A Century Rar: Stevie Wonder At The Close Of
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.
This is not the later A Time to Love version. This is a raw, 1997 studio outtake where Stevie plays every single instrument live, no click track. The drums are slightly behind the beat; the harmonica solo is so loud it distorts the mic. It is a human recording. Fans call it "the ghost track" because for 20 years, it existed only on this disc. If you find a CD rip of this set, this is the song you listen to first. The physical artifact is gorgeous. The 88-page book features photos from Stevie’s personal archive (including a Polaroid of him and Marvin Gaye playing chess). But the writing is dated 1999—pre-9/11, pre-streaming, pre-Obama. The essays speak of "the coming millennium" with nervous optimism. Reading them now feels like looking at a photo of a party just before the lights went out. The Verdict: Buy the CD, Not the Download Because of the legal limbo, most "digital" versions you find are vinyl rips or 128kbps MP3s from the early Napster era. To truly appreciate the dynamic range of "Village Ghetto Land" (Disc 2) moving into the bass-heavy "Do I Do" (Disc 3), you need the CD. STEVIE WONDER AT THE CLOSE OF A CENTURY RAR
Why?
In the pantheon of box sets, few are as ironically invisible as Stevie Wonder’s "At The Close Of A Century." Released on November 23, 1999, this 4-CD behemoth was supposed to be the definitive statement on the genius of a 20th-century titan. Instead, it became a phantom—a whispered legend among collectors, a digital ghost, and arguably the most RAR (Rare and sought-after) official release in Motown’s history. For the collector, the historian, or the person
(The .5 deduction is because a sealed Japanese first pressing exists, and no one has ever actually seen one in the wild.) In other words, it is perfectly human
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.
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.
