Of course, the rest is a matter of public record. Whats Going On not only proved that the Motown LP could grow up, but it also somehow yielded three huge hit singles from an LP that kind of plays like one long song. The album wasn't just a smash with audiences. Critics have long lauded its innovations, maturity, and beauty, and Rolling Stone even revised its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list recently to place Gaye's masterpiece in the top spot. Personally, I think What's Going On is primarily important for its daring originality and influence (like Sgt. Pepper's, the disc that set the template for Gaye's), and I don't even think it's Motown's best LP-- most of Stevie Wonder's classics from 1972 through 1976 are more varied, energetic, and politically aggressive (see the magnificent mini-opera "Living for the City")--but there's no questioning the evolutionary importance of Gaye's achievement, and it's possible Wonder might not have done what he did if Gaye hadn't laid the groundwork. Plus those three hits--"What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues"--are three of the finest tracks of the seventies, which is saying quite a lot.
An album of such importance and of such contemporary relevance was not going to pass its fiftieth birthday silently, but circumstances convened to delay the anniversary release of What's Going On, which was supposed to go down last December. Not even this monument was spared the production delays that have been plaguing the vinyl industry for the past couple of years, but a 51st anniversary release is still better than none at all. And this is a beautifully packaged one.
Remastered from the original tapes using an analogue process, What's Going On sounds fabulous with all of its intricate details clearly present on flat, mostly quiet vinyl. A bonus LP that features the title track with its various elements highlighted over a series of reduced mixes on one side. A lovely "stripped version" could pass for an early doo-wop disc and showcases the heart-rending delicacy of Gaye's vocals like nothing else. A very cool early demo of the song titled "Symphony" presents "What's Going On" as a more typical Motown record with heavier beat and prominent guitar. The mono single mixes of the three hits and their B-sides on the bonus LP's other side showcase the strength of the individual songs that make up the main-feature suite. Unfortunately, that's the one side that crackled a bit, but isn't it awesome that Motown was still putting out mono mixes as late as '71?
In lieu of making-of details (which have been trotted out in plenty of other sources), poet Hanif Abdurraqib focuses his liner notes on the album's contemporary relevance, striking the same tone of sadness and frustration over the ongoing abuse of Black Americans that Gaye struck 51 years ago. You'll probably want to swap out the printed inner sleeves on which Abdurraqib's notes appear with anti-stat ones, though, since they are staticky in the extreme--I literally had to peel them off the vinyl before giving the discs a good dusting. But overall this is a very well done and respectful anniversary reissue.
