"Front Line" is a 1983 release written and produced by American
R&B singer and songwriter
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, off his greatest hits compilation ''
Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I
''Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I'' is a compilation album by R&B/soul musician Stevie Wonder that was released in 1982 by Motown Records. It collects eleven Top-40 hit singles and five album tracks, including four previously unreleased t ...
'' (1982).
Critical reception
Robert Palmer
Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...
of the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
described Front Line as "a starkly economical, eloquently anguished portrait of a Vietnam veteran's bitterness and dead-end fatalism, and an exciting mixture of guitar rock in a
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...
/
Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
vein with springy funk."
Personnel
*Stevie Wonder: vocals, keyboards, drums
*Benjamin Bridges: electric guitar
*
Nathan Watts
Nathan Lamar Watts (born March 25, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.) is an American session bassist, best known for his work with Stevie Wonder from the 1970s to the present. He has served as Stevie Wonder's musical director since 1994.
Biography ...
: bass
Charts
References
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Anti-Vietnam War songs
Stevie Wonder songs
Songs written by Stevie Wonder
Tamla Records singles
1983 singles
1983 songs
Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder