Jungle Fever (soundtrack)

Jungle Fever
Soundtrack album by Stevie Wonder
Released May 28, 1991
Genre Pop, R&B[1]
Length 51:06
Label Motown
Producer Stevie Wonder, Nathan Watts
Stevie Wonder chronology
Characters
(1987)		 Jungle Fever
(1991)		 Conversation Peace
(1995)

Jungle Fever is the 1991 soundtrack album by American R&B musician Stevie Wonder to Spike Lee's movie Jungle Fever. It was released by Motown Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Robert Christgau[4]
Entertainment WeeklyC[1]
Q[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]

Jungle Fever received lukewarm reviews from music critics.[7] In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau cited "Fun Day" and the title track as highlights and referred to Wonder as "a genius even if that's what he's selling".[8] Bill Wyman of Entertainment Weekly felt it lacks memorable hooks and was critical of Wonder's lyrics and style of arrangement, which he said sounds "more and more dated as the years go by".[1] In a positive review, Rolling Stone magazine called Jungle Fever a "welcome return to form" and said that Wonder has not "sounded so freewheeling, confident and engaging" since his 1980 album Hotter Than July.[6] The Chicago Tribune wrote that it is "as direct and consistently tuneful as anything he has done in recent years".[3]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited Jungle Fever as "Wonder's best work in years ... a considerable improvement from his bland late-'80s albums", although he said Wonder can be too sentimental on ballads such as "These Three Words".[2] J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) that it is "lightweight but likeable".[7] In his 2000 Consumer Guide book, Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention, which indicated "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Stevie Wonder, except "Chemical Love", lyrics by Stephanie Andrews.

  1. "Fun Day" – 4:41
  2. "Queen in the Black" – 4:46
  3. "These Three Words" – 4:54
  4. "Each Other's Throat" – 4:17
  5. "If She Breaks Your Heart" (sung by Kimberly Brewer) – 5:03
  6. "Gotta Have You" – 6:26
  7. "Make Sure You're Sure" – 3:30
  8. "Jungle Fever" – 4:55
  9. "I Go Sailing" – 3:58
  10. "Chemical Love" – 4:26
  11. "Lighting Up the Candles" – 4:09

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wyman, Bill (June 21, 1991). "Music from the Movie 'Jungle Fever' Review". Entertainment Weekly (New York) (71). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Jungle Fever - Stevie Wonder". AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Anon. (1991). "Stevie Wonder Music From the Movie `Jungle Fever'". Chicago Tribune (June 13). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan. pp. xvi, 339. ISBN 0312245602.
  5. ↑ "Review". Q (London) (August). 1991. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Review". Rolling Stone (New York) (August 8). 1991. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Considine, J. D. (2004). "Stevie Wonder". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 885, 887. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1991). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (July 30) (New York). Retrieved October 21, 2014.

External links

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