Recommendations of the Editorial team
The best soul album: “What’s going on” by Marvin Gaye
In contrast to the list of pop and rock history, the soul canon has been singing the same plate to the top for decades. Rightly so. But why is that? Certainly not just on the soul, rather minor album format until the end of the 1960s, which Marvin Gaye fulfills so masterfully here.
Atmospherically dark, limp, heavy and spiritual, is “What’s going on” from the uplift, hit-fixed Motown sound of the 1960s. At the latest in 1970, Gaye had distanced himself from his role as a hit supplier (“I Heard It Through the Grapevine”) and Motown’s Most Charming Man to withdraw and reflect the social reality of America artistically in change.
For this, a new sound that Marvin Gaye was best produced and did not want to publish Motown boss Berry Gordy at all. Even though there were already powerful forerunners for Gayes Progressive Soul. As early as 1969, Isaac Hayes had extended hit material and orchestral radio Jams to psychedelic excursions on “Hot Buttered Soul”.
The plate is actually a real concept album
And with his solo debut album from 1970, Curtis Mayfield had succeeded in a milestone of the Seventies Soul, which was hard to top: orchestra arrangements and social realism, deep soul and light songs, the loose ending outer percussion and the framework of compositional discipline came together here. In case of doubt, “Curtis” has even more good songs to offer “What’s going on”.
But neither “curtis” nor Stevie Wonders “InnerVisions” have the conceptual and aesthetic coherence of “What’s going on”. The plate is actually a real concept album because it realizes the old European ideal of organic totality.
The best soul album: “What’s going on” by Marvin Gaye
As in the great works of classical music, the “big picture” is still contained in the smallest part. You can clearly hear this at Marvin Gayes masterpiece, which basically only consists of three to four songs that are varied and newly arranged, extended or compressed. That would also be the quintessence of Prog, as it was exhausted by the Beatles on “Sgt. Pepper” and, thanks to whose pop music, was able to become “serious art form”.
No. 1 in the Soul will never change
A soul album is now part of this development, which from then on and forever the seriousness of African-American pop music can prove. The highlight is that the demanding progressiveness of the music is flanked by a plain language that was previously unknown to Motown – often prepared in dialogical communication. What’s going on? Nothing nice, even the apocalypse is just around the corner.
Large parts of the world can still board this to this day. No. 1 in Soul will never change.