Music Banter - View Single Post - That 70's Thread - Anteater's Reviews Of Cool **** You Should Already Have

Anteater · 01-16-2010, 09:19 PM

Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear (1978)

"The greatest soul album of all time? Probably."

1. Here, My Dear (2:48)
2. I Met a Little Girl (5:03)
3. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You (6:17)
4. Anger (4:04)
5. Is That Enough (7:47)
6. Everybody Needs Love (5:48)
7. Time to Get It Together (3:55)
8. Sparrow (6:12)
9. Anna's Song (5:56)
10. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You [Instrumental] (6:03)
11. A Funky Space Reincarnation (8:18)
12. You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You (5:32)
13. Falling in Love Again (4:39)
14. When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You [Reprise] (0:47)

By 1978, the legendary sultan of soul, czar of croon, master of move Marvin Gaye was at the end of his rope. Divorced, on the verge of mental breakdown and nearly out of money, the musician who had already become legendary in the halls of Motown cut fourteen tracks to pour his sadness, longing and growing sense of dislocation into and turned the whole thing into a concept album, a catharsis to get over his various pains. And hence Here, My Dear was released in 1978 to mixed reviews and poor sales, and hence the last leg of Marvin's strange, star-studded life began its trek to a terrible, unfortunate ending.

However, as the decades passed, critics and fans alike began to look back on this album beyond its commercial viability. The heartache and inner damage that Gaye had unleashed within had actually given rise to some of the most beautiful yet most unhinged and experimental work of his mostly singles-driven career...without anyone noticing at all! The man who had brought soul to life at the beginning of the 70's had produced his greatest statement near its close, and at times it can be nearly breathtaking to behold.

There's a sense of reflection and spacious wandering from the start to the moment where this album's embers fizzle into silence. The opening title track meanders like a shining fog into the touching, almost hymnal soul of 'I Met A Little Girl', a wistful take on the joys of marriage and that joy's collapse over time, leaving both broken. But as the album lets loose its various aches and nostalgia, highlights begin to pop up in earnest; 'Is That Enough' carries Marvin's lush tones over a reggae-like shuffle while 'Funky Space Reincarnation' and 'Falling In Love Again' makes up the apex centerpiece tracks; the former is a literal wonder in spoken-word psychedelia while the latter ranks among one of the single more gorgeous and heart-wrenching cuts that Gaye ever recorded. Not a single wasted letter nor excess note pervades here; this is almost painfully raw and unpolished emotion from someone who no longer understood what it truly means to love another person, and its that sort of emptiness that makes this record come alive.

Everyone has demons inside of them, and many musicians have oftentimes tried to give form to such things through the music they craft and set to posterity with their own hands. Marvin may not have created the greatest soul album of all time in this singular attempt to exorcise himself of his negativity and regrets, but he came pretty damn close here. These are tracks wrought with frustration, nails digging into the palms, the works. It's unfocused at times, lyrically oblique at others, lost in a haze so often...and it all comes together just like that before you even realize it as you journey down the minutes.

For people who stopped on Marvin Gaye at What's Going On, or even for those who want to hear some of the best this man could bring about musically, pick Here, My Dear up immediately. The only thing you'll regret is the fact you didn't have it in your collection before now!