Signed, Sealed and Delivered

1970’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered kicks off with the schmaltzy “Never Had A Dream Come True” and Stevie, never one to shy away from sentimentality or obviousness in his work, repeats a similar trick with the worthy “Heaven Help Us All,” but even at his most saccharine sweet his genuine authenticity always wins me over. Meanwhile, in the rest of the album, Stevie is perfecting his funk chops, with killer dance floor soul/funk jams like “Joy (Takes Over Me),” the euphoric “Sugar,” dark rare groove jam “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” and a slamming version of “We Can Work It Out.” Vocally, he’s just on fire on this album, the uptempo songs run at full tilt and the mid-tempo jams are as sweet and touching as anything else he’s done. It’s his last full classic-Motown-sound album before the transitional Where I’m Coming From from the following year and remains a stone-cold soul classic.