Marvin Gaye - Marvin Gaye

Advantages: One of the greatest posthmous releases of all time
Disadvantages: a little too stringy

...To anyone who has listened to any part of his body of work, it isn't a surprise that Marvin Gaye was a huge jazz fan. Take his vocals, for instance. It was his love of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Frank Sinatra along with the stirring orchestras of vocal harmonies that surrounded him as a member of the doo wop group The Moonglows and his Hebrew Pentecostal background that served as his vocal influences. And for his first twenty years as a performer he thrilled audiences by forging an artistic style that combined exquisite phrasing and intensely personal vocal interpretations along with the ritual of discovery and submission through extravagant praise that he heard as a boy: that need to reach and be reached, to touch and be touched, to heal and be healed through majestic prayer to one's maker. You could hear... Read review

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Advantages: The timeless Sexual Healing
Disadvantages: None!

...The late Marvin Gaye remains the most definitive male voices in Soul music. He truly was an utter genius and had such a creative and artistic flair and remains one of the key influences with todays new generation of wannabe Soul/R&B singers. In October 1982, Marvin released his first (and his last) studio album for CBS Records, after fleeing from Motown Records in a bid, much like Diana Ross' exact reasons for escaping Motown, for wanting to exert total control over his career, an exercise he was most certainly capable of. The album would be the classic, Midnight Love, which though offered no social commentary or made any sort of profound political statement like much of his previous efforts had, it still stands as a compelling, solid production and a last triumph for the unbeatable legend of soul. Marvin wrote all 8 songs... Read review

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Advantages: Classical Motown for almost every (love) occassion!
Disadvantages: Perhaps been done before.

...I had been contemplating buying this "Very Best Of" collection for a while. I alredy had a few recordings such as "What's Going On", which is easily his best album. The attraction to this Very Best Of collection is probably for listeners who love Marvin Gaye but also wanted to pad out there collections. The Music: The Music as is typical of Gaye is excellent. The guy at my local store told me that they had been flying of the shelves with Valentines day the last weekend. Honey Drizzlers all over the country had been again turning to Marvin to "set the mood" on Saturday night! Who can blame them with tracks such as "Sexual Healing" and "How Sweet It Is". A disapointing exemption is that of "Music" which is very difficult to track down but excellent "Get Down" music. Sampled by Eric Sermon (if you have heard of him) for his song... Read review

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