Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
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Free Music Notes for What's Going On
Free Music Review: "What's Going On?" is poignant and powerful!.
Hit: 5 Stars
The late and immortal Marvin Gaye left behind one of his most powerful and poignant albums of his career. At first, Berry Gordy (Motown Executive) was reluctant to release this masterwork, but was met with defiance by Gaye. Gordy's claim was that this album was "too political", but fans completely disagreed (so have I). This entire album spoke with forceful tones about the Vietnam War, unemployment, drug addiction and urban depression, all of which paints in the mind of the listener the images and misery of everyday life. As I said, truly a powerful recording that no fan should be without. Gaye was also a former member of the 50s group The Moonglows, known for their hits "Sincerely" and their interpretation of "Blue Velvet", the very same by Bobby Vinton. Gaye's voice would be silenced forever by his own father, who killed him with a handgun in a domestic dispute on April 1, 1981. Gaye, later in his career with Columbia/Sony, would win a Grammy Award for his later hit "Sexual Healing", from the album "Midnight Love". I personally also liked his overlooked "Romantically Yours" (also with Columbia), which was his take on some of the standards and classics (both recommended). Footnote: This album was a million-seller, so Gordy was proven wrong on all counts.Free Music Review: The only album to listen to, this is pure soul
Hit: 5 Stars
Now how do I begin writing a review on an album that means so much to me. Marvin was dead three years before I was born and I had nothing to do with his music until I was 12. My parents bought me a CD player and gave me some money to buy CD's on my 12th birthday. I went to the nearest music shop and all around me there were thousands of CD's but one stood out like a beacon. It was "What's Going On", still by far the best album I have ever heard, I still have my Mum's original 45 of "Mercy, Mercy Me" and even "Sad Tomorrows" which is the B-side sounds amazing. This was the pinnacle of not only Gaye's career but of music in general. This album liberated the black people and gave them a hope and a voice. Many people refer to Stevie Wonder as the man to revolutionise black music, they are all wrong, had Marvin Gaye not produced this album who knows what black music would sound like today. It is so deep ,it can be listened to in any state of mind and the listener will always feel better after just a few short seconds. To all people who have this album go out and buy "Here, my Dear" which is also superb. Lie back, relax and let this world pass you by while listening to the soulful tones of Marvin. Right on brother!Free Music Review: What's Going On
Hit: 5 Stars
This is considered the first concept album ever released by Motown, but it did not come out of the blue. Other producers had tried before Gaye: Holland-Dozier-Holland attempted to create a sort of "love concerto" in The Supremes's "I Hear a Symphony"; Norman Whitfield began to experiment with the idea in The Temptations' "Cloud Nine", and Frank Wilson almost made it a year before Gaye with the Four Tops' "Still Waters Run Deep", and he even tried to reproduce the soundtrack of a musical with "Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations", with "overture" (a terrific version of Gaye's hit "Try It, Baby"), and grand finale included. Marvin Gaye not only came with the stronger album from a thematic point of view (war, drugs, poverty, unemployment, racism, religious faith, ecology, politics), but also because of its urban-drama feel, --later found in Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions"--, and its lyrical proto-funk musical treatment. For the first time the session musicians known as The Funk Brothers, and the resident backing vocalists The Andantes were given credit on a Motown album, and Gaye had full control of his production. A great album that conveys one of the most intense moments of the United States cultural life.
Free Music Review: Songs of life and death
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow. When it comes to an album like What's Going On, it's easy to become jaded. Critics have been praising this thing since the day of its conception, have been hailing it as a masterpiece since before you even knew how to read, have apparently been putting it on a pedestal since before Marvin Gaye was born. It gets old after a while. It's the kind of album that becomes cliché before you even hear it, that's the kind of thing you can have a conversation about even if you don't own a copy. It's the Dark Side Of The Moon of soul.
Well, I have some advice for you: If you don't already own a copy, buy one right now. Put on some headphones. Turn the volume up. Close your eyes. Listen. And fly away. This album has an entire world in it, a world of wah-wah guitars and moaning strings and divine horns and mind-enveloping percussion. It's a world of textures and feelings. Emotion bleeds out of every gorgeous layer of sound, radiates from every nook and cranny. It's the kind of thing you can swim in. Listen: There's joy, despair, anguish, hope, suffering, pain, beauty. There's life in it. The critics were right on the money with this one.
Free Music Review: An absolute must-have for every Marvin Gaye fan!
Hit: 5 Stars
I really believe that Marvin Gaye was speaking to the Black community when he co-wrote the songs and released the album. The music and the messages are timeless; the issues that he addresses on this album are clearly as important and prevalent today as they were 34 years ago.
Therefore, I believe everyone should listen to the album but I also think every Black man should have a copy of the album just to remind us how far we've come and how far we still have to go.
February marks Black History Month here in Canada. This is one of the best ways to celebrate our Black heritage and the obstacles we have overcome...take a listen to songs like What's Going On, What's Happening Brother, Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler), Mercy Mercy Me, Right On and my all-time favourite, God Is Love.
The album is realistic and paints a true picture of what we face in society but also has several inspirational moments. I like to listen to the CD on my way home from a busy day at work. It reminds me of how fortunate I am to have what I have and to acknowledge my blessings when others have not been as fortunate. Peace..