Distant Lover!

Buy this just for Distant Lover alone. The song itself is brilliant anyway, but the version here is even better than the studio version on Let's Get It On and IMHO the most intense soul track ever recorded; the best singer of all time, Gene Page's orchestra with Ernie Watts on saxophone and a screaming audience whip eachother into a frenzy over that slow, restrained groove. "Do you wanna hear me scream, plleeaasse!"

Peformance ****, Recording has some techinal flaws

It's really a lost art. Gone are the days when top flight soul singers toured with a full ochestra. The '70's concerts on the R&B scene benefited from the Jazz era (in this case, the big band era) performers. Believe me, you never hear anything like the Marvin's backup band today.
Marvin Gaye was never completely comfortable on stage. His vocals here rarely rises to the full zenith witness on vinly. But then again by the time of "Let's Get it On", Gaye had adopted a laid-back approach(which latter on influenced Frankie Beverley) to his music and it is very evident on this live recording.
Highlights on the album are "Trouble Man", "Distant Lover" and '60's medley suite. The two big hits are nothing special and pale considerably to the studio versions.
For the most part the audio quality is fine, if not a little "too sweet". But even this new remastered CD contains the same annoying mic feedbacks found on the orignal LP.

Solid, if predictable, live set.

Most live albums have difficulty overcoming their predictability and lack of structure, and this one is no exception. However, Marvin Gaye was a performer blessed with enough mesmerizing talent that many these problems are compensated for. I do wish that he wouldn't run through the medley of his sixties hits so quickly, but the performance of his seventies hits are great, with top-notch renditions of "Let's Get It On" and "What's Going On." Since it was it first solo release since the massive success LET'S GET IT ON, LIVE flew into the Top Ten and proved that live albums could be big sellers as well. While most listeners will be better off with the LONDON PALLADIUM concert disc, dedicated fans will want to own this one too.