Diary of a Melomaniac

Before Nov 2020, grades range from 5 stars to 3.5 stars. After that, grade range is: 10 (A+), 9.5 (high A), 9 (A), 8.5 (high A-), 8 (A-), 7.5 (high B+), 7 (B+). Ungraded albums are honorable mention :-), neutral :-|, negative :-(. At least 3 listens per album. Search "Grade Post" for more info. [I shelved/sold 10,000-12,000 albums before starting this blog and will add entries for some of those as they come up. If you don't see an album, it doesn't mean I don't know it.]

Monday, June 20, 2022

Stevie Wonder - Characters [honorable mention]

:-) [This seems to have not aged well (released 1987). Hull has an interesting take on Wonder. He puts Innervisions, FFF, this, and Conversation Peace on his 1000 album list, although he also gives Talking Book a full A, so maybe leaving that off the 1000 album list was an error. Christgau initially gave this what I would call an 8.5 (high A-), in that it is the highest-placed A- on his year-end list. He dropped it to 29 (more of an 8 (A-)) by the time he put out his '80s guide though. So it seems he re-evaluated it in just two or three years. I wonder what both would think of it today? On the other hand, AllMusic editors rank it as his second worst album of all time (tied with Conversation Peace and Stevie at the Beach), and users place it among his most mediocre works. The latest Rolling Stone guide puts this as his second worst, and Conversation Peace as his worst (excluding some of his very first albums, when he was probably 8.]