Marvin Gaye's 1973 album, Let's Get It On, is a marvel of sexual blandishment every bit the artistic equal of, say, John Donne's best seduction poems. The difference, though, is that the poetry here isn't in the verse--which gets a trifle clichéd--but in the supple pulse of the grooves and in the aching need of Gaye's sensual voice. The marvelous title track, a No.
1 hit, riffs on the earlier hook of Gaye's "What's Going On" to reach a more primal climax, and everything else here--a steamy swirl of sax, strings, and backing voices--is sexy, beautiful, and simply sublime. --David Cantwell
“Life, he realize, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.”