I Want You (Deluxe Edition)

Let’s Get It On had been lush and hypnotic, but with I Want You Marvin Gaye took his audience to an even more rapturous place. Written and orchestrated in collaboration with Leon Ware, the album generates a vortex of sound. This is a work of great texture and atmosphere. At times the band and orchestra appear to shake and flutter, as if animated by a rising hot wind. Gaye doesn’t so much lead the music with his vocals as he lets the music lead his voice. At the points where we would expect his voice to rise up, it holds at a murmur, allowing the orchestra swells in illustration of the singer’s inner torment. The music is immaculate and intoxicating, but at the time of release some stodgy critics and fans felt that Gaye had traded the social conscience of What’s Going On to revel in carnal pleasure. In retrospect, I Want You feels bolder and more personal than the works that preceded it. It represents a transformative moment in Gaye’s career, and remains a paragon for musicians who want to expand and articulate the vistas of their inner lives.