Marvin Gaye At His Best

Quite frankly, "Moods of Marvin Gaye" is one of the greatest albums Marvin ever put out. It is simply incredible to hear these Sinatra like songs. The music is excellent, and Marvin's voice sounds golden. My personal favorite tracks are number 7, "Night Life," number 11, "I Worry `Bout You," and number 12, "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)." These are songs that can instantly set the mood in any nightclub. The sound is reminiscent of that of the 1920's. Imagine yourself during the Harlem Renaissance at an exclusive club, sipping on your favorite drink, and listening to the band. As the band plays on, you admire people in their pinstriped suits and sultry dresses. Through the cloud of cigarette smoke, you see a well dressed man walking up to the RCA 44 Ribbon Style Microphone, and as he begins to sing, the crowd is breath taken. That man is Marvin Gaye, and this is a classic album.

What's even better is that you get the album "In The Groove" as a bonus! You can't beat that with a bat! Get this album right away!

Vintage Marvin equals classic Motown.

These import two-fers' are terrific. They feature terrific sound quality and great packaging. The albums included are:



MOODS OF MARVIN GAYE (1966) **** (4 out of 5) While it doesn't approach the same level of his later suites, MOODS stands as Marvin's first album to have any real consistency. The singles are terrific, including the big hits "I'll Be Doggone" (#8 Pop, #1 R&B) and "Ain't It Peculiar" (#8 Pop, #1 R&B), as well as the Top 40's "One More Heartache" (#29 Pop, #4 R&B) and "You're Unchanging Love" (#33 Pop, #7 R&B). The singles "Little Darling" (#47 Pop, #10 R&B) and "Take This Heart Of Mine" (#44 Pop, #16 R&B) just missed the Top 40 on the Hot 100, but they're both delightful and you won't find them on most of the many Gaye compilations that have stormed the market in the last 15 years. The album's first half works best with most of the hits and the rocking album track "Hey Diddle, Diddle," which is awesome despite it's silly title. The tempo slows down on the disc's last half (or the second side of the original LP), with some beautiful ballads ("You've Been A Long Time Coming," the Stevie Wonder-penned "You're The One For Me") and a couple of standards. The standards are probably the weakest portion of Moods; Marvin's take on "Night Life" is respectable, but he is far less successful with "One For My Baby." Still, MOODS works well enough to be one of his best from the sixties.



INTO THE GROOVE (1968; later reissued on CD as I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE) ***1/2 (3.5 out of 5) Marvin's rendition Whitfield and Strong's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is a three-minute masterpiece and spent a whopping seven weeks at #1, becoming Motown's biggest hit of the sixties. The single is justifiably considered by many to be Motown's greatest hit ever. This album was thrown together quickly to cash in on "Grapevine's" success, and as a result is sometimes a little spotty. The previously released singles "You" (#34 Pop, #7 R&B) and "Chained" (#32 Pop, #8 R&B) found a home here as did some material that had been collecting dust in the vaults. The infectious "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" and the towering "It's Love You Need" are the standout album tracks. The cover songs ("Some Kind Of Wonderful" and "There Goes My Baby") are acceptable filler. Marvin's composition "Change What You Can" shows his writing skills are improving, however his other contribution "At Last (I Found A Love)" is generic and forgettable. There's enough incredible songs and powerful performances to make INTO THE GROOVE a very good release, despite it's unevenness.