(The .5 deduction is because a sealed Japanese first pressing exists, and no one has ever actually seen one in the wild.)
For those who own it, it is a sacred text. For those who don’t, it is the one that got away. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: You cannot stream this set. It is not on Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal. Physical copies (the original longbox, the 4-panel digipak, and the rare Japanese pressing) command prices between $250 and $600+ on Discogs and eBay. STEVIE WONDER AT THE CLOSE OF A CENTURY RAR
Produced by Stevie’s then-manager, Keith Harris, the set was released during the tumultuous transition from physical to digital media. It contained deep cuts, alternate mixes, and live tracks that Motown’s legal team later realized overlapped with complex licensing agreements for Stevie’s Original Musiquarium and the At The Close... companion DVD. Rather than renegotiate, Motown (under Universal) simply let it go out of print in 2001. They never looked back. It is not on Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal
Do you own a copy? Or are you still hunting for the FLAC rip of "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away (Alternate Vocal)"? Sound off below. It contained deep cuts, alternate mixes, and live
For the collector, the historian, or the person who believes that a 20th century can be summarized in sound? This set is Stevie Wonder closing the book on an era he defined. It is flawed, incomplete, and legally messy. In other words, it is perfectly human.