Marvin Gaye:

M.P.G.(1969)

There's really two different incarnations of Marvin Gaye. There's the Motown king of the two minute hit soul record, and there's the Sex king groove master of the extended 70's jam. To me this album bridges the distance between the two, and finds Marvin in transition.

Here, My Dear:(1978)

The infamous divorce album. In 1976 Gaye found himself in quite a pickle. He was in a very unhappy marriage to Anna Gordy, who also happened to be the sister of Gaye's Motown label boss, Barry Gordy. Sticky situation indeed. After a long drawn out divorce proceeding it was finally decided that Gaye would give Anna half of the earnings from his next album. Gaye thought he'd make a quick, intensionally bad record and get her off his back. Instead the album evolved into a double album that finds Gaye exploring deep complicated feelings about his now ex-wife, and the awakening feeling for the new woman in his life. Long story short, this is a very serious adult record that's bitter, sweet, sad, joyful, and above all very Marvin. Initially this album was panned, and didn't sell that well, but with the advantage of time, and consideration it has become regarded as one of Gaye's best produced, and underrated.  

In Our Lifetime:(1981)

This record is a victim of many, "howevers". By the time of this record cocaine was Gaye's best friend. This album began life as Love Man, a desperate attempt by Gaye to have a hit, and regain his position at the top. However, drug addiction, IRS trouble, and multiple lawsuits from breeched contracts had piled up on Gaye making it impossible for him to focus on music making, let alone "happy" music making. Finally he pulled it together enough to rewrite the album with concepts about good and evil and the human condition, and pull it away from pure sex talk. A move in the right direction...However, Motown was angry at how long Gaye was taking to finish this album, and unhappy with slumping sales, and uncontrolled spending. So when the first mixes were submitted to the label, they doctored them up, and released the album...Meanwhile, Gaye was holed up in the studio editing, and trying to finish the album as he saw fit. Needless to say, he was not pleased with the label or the released album. In spite of the mild disco feel on this record, I don't mind it, and find a lot of it to be a desperate stab at a return to form for Gaye.