A Surprising Revisitation!

How do you make a overly reissued album classic better?Well actually this one DOES-I love all the songs on 'What's Going On'-it's a great album but I always felt that it was highly overproduced.This one starts with the original followed by a different varriation on the same album called 'the original Detroit Mix'-THIS version is far more understated in the finest Donny Hathaway tradition and truely brings out the richness of Marvin's voice and the depth of his vision-the sparer arrangement actually better expresses the music's message of urban and environmental blight.There's still orchestration but it isn't mixed so high-also forcing one to acknowledge how great a pianist Gaye is.And that's why I highly recommend that those who purchased previous issues of this CD should go out and pick this sety up-that along with a bonus disk of live material and outtakes make this the definative version of this album-to such an extent myself baught this and gave my original CD issue of this album (in this case the tepid ripoff of 1994's so called 'deluxe edition') to my dad,a fellow music lover who I felt would benifit from having the album in his collection alongside his other classics like The Beatles White Album,Curtis Mayfield's Superfly and John Coltranes A Love Supreme where it belongs!For those who want to replace an old copy of this CD with a better one LOOK NO FURTHER!For those you for whatever reason haven't been initiated-well,what more can I say-there is no better place to come!

Detroit Mix is HOT

I didnt really know any of Marvins music before i bought this cd for the original album but i got a big shock.



I can proclaim without doubt that the detroit mix is better than the final product.



clarity in the lyrics is lost in final production, the extra layers of sound (ie strings) mess up the drums (bongos) and piano that marvin and the original session artists must have used for the original detriot recording tracks.



Buy this cd for the detroit mix. Its extremely good music. Its basically the finished album but extended with excellent inprovisations.



Marvin sounds better (the stereo mixing is really good) and takes more time to get his songs out. This CD is one of the best i have listerned too. Rate it with pet sounds in terms of complete package.

Will sound like you are hearing it for the first time...

This is an incredible edition of this album (I have reviewed the album itself somewhere else).



Not only does the original sound as good as it has ever sounded but this package includes what is called the 'Detroit Mix' of the entire album, previously unreleased. It was finished approximately one month before the final mix which was completed in 'Hitsville West' (i.e. L.A.) and which was the mix that was released.



This mix is amazingly fresh. As I listen to it, I feel as if I am almost listening to an entirely different album. If I had some technical background I could probably explain it better but when listening to it, it sounds as if I am right in the studio as it is coming together. It's a bit more raw and you can here with your own ears that there is less production involved with it. It's not better (nor is it worse) but it is incredible that we have this. What is really cool is that the two vocal tracks that are dubbed in the final mix are on separate channels and the harmony and main vocal can be heard separate in each ear, especially with headphones on.



The live recording of his performance at Kennedy Center is also a treasure to behold and it is interesting to have the different versions of the song 'What's Going On' included as well. The 'rhythm and strings mix' is beautiful, helping the listener to realize the instrumentation behind this whole album.



The liner notes are terrific. Not only is the process of how this album came to be included but you will get actual notes and information on the technicalities of the album itself. There are more details and trivia here then I've seen on any edition and it takes me one step closer to what it must have been like. Coming to this album one generation after its initial release, this helps take me back in time just a bit.



If you are a fan of the album, this is a must have.