53 Years Ago Today, One of the ‘Greatest Albums of All Time’ Released
In 1971, Motown artist Marvin Gaye shocked the world with his powerful, political concept album What’s Going On. Following the story of a Vietnam War veteran returning home to a land filled with hatred, the album was an instant hit, and is still considered an all-time soul classic; in fact, Rolling Stone named it the greatest album of all time . It seemed an impossible act to follow, but Gaye did just that by releasing Let’s Get It On , another classic that appears on many lists of the best albums ever recorded. Let’s Get It On was released on August 28, 1973, and was his studio follow-up to What’s Going On after recording the soundtrack for the blaxploitation movie Trouble Man . Instead of re-treading what made What’s Going On great enough to catapult him into stardom, Gaye turned to new influences and styles, leaning into funk and doo-wop, while lyrically exploring sex and romance to heights that hadn’t been reached before. The result ...
