Rolling Stone ranking: #06
Our score: 85.33
Excerpt from Rolling Stone: “In 1969 or 1970, I began to re-evaluate my whole concept of what I wanted my music to say,” Marvin Gaye said. “I was very much affected by letters my brother was sending me from Vietnam…..
Read full Rolling Stone review here.
Tom Heerman
Alright, I want to knock out the top ten. Next up is Marvin Gaye.
Connor Johnzon:
I found a copy of Marvin Gaye’s Greatest Hits in my parent’s basement when I was 18 and it blew my mind off. His voice, his arrangements, his hooks, it’s all gold. The man was an R&B prophet; simultaneously defined by and defining his era while also being way ahead of his time. He was provocative but not dirty, political but not preachy, and musical but not over-indulgent in his delivery or composition.
I’m biased here in that I love R&B. I love the soul and the delivery. As someone who grew up playing instruments, R&B compositions a pinnacle music experience for me. I don’t always get the same excitement or catharsis that I get from Rock or Hip/Hop or Country music, but the subtlety and the layering and production of a great R&B album gives me something equally as powerful. ‘What’s Going On’ delivers that in spades. The way the whole album weaves in and out of themes and songs is amazing. Side A could be one song. My favorite albums are albums that have ‘flow’, which is a term that I use a lot. The definition is ubiquitous and subjective, but if ‘What’s Going On’ has anything, it’s got flow. Do all of the songs work on their own? No. For the most part, this album needs to be listened to front-to-back. The singles — the title track, ‘Mercy Mercy Me’, and ‘Inner City Blues’ — are true stand-outs and objectively great songs, but I’m not going to queue up ‘Flyin’ High’ without listening to the whole album. That’s my only gripe with this album. But given the fact that we’re rating whole albums, I think that’s a good problem to have.
The musicianship, the singing, and the lyrics are indisputably great. It’s an important album, it has something to say. I’ve heard that the album can be interpreted as a concept album depicting the life of a black man coming back from Vietnam. I can see and hear that, and that adds a powerful dimension to it for me. Even without that interpretation though, this album is a window into black America then and now. ‘What’s Going On’ is a textbook and everyone should go back to school and learn from it.
‘What’s Going On’ is Marvin’s masterpiece. I love this album. This was my gateway drug into R&B. It got me into Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder and Al Green, and more importantly to me, it introduced me to their contemporaries — D’Angelo and Anderson Paak and Frank Ocean. They’re all working off of Marvin’s template in my opinion. They all bring their quirks and energy, but none of them would be around in the same way if it weren’t for Marvin or ‘What’s Going On’.
Tom Heerman:
I noticed similar things to your observations, except with a different conclusion. I say “What is going on” with this overblown ranking? I know this is going to seem insane based on the lauded “masterpiece” label this record has. But, folks, this record sounds pretty samey, and pretty sappy. I swear there are three or four songs with the exact same rhythm and almost the same melody. The story goes that Marvin had years of writer’s block and maybe as a result of that, or some Rock Star/Church Boy conflict, he was on drugs. Its a familiar addiction we hear about from almost every artist from the late sixties. Its a wonder more didn’t get dead. But some amazing ones did. The stupid bastards.
I will tell you that I never really worshiped at the Gaye alter, and in my opinion, this music has really faded. So I ain’t gonna start worshiping now. The political and nonsecular songs don’t resonate with me, and that is not always the case with 70’s music (which people usually associate with the 60’s), sometimes the message is united to the rock and roll and it comes across even stronger with age. But this soft R&B with flutes, terrible strings, bells and even some spoken word is lame. There are some decent bass beats, but not much variety. I really was glad when the record ended. And its most definitely not a good headphones record.
I looked around the internet and found literally hundreds of best records of all-time lists, and this one is regularly in the top 25, top 10 even. I think its a case of historical significance and sadness over Marvin’s crazy final years that manage to boost the record up the rankings. I don’t care about him that much, nor do I give much extra credit to records that purportedly have historical significance, so I will go on the basis of how do I like the music and lyrics…
Clearly, Marvin Gaye was a gifted singer, and he had a couple good ideas in there. But really, this set of songs could never hold up to literally dozens of songwriters that have some along since. Paul Simon, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Westerberg, Petty, Prince, Van, etc. They each could and did make many records with much more strength and longevity. And notice I didn’t list Lennon, McCartney, Jagger, Richards or Dylan, because No One Compares 2 Them.
I hope Marvin’s Dad doesn’t come and shoot me, but I give What’s Going On a generous rating of 28. And I will definitely never play his record again, which sounds dramatic, but its true. Lot’s of stuff to play out there, steer clear of this. 28.
Chris McJaggerly:
I agree with every word in Tom’s review. I’ll just add: I love Marvin’s voice. I’m glad I don’t have to sit through the overrated material on WGO to hear it. Cue “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing.”
Rating: 27-1/3.
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