While this isn’t Marvin’s best Motown side so far – it’s bizarre, and it’s miserable, it’s probably my favourite. It’s raw, it’s honest, it’s painful, it’s beautiful, it’s everything I want when I go to Marvin’s later albums. Quite some going. (9)
In the midst of Motown’s glorious mid-Sixties Golden Age, it’s a nice enough throwback, but one that feels more like an aperitif than a main course. (6)
Brilliant (if not in the way that’s generally accepted), but it isn’t the record Martha and the Vandellas deserve to be remembered for. That doesn’t stop it from being a classic, of course. (8)
He sounds so into what he’s doing, it’s positively infectious. If you’re humming it to yourself as you read this, I bet you’re smiling too. (8)
Almost totally ephemeral and done largely without feeling; its main achievement is to inadvertently highlight what a good job Marvin Gaye had done with the same material. (4)
Fun enough on its own merits, and it certainly did its job – there’s plenty to enjoy here. I’d just be surprised if this was anyone’s favourite Marvin Gaye record. (6)
In front of it all, there’s Marvin Gaye, electric, mesmerising, a star in the making. America had seen his future, just as Motown had done a year before, and it wasn’t knocking out MOR pap like “Mr Sandman”. (7)
This is one of the most important of all Motown records, not just because it’s so much fun, or because audiences have had so much fun with it, but because it marks the start of Marvin Gaye’s career proper. (8)
The whole thing just works, and it’s fun, and young, and summery, and I love it. (7)
