Frankly, there are enough different
Marvin Gaye
best-of compilations that are on the market, or have been on the market, that fans should be forgiven if they couldn't quite muster a great deal of enthusiasm for yet another one at the time of this release. On its own terms, this double disc is a very good survey of
Gaye
's most popular songs, starting with his first hit single in the early 1960s (
"Stubborn Kind of Fellow"
) and going all the way up to
"Sexual Healing,"
also including his big duet hits with
Tammi Terrell
. It's a good starting point for those who want a little more than a standard single-disc
best-of, or one that spans his entire career instead of just some of it. Nevertheless, the 1995
Anthology
release is a better deal from every standpoint, including more songs (47 to
The Very Best Of
's 34). It also has some good early hits that do not appear on
, such as
"One More Heartache,"
"Try It Baby,"
and
"Baby Don't You Do It,"
not to mention his 1964 duet hit with
Mary Wells
,
"What's the Matter With You Baby"
(though it doesn't have
"Sexual Healing"
). Those that are willing to spend just a little more time or money on their purchase should consider alternatives, whether
or the more comprehensive
The Master
box set. Of course, there's always a catch that might cause dedicated fans to hesitate passing this by entirely, namely two rare tracks. One's a previously unreleased stereo mix of the spiritual
"His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
The other, more interesting find is the previously unreleased 1972 track
"Where Are We Going?,"
a fair but not great track in the same vein as material from the
What's Going On
album, but
poppier
; the song was also done by
Donald Byrd
on his
Black Byrd
record. ~ Richie Unterberger