Stevie Wonder, a multi-Grammy award wining soul artist is responsible for writing some of the 20th centuries best soul songs, and was a pioneer of the Motown music scene. In order to cover songs loved by so many and with such reputations you need to have an extremely tight band, the best vocalists around and very high production values to get the songs sounding perfect. Anything else is going to sound below par, messy and possibly an insult to the person being paid tribute to.

Unfortunately for Vernon Neily that is exactly how his last album ‘A tribute to Stevie Wonder’ has ended up sounding. It is obvious from the opening track Boogie on Reggae Women that the band has what it takes to produce a better piece of work if given the chance, the rhythm section are very tight and hold the piece together effortlessly. However particularly in this track and in many others the moment the lead guitar comes in the composition starts to lack direction and starts to sound unsure of itself. A very similar thing can be said about I wish. The ability is there from the musicians [that is undeniable], however the effects pedal has been abused and has rendered the song unpleasant to listen to.

The bands cover of 70’s funk hit Superstition is particularly bizarre, Neill and friends turn it into a heavy metal song complete with gruff scream vocals, not something that suits the song at all. Particularly when the same rhythm section as all the other songs is used, creating a weird dichotomy. That’s not to say the album does not have any tracks that deserve appraisal, the bands rendition of Isn’t She Lovely is wonderfully upbeat and guest vocalist Fabyan Irving does a commendable job, although at times he sounds somewhat nasal on some of the higher notes. Dont you worry about a thing also has moments that are a joy to listen to, with some desirable guitar playing from Kiko Loureiro.

The main problem with the record is the production, which in many respects lets the entire album down. For once in my life could have been something truly brilliant, however unfortunately it is difficult to tell when the vocals are so badly mixed with the instruments. As a result the song ends up resembling a karaoke song, as it sounds as if their has been no real mixing of audio levels on the track, furthermore their is a noticeable echo on the vocals that makes it sound very amateurish.

On paper the ideas behind the album look very well conceived, ten tracks of Stevie Wonder songs featuring guest musicians and vocalists. Disappointingly however, the album falls far short of exciting and instead sounds like a wasted effort. Perhaps if more money had been spent on it and it was more clear what kind of tribute they were trying to pay the album would have been a masterpiece. After all the songs are brilliant, it’s what Vernon Neilly’s done with them that is the problem.