What’s Going On

That was a great album, my only disappointment is its length and possibly the lack of a standalone hit. But as far as album criteria goes, it flows together seamlessly from track to track. It's by a GOAT artist of the Motown Soul genre. After reading the Wikipedia, I can see and agree with how highly this album ranks on many lists. Right On hits a good spot for me, it's so groovy.

Certified classic. Marvin Gaye is the man. No notes

One of my top favorite soul releases ever! If you can't feel the emotion Marvin is pouring out here, you must be dead.

This is perfectly fine. The transitions between songs are a joy, and you can't get much smoother than Marvin Gaye on the mic, but musically it does very little for me. Personally, I'm learning I prefer my Soul with a bit more Funk.

I frankly don’t see what gets this to "best album of all time" status for so many. Countless 5* reviews on here bring up Marvin's social commentary as the key to its importance, and one even describes it as 'visceral' -- in its release context, sure, but it feels way overstated for what I'm hearing today. I respect Gaye's message immensely, but it just doesn’t land with the same punch on a fresh listen, and as a result I do not see the timelessness others see in it.

I realize that, by writing this, I'll have to respect the opinion of someone saying the same about To Pimp a Butterfly in 50 years' time. I'll have to live with that. Let’s Get It On remains my favorite Marvin project.

Standouts: What's Going On • Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) • Right On • Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)

i like the jazzy bits

Slightly disappointed … It wasn’t bad but I expected more from such a classic album

A classic. still solid. A little too polished and intentional for it to be a 5 for me, but still great.

I don't know if I've ever heard this version of 'What's Going On' before, which seems insane, but it's not familiar to me! I've definitely heard something other than the A Perfect Circle cover, though.... maybe one of the charity ones? This version is way more peppy and wispy than what I'm used to. It's a good song, but not what I expected!

'God Is Love' has a weirdly abrupt ending.

I like that this album is so lyrically different (broadly: "global issues") from the other Marvin Gaye album we had (broadly: "getting it on"). Sometimes it's hard to tell if you're dealing with a concept album if you've only ever heard one album from an artist! Musically it's still, like, christian jazz(?), which is mellow and pleasant (modulo occasional weird percussion), but nothing all that revelatory.

Highlights: 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)', the title 'Wholy holy'

I remember listening to this when Rolling Stone updated their top 500 albuns list around 2020 and this took the number 1 spot. Not sure it'd be my number 1 but it's certainly up there and it's certainly a 5/5.

I am alright, thanks, Marvin the Homosexual. What's up?

A short album with an incredibly strong message and incredibly great music. But as corny this may sound, why is the music still so relevant today? This album talks about racial inequality, class inequality, police brutality, and war that we as U.S. citizens don't want a hand in, and in the last 10 years as I'm writing this, why is it still happening? Why couldn't this album be a time capsule or a history text book of sorts of what was happening in the late 60s to early 70s instead of being damn near 100% accurate of what's been happening right now? Let's hope something changes and when it does we can look back at the music of now and think "Hey this is just like this masterpiece of an album from 1971."

Ha Gaaaaaaaaye

Amazing voice and compositions, but it got just a tad boring after a while.

I feel I’d be doing a disservice to music if I didn’t give this 5 stars. Voice of a generation.

Marvin Gaye might just be the greatest soul singer I’ve ever heard. There’s a weight and tenderness in his voice that feels almost otherworldly — every note seems to carry both sorrow and hope. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯 is more than an album; it’s a living, breathing statement about love, faith, and humanity.

From the opening title track to 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘔𝘦 and 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴, the music flows as one continuous meditation, blending lush orchestration, subtle funk grooves, and Gaye’s deeply emotional delivery. Even over fifty years later, it feels completely timeless — a record that could have been made in 2025 and still speak to the same struggles and questions we face today.

It’s soulful, political, spiritual, and profoundly human — one of those rare albums where every second feels essential.

This is a short album, but somehow it still starts out stronger than it finishes. It's a great album, but not a 5.

This man’s voice is absolutely gorgeous.
Mercy Mercy is one of my favorites of his. That said, there are some tracks on this album that I don’t enjoy all that much, which stops it from getting all 5 stars.

malo slabije od prošlog gejovog albuma, tu ima nekih brija, al i dalje solidno

Starts on an incredible high and kinda floats along musically at this blissful high point for the whole album. It delivers when it touches on explicitly political elements, the commentary is moving and doesn't take you out of the music at all.

It really does feel (perhaps unfortunately for us) like everything talked about here could be relevant for today. While that's very depressing it seems like this record will be timeless.

Oh, I'm kinda excited to give this one a go. I mean, I was excited because it's nice to close a musical knowledge gap. and this was fine and I get why people like it but it's just not for me.