What’s Going On

I think this is a bit overrated, it’s not bad or anything, it’s all very enjoyable but I don’t think it’s as special as it’s made out to be

Also, how tf are you going to have a song called “Save the Children” and then impregnate your 16 year old niece? Like you’re the one they need saving from bro

3.5

What's going on? A fantastic fully-realised body of work, that's what! One of those albums deemed a timeless classic by everybody and their mamas, and boy do I understand it now. Definitely a step up from his previous album I listened to, "Let's Get It On", as while a project doesn't need to be revolutionary or contain a central narrative to be amazing, I do prefer it when it has something deeper to say. The lyrics are piercing in their message, yet stay hopeful and sweet. And of course, both his voice and the instruments are marvellous.

The simple statement, "What's Going On" doubles as both a questioning of our absurd reality and a plea to open our eyes to the suffering around us. Its deserving of deconstruction long past the 70's, because really, what IS going on guys? What are we doing? I'm not a Christian (I can forgive when it got a little too preachy for my tastes), but the overarching message of love, empathy and togetherness in times of strife resonate strongly, while still holding space to criticise a society that has allowed and perpetuated such meaningless waste and violence. But dreams of a better future for the beaten and persecuted don't have to stay dreams, and the world will always be brighter for it.

This is a very intimidating album to review. What's Going On is increasingly becoming people's go-to "Best Album of All Time", and when I checked it out on my own some time ago, I didn't fully get it. Although going in now, I've been through a few hundred albums on The List (TM) and my perspective is fresh. And I will say that, even though I was skeptical, I now *get it*. Even though this is often considered one of the best albums ever, people won't often tell me why, and I kind of pieced it together as I listened. Firstly, this is a capital "A" Album. The themes here are incredibly coherent, this really feels like the decisive "early 70's protest album". Marvin Gaye touches on The Vietnam War, poverty, civil rights, the environment human dignity and more in an incredibly grand and conclusive way, touching on things both very specific and incredibly universal. There's also some really interesting influence from Christianity here. It feels like Marvin Gaye has really taken to heart the idea that all people are made in God's image and taken this to the conclusion of truly admirable radical empathy. What's Going On is also incredibly coherent from a musical perspective. These songs share grooves and motifs, which morph slightly as the album progresses, I'd like to note a particular minor key run that occasionally offsets the joyful sound of this album. These songs also share a sweet and sour approach to melody and attention to detail, not to mention Marvin Gaye's gorgeous vocals. The mix here is full of keys, sax, background vocals, dramatic strings, hand percussion and more, and everything weaves in and out of itself, making it feel like the music is alive and evolving. The cumulative effect of this makes it almost feel as though this album could be listened to as a single song. Like it honestly feels like the whole first side here is a huge crescendo up to the magnificent Mercy Mercy Me. Then The run of Right On, Wholly Holy, and Inner City Blues brings us back down to reality, ending on the driving and bittersweet Inner City Blues. This album sums up it's place in time perfectly. This is a mix of joy, mournfulness, and real anger. And Marvin Gaye pulls staggering beauty out of the brutal world we live in. This still might not be my favorite album of all time, but What's Going On is pretty much perfect.

It struck me in its opening moments how formative What’s Going On has been, both musically and lyrically, on the soul and hip hop that has come since. It’s not just that it’s been heavily sampled - there is a general attitude and vibe on this LP which has made its way into the broader ecosystem.

You’d think that a political soul record would feel more serious than this but artists like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield were able to reflect on the state of the nation without wearing it too heavily. What they were singing about was serious, the way they were singing was anything but.

What makes Gaye stand out from his contemporaries is how singular a focus his most popular records have. To stay fixated on one topic for 30 minutes without a dip in either meaningful commentary or musical excellence is no small achievement.

When Rolling Stone redid their top 500 albums list they put this at the top spot and it’s kind of hard to argue with that choice. A perfect album

Pre Listen:
First album on here that's actually been on my radar as something I want to listen to, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I got a few of Marvin's songs on my playlist already, and if he's consistent, I'm sure I'll enjoy this. Expectations higher than usual.

Notable Tracks:
What's Going On - Instantly pulled me in to the album, I love the beat, love the crowded sound, everything harmonizes incredibly well. Super sweet message too with the lyrics.
What's Happening Brother - Favorite track on the album. The lyrics resonated with me the most out of any track.
Wholy Holy - Least favorite track on the album. Still musically very solid, I just dislike the lyrics. They're rather lazy, simply making short statements about your religion's most surface level messages to a slow jive isn't very compelling. Felt out of place too, considering his "God Is Love" felt much more fitting with the overall album, and had essentially the same message.
Inner City Blues - Incredibly close to being my favorite track on the album. The last minute of the "Mother" part took it away, it should've been a separate track methinks.

Post Listen:
What a cozy little album, I enjoyed it a lot, and struggled to find a favorite song due to the high quality each track held. The violins were my favorite instrumental group throughout, the flute very close behind. The percussion too, with the chimes and various drum types were much appreciated. Marvin's vocals were incredibly consistent, had good range. The lyrical work especially deserves praise I think, they mostly had messages I can get behind, and felt relevant. Considering this album's from 1971, and the lyrics still feel relevant, I'd call them timeless.

I love when albums create a flow from one track to the next with minimal breakage, it makes me want to get it on Vinyl. The majority of songs on here will likely make it to my playlist, they all had so much soul behind them. This will be the first 5 I'm giving on here to an album I haven't heard before. Glad I found out exactly What's Going On, 5/5

The magnus opus of Motown sound albums, it is a lush, beautiful, sexy experienced that nonetheless, carries with it meaningful social commentary through very potent symbolism.

10/10 [KEEP]

Classic.

6/10

The title track was really good. The rest of the album is a perfectly pleasant listen, nothing more

3.56

Déjà écouté.

Marvin Gaye s'émancipe de la "formule" Motown pour livrer un pseudo-concept album soul ouvertement politique. Tout n'a pas bien veilli, mais peu de disques peuvent se targuer d'avoir été si importants historiquement.

Top : Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Flop : Save the Children

The production on this album might still be the best of anything I’ve heard on this list so far.

Man, maybe culture is so strong… I just have such a hard time taking some of these seriously. “Save the Children” sounds like an SNL skit, while “Right On” and “What’s Going on” feel like stone-cold classics.

Pretty cool

It’s pretty good, but I think I would appreciate it more if it were more standout tracks. I mean it literally segues between songs, but it does feel a bit samey overall, to me at least. It could be that I’m just not connecting with it that much.

The fact remains that he has a great voice, and I still like the orchestral elements very much. I think I’m more of a casual fan of particular tracks, rather than his general discography.

3.5 rounded down.

Still a masterpiece all these years later.

It hasn’t lost any of its impact. I respect it more than love it is the only criticism I have.

4

It's perfect. Looking forward to checking out the dumb one-star reviews on this one.

What’s going on? Alt bare sitter så innmari. Føles så gjennomkomponert, som et klassisk stykke.

Класика. Іннер сіті блюз це взагалі найкраще.

Can you imagine being as cool as Marvin Gaye is in the 70’s? I can’t. But it’s fun to pretend for a while when you listen to the album.

Musically, 5 stars.

-1 mark for the preachy God/Jesus bits