What's Going On?
by Marvin Gaye
Review
This album is so unbelievably important for so many reasons. The stories it tells, and the message it gives is something that was important then, but just as purposeful now. The message is only one small part of the story of this album though. Marvin Gaye's switch from a (admittedly still very good) 60s Pop artist to a 70s Soul god is one of the best transitions we've ever seen in that vein. It was not without risk though, I'm sure you know the story of how the What's Going On single was a bit of a risk at the time for Motown as they were not sure it would sell very well. They only ended up ordering 100,000, and then another 100,000 because of the demand, which all sold within only 1 week. This was all done without Barry Gordy's knowledge. The song stayed at number 1 on the Billboard R&B charts for 5 weeks, so it's safe to say it was a success. That's all just surrounding the album, the album itself is the best part of the experience. We see perhaps Gaye's best vocal performances of all time presented with a sometimes mellow soul, sometimes a Jazzy groove, sometimes only serving to showcase the immense talent Gaye has. This is some of the best Soul vocals out there, it's undeniably some incredible singing. He's got a signature deepness that seriously just brings you to a place of smooth bliss, as if you're laying in the arms of god. The perfection in the entire production is of course evident in his voice, he does not miss a beat, he does not strain his voice, he puts in so much effort, while making it look effortless. The instrumental around this album could genuinely be a masterpiece on its own, it's got groovy jazz stylistics, with the perfect amount of restraint to not make it overbearing, but enough power to hold its own in spite of the vocal perfection of Gaye. The blending of the 2 is something just as important at their lone quality. That is no problem here, Gaye has such a skill of perfectly accounting for the sound being presented. This is shown very well on Inner City Blues with his simply infectious scatting. Overall, there is not a bone you could find to pick with this album, it's perfection is a personification of beauty and skill in its purest forms.
E