This is amazingly focused in tone, plaintive and downbeat. Even the raucous, racy (for Stevie) "Boogie On Reggae Woman" has an undertone of sadness.
The funk-dripping "You Haven't Done Nothing" is a monster groove showing him at his angriest ("It's not too cool to be ridiculed but you've brought this upon yourself").
Sad love songs abound: "Please Don't Go," "Too Shy To Say," "It Ain't No Use" - as do meditations on death and afterlife, apparently prompted by a serious auto accident in 1973: "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away," "They Won't Go When I Go." The record also contains three of his best harmonica solos, on "Boogie On," "Creepin'" and "Please Don't Go." (DBW)
Man, this is awful good. Supposedly a let-down for Stevie fans, every track is excellent anyway - "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and "You Haven't Done Nothing" are only the most obvious examples. (JA)