Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On – [1971]

I’ve never really been the biggest RnB fan, so it was with some bias that I listened to this album. It’s difficult judging albums that everyone thinks are fantastic and ‘classics’ because it makes you feel pressured to like it, and make you feeling wrong if you don’t.

I knew that this album was/is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time and therefore had I high expectations. I have to say, the album did not live up to them on the first listen. I felt that it wasn’t the type of music I particularly liked, and, therefore, forgot about it. It was until a sunny June day around 3 or 4 days later that I listened to the album for the second time, and this time it hit me.

My first listen was on a camping trip at around 4:30am, running on around 2 hours sleep in a damp and dark tent. Not the intended environment for a vibey, smooth RnB classic. I think this album is definitely intending for those sunny June days, on walks, or in your back garden.

For me, none of the tracks besides ‘What’s Going On’, and ‘Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)’ are particularly memorable, but that does not mean they are bad. In fact, they are all fantastic songs, and my inability to remember the tunes to ‘God Is Love’ or ‘Right On’ probably says more about me than anything else.

Whilst I think that this album is a little too short, and isn’t packed to the brim with catchy bangers, I don’t think that these factors hinder it from being an all-time classic in, not only RnB, but popular music in general. I would give this album a 9/10.