Lost and Found: Love Starved Heart (Expanded Edition)

Oftentimes outtakes are a fascinating companion to an artist’s official output, but Love Starved Heart is the rare collection of leftovers equal, if not superior, to the artist’s classic releases. When Berry Gordy was recording Marvin Gaye in the 1960s he was intently focused on crossover hits and passed over dozens of songs that were driven by groove or arrangement rather than melody, or songs that were perhaps drawn more to darkness than to light. Love Starved Heart collects such songs. Herein are driving, brawny rhythms (“I Found Something,” “When I Feel the Need,” “You’re a Son of a Gun”), sinewy funk grooves (“I Can’t Help It (I Love You),” “Get Away Heartbreak”) and caressing ballads (“Love’s More Precious Than Gold,” “For Both of Us I’ll Be Concerned”). The collection is so consistent it feels like a greatest hits album without any actual hits. “It’s a Lonely World Without Your Love” is so brilliantly catchy that it’s impossible to believe it was unheard until now. If you think that Gaye’s juices didn’t really start flowing until 1971, check out 1968’s “It’s A Desperate Situation,” a song as sexy and sinister as anything from I Want You.