Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (SACD 5.1)

 

Music: A     PCM CD: B     DSD Stereo: A-     DSD Multi-Channel: B+     Extras: C

 

 

When it comes to classic R&B there are certainly many great singers that come to mind.  However, there is only one artist that put the word ‘sex’ into sexy during the 60’s and 70’s, and even up until his death in the early 80’s and that name is, of course, Marvin Gaye.  His influences were that of Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, and Smokey Robinson, but Gaye would be just as influential as his music spelled out plainly what his predecessors only hinted at.  Finally, music post-sexual revolution was able to be blunt with its message and leading that movement was Marvin.  He was a true visionary, with vocals that cut through the still of the night and sparked romance in every room filled with his ballads.  This particular album influenced all R&B in this respect to follow, from Prince, all the way down.

 

Although he mainly started out doing more political and social conventions, once Let’s Get It On came out in 1973, it was evident that his music was turning more passionate and intimate.  There has never been a rival to this album with its sheer erotic nature and boldness.  Although it has been much imitated there has never been its equal!  This was the most commercially successful album Gaye ever had with Motown, though specific figures are not available due to Motown’s unwillingness to allow the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) to look at their books.  That also means no Gold and Platinum record sales certifications, until 1976.  Some others were certified later in reissues.  There was a reissue of this album that added another version of the title track as well as another version of You Sure Love To Ball, but this SACD stands with its original tracks.

 

Track Listing:

 

Let’s Get It On

Please Stay (Once You Go Away)

If I Should Die Tonight

Keep Gettin’ It On

Come Get To This

Distant Lover

You Sure Love To Ball

Just To Keep You Satisfied

 

 

Some of the tracks were also available on Forever Yours DTS CD from DTS Entertainment such as Let’s Get It On and the epic mediation on love and emptiness: Distant Lover.  There were a few problems with that disc with some of the liberties that were taken with the surround mixes, plus some of the fidelity was lacking and the vocals seemed quite buried.  Rest assured this SACD clears up all those problems from these two tracks!  Never before were the vocals as piercing as they are here.  With Let’s Get It On there is instant gratification as the first drum hit that the clarity is far superior and once the vocals come in, it makes Forever Yours nearly obsolete with exception that there are some tracks there that are not on this SACD.

 

It should also be mentioned that Marvin Gaye over the past 20 years and better, has been featured on numerous films, even to the point of absurdity.  As a matter of fact, though his previous studio album was the masterpiece What’s Going On? (1971), Gaye had done the soundtrack for Trouble Man (1972) earlier in the year before this album was released.  As for the licensing “Motown abuse”, especially where Gaye’s music is concerned, it almost gets to the point that you cannot escape his music because of its overuse and more importantly, its incorrect use.  Of course, it’s equally important to mention that Gaye was part of the final socially aware Motown movement before the label went into a self-destructive Pop direction that led to a solo Lionel Richie imploding the label and its credibility, but there are very few people today that truly understand that and lump his music with all the rest.  That’s particular why the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown was a crucial piece of filmmaking putting the spotlight onto the individuals who helped forge the ‘Motown’ sound.  That DVD is available through Artisan Entertainment, one of their best DVD’s to date, and is reviewed on this site as well as Gaye’s Live at Montreux DVD.  That program is available as both a CD set and DVD from Eagle Vision.

 

Back to this SACD, which is a Hybrid allowing for the user to play on either standard CD equipment or SACD equipment.  Audio option includes a DSD Stereo and a DSD Surround mix, both quite excellent.  As with The Who’s My Generation SACD, I prefer the DSD high-definition Stereo mix versus the 5.1 Surround version, simply because it sounds more natural, cleaner, and the concentration of the sound is more articulate.  While there are some slight limitations to the cleanness here, this is by far the best these songs have ever sounded, plus the fact that there are vocals and instruments that were nearly lost in the mix before that now surface making the songs sound somewhat different no matter how many times you’ve heard them before.  There is nothing as refreshing as revisiting old music in new ways.

 

For more on Gaye, try this link to the SA-CD of Midnight Love (5.1 version) plus a great 1976 concert on DVD also from Eagle:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6800/Marvin+Gaye

 

 

-   Nate Goss