In Square Circle
In Square Circle is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released in September 1985 on Tamla Records.
In Square Circle spent 12 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. The album also made the top five on the US Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 5 on the UK Pop Albums chart.
Singles
In Square Circle features hit singles "Part-Time Lover", "Go Home", "Overjoyed", and "Land of La La".Critical reception
of Rolling Stone claimed "Wonder seems immune to the current epidemic of posturing self-importance, and with his unforced optimism and his no-sweat audio perfectionism, he makes your ears happy, again and again. On In Square Circle, he's as irresistible as ever."With a B+ Robert Christgau of the Village Voice found "Compare this to the others in your head and you'll be hard-pressed to specify what's missing, but slap on Talking Book or Hotter Than July and you'll hear how cushy it is--polyrhythmic pop rather than polyrhythmic rock. Stevie's effervescence is so indomitable that it's a pleasure even so, but nothing rises far enough out of the stew".
Ron Wynn of AllMusic, gave a 3 out of 5 stars rating saying, "Although it went platinum, nothing stands as better evidence of how cyclical the pop experience is than the response to In Square Circle. Wonder actually wrote some superb songs, and several, like "Overjoyed" and "I Love You Too Much," were superior to the hit single "Part-Time Lover." But that one zoomed to the top spot and became the album's definitive tune in the minds of many."
RJ Smith of Spin called the album, "a pleasant muttering packaged as a Major Statement. Where's the energy and comedy of the man who turns into a mercurial mimic on stage? The lights are on, but nobody's home."
Stephen Holden of the New York Times declared "Chock full of surging chromatic melodies, powerful dance rhythms and churning synthesized instrumentation, In Square Circle is classic Stevie Wonder in the way it combines extremes of primitivism and lofty spiritual and artistic aspiration. Like all of Mr. Wonder's best records, In Square Circle is an allegorical pop mural whose panels each suggest a different symbolic tableau. Musically, the album is more concise and less experimental than the sprawling two-disk sets, Songs in the Key of Life and the Journey Through [the Secret Life of Plants]. His latest songs are also more consistently melodic and danceable than those on his 1980 album, Hotter Than July."
Wonder also won a Grammy for the album, in the category of Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
Track listing
'''Notes'''Personnel
Musicians"Part-Time Lover"
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums
- Luther Vandross – lead vocal, background vocal
- Syreeta Wright – background vocal
- Philip Bailey – background vocal
- Keith John – background vocal
- Melody McCully, Billy Durham, Peter Byrne, Renee Hardaway, Darryl Phinnessee – background vocal
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion
- Keith John – background vocal
- Darryl Phinnessee – background vocal
- Deniece Williams – background vocal
- Howard Smith – background vocal
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, harpsichord, accordion
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion, harmonica
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer, drums, percussion
- Edwin Birdsong – Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer
- Larry Gittens – trumpet
- Bob Malach – saxophone
- Janice Moore, Cheta Akins, Carolyn Garrett, Ruthell Holmes, Kay Gibbs, Valencia Cox – background vocal
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, electric piano, percussion, drums
- Ben Bridges – guitar
- Rick Zunigar – guitar
- Renee Hardaway – background vocal
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, vocoder
- Bob Malach – saxophone
- Larry Gittens – trumpet
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, acoustic piano, environmental percussion, Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer
- Earl Klugh – guitar
- Paul Riser – string arrangement
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion, kora
- Musa Dludla, Thandeka Ngono-Raasch, Linda Bottoman-Tshabalala, Muntu Myuyana, Lorraine Mahlangu-Richards, Fana Kekana, Tsepo Mokone – background vocal
- Stevie Wonder – producer, performer, writer, composer
- Bob Bralove, Brad Buxer, Abdoulaye Soumare – synthesizer programming
- Gary Olazabal – synthesizer programming, recording engineer, associate producer, audio mixing
- Bobby Holland – photography, concept designer
- Renee Hardaway – concept designer
- Johnny Lee – art direction
Notable performances
"Go Home" was performed during the 28th Annual [Grammy Awards|1986 Grammy Awards ceremony] as part of a synthesizer jam with Thomas Dolby, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones. It was also performed, along with "Overjoyed," on the May 7, 1983, episode of Saturday Night Live, which Wonder hosted.Charts
Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 91 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 19 |
| US Billboard 200 | 18 |