Album Title
Marvin Gaye
Artist Icon What's Going On (1971)
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First Released

Calendar Icon 1971

Genre

Genre Icon Soul

Mood

Mood Icon Happy

Style

Style Icon Urban/R&B

Theme

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Tempo

Speed Icon Medium

Release Format

Release Format Icon Album

Record Label Release

Speed Icon Motown Records

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Sales Icon 0 copies

Album Description
Available in: Country Icon
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1970 and March–May 1971 at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World and United Sound Studios in Detroit and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California.
The first Marvin Gaye album credited as being produced by the artist himself, What's Going On is a unified concept album consisting of nine songs, most of which lead into the next. It has also been categorized as a song cycle; the album ends on a reprise of the album's opening theme. The album is told from the point of view of a Vietnam War veteran returning to the country he had been fighting for, and seeing nothing but injustice, suffering and hatred.
What's Going On was the first album on which Motown Records' main studio band, the group of session musicians known as the Funk Brothers, received an official credit. The album features introspective lyrics and socially conscious themes of drug abuse, poverty, and the Vietnam War. What's Going On was both an immediate commercial and critical success and has endured as a classic of early-1970s soul. A deluxe edition set of the album was released on February 27, 2001, and featured a rare live concert shot at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center from May 1972.
In worldwide critics', artists' and public surveys, it has been voted one of the landmark recordings in pop music history and is considered to be one of the greatest albums ever made. In 2003, the album was ranked number six on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, placing that same position nine years later.
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User Album Review
At a time when Motown was better known for pop hits than music with a message, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On changed the musical landscape. It's a socially conscious and lyrically reflective piece, considered by many as his greatest work. Amidst initial resistance from his label, the album got a full release in 1971 and was an instant success. A few years later when asked about the process of making the album Gaye replied.
"In 1969 or 1970, I began to re-evaluate my whole concept of what I wanted my music to say. I was very much affected by letters my brother was sending me from Vietnam, as well as the social situation here at home. I realized that I had to put my own fantasies behind me if I wanted to write songs that would reach the souls of people. I wanted them to take a look at what was happening in the world."
The result was ‘What’s Going On’, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed soul albums of all time. A must have for any collection


External Album Reviews
allmusic.com/album/whats-going-on-mw0000651085#:~:text=What%27s%2...



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