general public, and remains unreleased today. Except for the two weeks it was in the theatres, and its rare appearances at smaller film theaters, it remains unknown and impossible to find. Through this beautiful album, we are transported to that secret world. Wonder's innovative and beautiful attention to detail in his distinctive percussive numbers, that incorporate African-derived rhythms, djembe drum and chants in songs like "Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye" (on disc 2), Japanese-inspired melodies ("Ai No Sono") and synthesized dance numbers, illustrating the journey and (even) social life of the plant ("Power Flower" and "A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley") are just beautiful. A song particularly worthy of more appreciation and airplay is the beautiful and haunting "Come Back As A Flower" (Stevie's duet with Syreeta Wright), and sounds like a life affirming anthem, promoting love, peace and environmental awareness.
The lyrics in many of these songs are rich with double meaning, alluding not only to the environment, the life cycles of plants ("Black Orchid" and "The Secret Life of Plants"), but also to the African/African-American experience in the world. The lyrics make reference to appropriation, forceable possession and exploitation. I truly don't think the critics were ready for Stevie, when he took on such strong subjects. It's surprising to me, because in SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, he sang about ghetto life, growing up and the like and the album was received far differently. I only hope that we one day have the privilege of seeing THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS, the documentary that this music was inspired by. It couldn't come at a better time. What's more, the book is definitely overdue for a reissue. Don't overlook this beautiful album! It's poetry set to music.
Better than I remember.......2007-03-24
A movie soundtrack........2007-01-28
The overall themes, summarized at the start and end, are pleasant enough. Race Babbling is an interesting funk/disco experiment (how often does disco get to be experimental?) Send One Your Love is a nice ballad along Stevie's usual lines, the instrumental version of it is just as nice as the one with a vocal. Flower Power is a nice bit of soft R&B, hinting the direction he was heading. My favorite songs are 'Outside My Window' with a very catchy singalong chorus, the spooky, weird, solemn instrumental "Eccliastes", and the "Seed's a Star" medley, these would have been good picks for an album of pop songs. "Black Orchid" is pleasant, but sounds to me like a somewhat inferior rewrite of "I Believe When I Fall In Love" (especially in the verses with his voice doing the big melodic jumps), "Power Flower" is an acceptable song with nice harmonies. "Venus and Flytrap" is another rehash of the themes in this album, with interesting arrangement.
I think you could have taken the best from this album and from his next, "Hotter Than July" and come up with an album of 10 songs that stood with his best works (i.e. everything from 1971 to 1976). People don't realize that Stevie Wonder is also an ordinary person whose tastes and motivations change over the years - do you listen to exactly the same music now that you did ten years ago? For this album, he got to experiment and try things out, not caring if it was a hit or not. I mean, when you have millions of dollars, probably scoring the next big hit is a lot less pressing then when you're living dirt-poor, hoping for a breakthrough. So he gets to indulge himself here, sometimes it's really good, and even when it's not, it's far from 'terrible'.
Weirdly great!.......2006-10-01
"Come back as a Flower" still gives me goose-bumps, "Same old Story", the title track and "Black Orchid" are stand-outs.
At the time, critics panned this work, but almost 30yrs later, things have changed. This title is well worth tracking down or splashing out for an import. There are still some new ones out there!!
Criminally Overlooking, This album is Worth a Critical Reassessment..........2006-06-27
Looking back on "Journey through the secret life of Plants", and giving the album a much need re-evaluation, it's not hard to see why, it was so off-handedly dismissed on its release. This was such an unusual release from what had gone before, it's a soundtrack to a film (that may or may not have been released) and at the time it was like throwing a musical `Curve-ball', to the record buying public. But, that doesn't mean that it deserved to be largely passed over. No, in fact it's quite the opposite....looking at this album now, long after his most recognised work, has become familiar to us all, highlights what (with hindsight), is a massive mistake on the critics/buying public. What was tight and edgy in his previous albums, has become a softer, more reflective sombre mood, the instruments take the centre stage here, with the few vocals tracks that are contained throughout the album, mostly limited to assisting the instrumentals (rather than being at the forefront). "Voyage to India" is probably closest to a regular Stevie track, "Ai No, Sono" features a lovely children choir, and "Power Flower" has the vocal pushed firmly into the background, and sounds like a vocal instrument that complements the instrumentals. I defy anyone to not be moved by the sheer elegance of the arrangements, the contemplative mood, and gentle lush keyboard work, that runs throughout this album. For a rough idea of what to expect, if you are familiar with the track "You've got it bad, Girl" from Stevie's "Talking book" album, well imagine the warm electronic arrangements, sentimental template, and innocent conception of low key R&B, without the vocals. Then that will give you a rough idea of what to expect. I don't know if it's because it's a (mostly) instrumental soundtrack album, but it sounds like Stevie worked long and hard to get these arrangements, up to such a highly proficient level. This is probably because, seeing as this music would be judged on a purely musical level (with no lyrics, as such to fall back on). That this release really had to be able to stand up on its own, without Stevie's lyrics to fall back on, and it is arguably some of the most gorgeously expressive (instrumental) music that Stevie has committed to record. With such stylistic exercises in composition, and a beautifully subtle kaleidoscope of contrasting textures, this is a unique, and peerlessly melodic sounding record, that stands on its own, as something vastly different, from anything that Stevie had attempted before (and probably one, of the reasons, for its commercial failure). But looking back on the album some twenty odd years on, it's a truly remarkable sounding record that, rewards each listen with little sounds and glistening moods, it's a soundtrack that sounds unlike anything else (although how well suited to the film, is hard to ascertain, as nobody seems to have seen the film). And if that sounds like something you'd want to listen to, they you really owe it to yourself, to give this a listen. Sure!!...there will be those that think this album is a pointless exercise, like listening to a "Marvin Gaye" album minus his singing. But it'd take a cold, cold heart not to acknowledge that Artistically, Stevie has taken the bold step of creating something that pushed his music into an entirely new (although unsuccessfully commercial) direction. And listening to it today, without having judged it, after having come off the back of an incredible run of albums, this is one of those albums that will rope in new fans, that are prepared to put any preconceptions to one side and meet the music on its own terms (rather than what came before it), and although it probably can't quite stand up as well as his peak-period albums, this is arguably, deserving of almost as much recognition of any of Stevie's other landmark releases.
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