Urban Hat€monger ?

Better late than never....

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

It feels a bit strange writing this review. Normally I stick to stuff I know about or am familiar with. However here I am reviewing a man i've only really been aware of in name only and an album i've done my very best to avoid.
It wasn't avoided because of any great hatred from me towards it. It's just I have heard so much about this album and of how much of a landmark record it is I couldn't help but think that with me being , if honest totally indifferent to soul music I had a feeling that most of the message behind it would be lost on me. Somehow I even managed to avoid listening to it while I had a girlfriend who thought this was the best album ever recorded.
Luckily the week this was supposed to be posted I was able to see a documentary on Marvin Gaye and now knowing a little bit about him and what he was going through in his life at the time this was recorded I feel just about ready to tackle it.
The first thing I notice on hearing this is just how slick the production is. In fact it's so polished I have to remind myself that I am listening to something that in it's heart is social commentary. Musically the title track is faultless , superb musicianship , fantastic production , heartfelt personal lyrics , but to me something was missing. There's no dirt anywhere. Always while i'm listening to this in the back of my mind i'm thinking of Sly & The Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin On album. That album is one soul album I am familiar with and as it was a direct response to this record listening to that album was kind of like a gateway into this one. The thing that There's a Riot Goin On has over this album is that it feels like it was written and performed by someone who was pissed off. This album in comparison feels like it was written by someone who was mildly concerned rather than annoyed.
Having said that some of the songs on this album are sheer beauty , the title track itself deserves every accolade that has ever been bestowed upon it. It really is a beautiful song and it hits you like a tidal wave of sound.
Like I said at the beginning soul isn't really my thing but I like to think that I can appreciate it in some way , however I do find that ballads tend to bore me a little so a song like Flyin High literally flew over my head. Save The Children is just flat out terrible and I can't help but think this inspired even more crap in Michael Jackson's terrible Earth Song.
However on the whole my reaction to this album was better than I imagined. Of the 9 songs on the album 6 of them I really enjoyed. The title track & Mercy Mercy I had already heard before and love. The other stand out for me was Inner City Blues , A glorious slow burning gentle funk workout that brings the album to a satisfactory close.
On the whole I liked this a lot , I don't pretend to know enough about soul to say if it really is the classic it made out to be , personally I prefer There's A Riot Goin On & Stevie Wonder's Innervisions more than this. But overall it is a solid album.

Now onto the Wu Tang.

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