Hwo Come His Albums don't get the Love that Stevie's Get overall?? I dig Many of Stevie's the whole 70's&Hotter than July but Marvin Gaye made quite a Few Important ones as well.Curious your thoughts on this??

Marvin Gaye did not make albums that resonate love enuf? Are you out of your mind?
All Marvin's albums are about love.

*Gooey sends Mr Maxx back to school*
[This message was edited Tue Jul 16 0:33:48 PDT 2002 by gooeythehamster]

Overall Marvin's musical career high points weren't as numerous as Stevie's, if you ask me. I love Marvin, but Stevie's peak wore on a bit more consistently than Marvin's. The WGO album was a watershed in music. After that I didn't think his albums were overall as interesting. That doesn't mean I don't think he never made another good album, I just don't think any were nearly as compelling as What's Going On. Though it's definitely not the only one by him worth owning.

When it comes to a complete musical package, I give the nod to Stevie as Motown's peerless musical leader. But I think WGO is every bit as peerless as an album.

gooeythehamster said:

Marvin Albums don't seem to Get all the Respect as Stevie's Fully to Me.like Everybody will say "Waht's going On"&maybe acknowledge "Let's Get it on" but hardly anyone mentions "I Want You","Hear,My Dear","Trouble Man", that's what I'm getting at.I have all of His Albums&Books,Videos.Fully Schooled on Marvin Gaye thank you.

Speaking of Marvin Gaye,Motown/Universal is re-mastering his 1976 album 'I Want You' and it will be released this fall.It will now be an expanded 2-CD set filled with bonus tracks,alternate versions,and other goodies.Last year,they did the same for his 'What's Going On'(1971) and 'Let's Get It On'(1973) albums.

A reflection of his troubled soul.
Marvin's output is unparallelled (WGO?, LGIO) and then at times schlocky (singles B sides), patchy (IWY, TM, IOL) and troubled (HMD). He certainly gets praise from me. WGO? has consistently been of my ALL TIME FAVES! It's always so fresh and right on-point.

mistermaxxx said:

I always thought "Here, My Dear" was overrated and got it's rep because of the story behind it, that keeps the gossip blender turning, not necessarily the music on it. "I Want You" is a gem.

MARVIN GAYE YESSS!!!
i too have all the video's and books...albums posters ect...

I agree, Marvin Gaye was cut down before his time...much like the great American hero, Abraham Lincoln.

IrishEcho said:

his addiction and his family problems are his cuase of the death.
abe's fault is for saving the union and freeing blacks from slavery!

I thought Marvin went out in style (musically speaking) with the "Midnight Love" album (released in 1982). Great album that went on to be very influential. Marvin's voice was sounding as good as ever on this record.It was a very impressive swan song.

subyduby said:

IDIOT! THE ONLY CAUSE OF MARVIN'S DEATH WAS HIS FATHER SHOOTING HIM!

True, he had drug addiction problems but they were not fatalistic. He died of a gunshot,
not a drug overdose.

Stil, he was killed before his time. Much like our Greatest President.

IrishEcho said:

Irish, the IDIOT is subyduby. You're just being lambasted by association.
I got no real grief with you.

I dont know what some of y'all are talking about, but marvin is one of the biggest names among soul and jazz musicians who still talk of him as he was a living god. I think stevie is more popular among the "consumer crowd" because his musical style (singing and arrangements) is more diverse. but the main reason is that stevie is still alive and well. marvins pre-whats going on-stuff is not as strong as stevies 60s material simply because he was on a different trip trying to be the black frank sinatra.
then came "what's going on", a true groundbreaker but because of its lack of musical diversity by far not his best album. I'd consider "Lets get it on" his true masterpiece (just reissued as a 2-CD-set including various outtakes and different versions). "Marvin live" and "Live at the London Palladium" are very recommendable as well. "I want you" is outstanding love music and perfect for seducing a new lady (trust me on that one). his last milestone I'd consider "Hear, my dear" (1978), dedicated to his ex-wife mrs. gordy. anything after that is basically average soft disco music, even "sexual healing" is highly overrated IMO.
for anybody interested I recommend marvins biography "divided soul" by david ritz (who is co-author of "sexual healing"), a very touching book which helps a lot to learn about marvins twisted character.
btw, a friend of mine is executive at tri-star and her job is to read scripts and then to decide whether its gonna be filmed or not. a few years back she got one on marvin and she let me read it. it was mind-blowing. however, she turned it down. cuz there was nothing but coke-snorting scenes in that draft.

IrishEcho said:

Irish, you got a crush on abe or something? do I smell necrophelia?

Mistermaxxx, thank you for this post, I feel the same as you do on this topic. I love Stevie but I feel that Marvin never gets the overall credit that he deserves. I personally like Marvin's 70's peak more than Stevie's (Even though I may be in the minority on that point). I feel that although both musicians made great albums during this period but Marvin's albums were more stylistically diverse than Stevie's. Although the Let's Get It On/I Want You phase back to back deal with sex as the overall theme, the execution of the albums were different. Moreover, when you look at the difference from What's Going On to Here My Dear you saw Marvin's music change by leaps and bounds. Stevie's albums are brilliant as well but the follow the same format and after a while they become repetitive, with the exception of Songs in The Key of Life.(That's just my opinion). I think Stevie's albums had a greater commercial reach with songs that tackled social topics, love, and spirituality, whereas Gaye touched on social issues on the first of the decade and moved into a more sexual/sensual sound that was not as commercially viable, eventhough he had a few hits as well. Then when Marvin came with a concept album about divorce most people thought he went off the deepend. When Here, My Dear actually ranks right there with What's Going On.

Urbanhang22 said:

Fine for your opinion. I just don't follow why the two have to be compared.
Oh yeah. Both were Black artists for Motown. I'm thinking the entire spectrum
of American music. Both have legacies that shine right up there with Dylan, Cash
and other singer songwriters. I'm not gonna get caught up with building one at
the expense of the other.

Supernova said:

I just listened to "I Want You" last night for the first time in yeeeaaarrrs. I am mistaken: it's very...ORDINARY. I do remember hearing my neighbors playing Live At The Palladium a lot when I was a kid, and remember liking that one somewhat. I never owned it though. "Sexual Healing"? The worst of his songs. Overall I thought a lot of Marvin's material was hindered with a bit of sameness.

Shane Battier lists Marvin Gaye as his favorite singer of all time. However, though a big fan of Mr. Battier, I dare not listen to him just because Shane does. As a matter of fact, I don't listen to Marvin Gaye at all...

BattierBeMyDaddy said:

then maybe you should... it will make you change your avatar!