What's Going On

Top of the newly revised Rolling Stone top 500.



It's massively overrated like isn't it. Take out the title track and you're left with a lot of meandering nonsense.
 


It is like.

Most of it's background muzak you wouldn't be surprised to hear in a lift.
This was Motown in 1971. Home of the catchy but safe pop ditties your mam and dad had been listening to for the best part of a decade. Marvin walks in one day and says to Berry "I've got some ideas!". He tackles more politics on that album than any black artist other than Nina Simone had ever done. He also dresses it up with this amazing smooth jazz/soul so it still gets played on the radio and your mam and dad still listen to it. Its brilliant.
 
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This was Motown in 1971. Home of the catchy but safe pop ditties your mam and dad had been listening to for the best part of a decade. Marvin walks in one day and says to Berry "I've got some ideas!". He tackles more politics on that album than any black artist other than Nina Simone has ever done. He also dresses it up with this amazing smooth jazz/soul so it still gets played on the radio and your mam and dad still listen to it. Its brilliant.
The Tempts had already done Ball of Confusion, and had a big hit with it. War as well, both them and Edwin Starr.

That said, I'm not downplaying the album's concept etc. I'm just saying "best ever album, ever??? Naaa".
 
The Tempts had already done Ball of Confusion, and had a big hit with it. War as well, both them and Edwin Starr.

That said, I'm not downplaying the album's concept etc. I'm just saying "best ever album, ever??? Naaa".
The title "best album ever" is fluid anyway. Some days I think it is other days I don't. It's the same with any of my faves. For me it's in a group of around 10 or 20 that can be. Like all albums, its cultural impact at the time can't be ignored.
 
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For me it's a good album, but it's not a album I've played regularly over the years. Probably played Let's Get It On more than that.
 
The Tempts had already done Ball of Confusion, and had a big hit with it. War as well, both them and Edwin Starr.

That said, I'm not downplaying the album's concept etc. I'm just saying "best ever album, ever??? Naaa".
"The only place that's safe is an Indian reservation" line always makes me laugh mind. A weirdly specific and entirely incorrect line.

Incredible song though.

The creativity around that era of Soul/Funk/Motown/Rock, like the Isley Brothers and Temptations stuff, as well as Gaye et al, Minnie Riperton,
the transformation and sort of ascendancy from safe pop to furious hot melty fucked up genre defying stuff or just incredibly specific and precisley confident production, is f***ing magic like.
 
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"The only place that's safe is an Indian reservation" line always makes me laugh mind. A weirdly specific and entirely incorrect line.

Incredible song though.

The creativity around that era of Soul/Funk/Motown/Rock, like the Isley Brothers and Temptations stuff, as well as Gaye et al, Minnie Riperton,
the transformation and sort of ascendancy from safe pop to furious hot melty fucked up genre defying stuff or just incredibly specific and precisley confident production, is f***ing magic like.
It's almost as if Jimi and Sly give them all a kick up the arse...


There's some great music like.
 

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