What's Going On (1971) Album Review

Expert Review Summary

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 3.6632 out of 4

based on (21) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 4 out of 4

(14)

Very Good

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 3 out of 4

(5)

Good

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 2 out of 4

(0)

Fair

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 1 out of 4

(0)

Poor

Music critics combined give What's Going On a score of 0 out of 4

(2)

Featured Reviews:

Rolling Stone

"In 1969 or 1970, I began to re-evaluate my whole concept of what I wanted my music to say," Gaye once said about the creation of What's Going On. "I was very much affected by letters my brother was sending me from Vietnam, as well as the social situation here at home. Read more about What's Going On on Rolling Stone

All Music Guide

What's Going Onis not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true Read more about What's Going On on All Music Guide

Rolling Stone

Ambitious, personal albums may be a glut on the market elsewhere, but at Motown they're something new. These, from two of the Corporation's Finest, represent a subversive concept, allowed only to producers the overseerstars of Motown's corporate plantation as long as they didn't get too uppity. Read more about What's Going On on Rolling Stone

All Music Guide

If it's easy to be a little cynical about Universal/Motown's2001 Deluxe Editionreissue of Marvin Gaye'sWhat's Goin' On, it's only because Motown endlessly reissued the album during the CD era, trumpeting each as the definitive issue (rather ironic Read more about What's Going On on All Music Guide

Reviews by Score:

Movie critics combined give What's Going On a score of 4.00 out of 4

See all (14) "Excellent" Reviews

The Daily Vault Album Reviews

What's Going Onis the finest record to come out of Motown and perhaps one of the best protest records of all time.Originally written in a time where there was something to rebel against, a time of radical changes so deep that most of the
...read the complete review at The Daily Vault Album Reviews

;

User Reviews

User Comments

Newsletters

Enter Email address to Reset Password

Top Music Lists

Album Rankings

New Releases This Week

All New Releases

All Time

Genres

Decades

Band Rankings

Blogs

Music Album Reviews: What's Going On

What's Going On

by Marvin Gaye

ALBUM RANKINGS:

Expand All | Close All

All Time

of 457,333

119

1970's

of 2,829

21

1971

of 233

2
Genres
- Classic Rock
  - Classic Rock
    
    of 14,308
    
    33
  - Psychedelic Rock
    
    of 3,881
    
    9
- Miscellaneous
  - Miscellaneous
    
    of 67,857
    
    52
- Opera & Vocal Music
  - Opera & Vocal Music
    
    of 40,100
    
    12
- Pop
  - Pop
    
    of 264,669
    
    114
  - Pop Rock
    
    of 64,981
    
    66
- R&B & Soul
  - R&B & Soul
    
    of 34,160
    
    18
  - Classic R&B
    
    of 1,144
    
    4
  - Motown
    
    of 1,249
    
    2
  - Quiet Storm
    
    of 2,084
    
    1
  - Soul
    
    of 24,262
    
    14