What's Going On (Deluxe Edition) Jonesboro GA

What's Going On (Deluxe Edition)

Marvin Gaye

Universal/Motown, 2001

REVIEW BY: Kenny McGuane

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/07/2008

Marvin Gaye was a genius. But despite the consistently good quality of his artistic output, listening to his catalog can often be puzzling. He was lyrically schizophrenic: the over-sexed content of records like Let’s Get It On and I Want You are an unfavorable contrast to the messages contained in his powerful record, 1971’s What’s Going On. Soulful or not, anyone singing the line “Let’s get it on” runs the risk of sounding pretty silly, even idiotic. Truthfully, Marvin Gaye might have been the only artist ever who could have gotten away with a lyric like that – had anyone else been singing, it’s doubtful the song would have been as popular as it was and still is.

The fact that Let’s Get It On, released in 1973, was Gaye’s first proper studio album following the seminal What’s Going On (Trouble Man, an almost entirely instrumental soundtrack album, was released the year before Let’s Get It On), speaks to the lyrical and poetic contrasts in his work. Indeed, What’s Going On is Gaye’s most important artistic statement, one which stands out among the early Motown singles with which he was so dissatisfied and also his later self-produced, more gimmick-oriented work (“Let’s Get It On,” “Sexual Healing,” etc.). Make no mistake, both the early Motown work and Gaye’s post-1971 records are phenomenal showcases of the singer’s extraordinary vocal capabilities and musical vision, but this album is undoubtedly his best and it overshadows every other Gaye album in content, structure, meaning, and composition. What’s Going On is a masterpiece, and it’s one of the most important artistic achievements, not only of American popular culture, but of 20th century art in general.

It’s no surprise that in 2001, the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, What’s Going On was given the “deluxe” treatment. For the most part, these deluxe reissues of classic albums are just a way to convince consumers to buy a second, sometimes third or fourth, copy of an album they already own. The extras are rarely of any value and the cost is always astronomically high, twice the cost of a standard issue disc.

Motown Records, now just a trademarked household name of Universal Music Company, has re-issued this disc for two reasons: first, the most obvious and aforementioned reason, to move more copies of a 30-year-old album for twice the cost; secondly, What’s Going On deserves a closer look. The mystery and status of the album – and Marvin Gaye himself – indicates that there is more to be heard, more to be experienced, more to fall in love with. This reissue delivers on all those fronts, perhaps more than any other release in the “deluxe edition” series of discs. The album’s artwork is fully restored along with its original liner notes, including Gaye’s own message to the listener. Extended notes are included by music historian and critic Ben Edmonds, who wrote the definitive book on the album, What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye and the Last Days of the Motown Sound (also recommended). The set includes the original May 21, 1971 LP release, the April 5, 1971 Detroit mix, a fascinating “rhythm and strings mix” of the album’s legendary title track, the complete Kennedy Center concert from May 1, 1972, the original single versions of “What’s Going On,” “God Is Love,” and “Sad Tomorrows,” and the single “Head Title AKA Distant Lover,” which Gaye had been crafting for years but that would not be released until Let’s Get It On. Of course, all of this audio is gloriously restored and remastered; it’s a shame Gaye won’t ever be able to hear it this way.