It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I will admit that I don’t ‘get’ all her albums. Some of them are a bit too musically difficult to penetrate for me (yep, and I don’t mind saying that), and I lean towards the ‘softer’, more acessible songs. I love Stories From The City Stories From The Sea, which is mesmerising. But her latest album is better than even that. Summing it up as a ‘concept album about a very English view of war’ is hardly going to prick some people’s ears up, but it’s a beautiful whole, and the time invested in it is worth the wait in my opinion.

There’s not really a weak song on it, but my favourite is probably Let England Shake.

 

 

There’s something very British about it, its subject thrown right across the battles in the past, not just recent ones, that are fresher in the memory, and easier to grab attention, but back to the First and Second World Wars, and it was a subject I was fascinated in (in a macabre way as much as anything) when I was a kid. I’ve met as many people that like it as don’t, die-heard PJ fans included, but I think it’s a worthy Mercury winner. There’s something vital about a record that is about such an emotive subject, and also seeks to cast back into history rather than just pitch for Iraq or Afghanistan.

I’d be really interested to hear what people think of it.

So, I am building a list of potential albums for the ‘This isn’t happening’ brotherhood when it’s my turn. At least half I reckon you probably already have so I thought I’d share this with you brothers.

Artist: Marvin Gaye / Album: What’s Going On

One of my favourite albums of all time, I adore it. The reason I am writing about it now is due to our previous discussion about it being difficult to get into ‘old’ albums unless you lived through them some how (even if by proxy, through parents, relatives or friends). I did not live through this album. I was introduced to it … and I realise I loose any cool points that I might have had before admitting this … but I was introduced to this album through Cuba Gooding Jr singing the title track at Tom (I am definitiely not ((Marvin)) Gaye) Cruise’s wedding in the film ‘Jerry McGuire’. I think I was in 2nd year at Uni as I bought it at Polar Bear records in Headingley Leeds and loved it instantly.

Anyway, David mentioned it being important to understand how albums came into the world and why perhaps they were ground breaking or important or brilliant or all three.

Please, give a brother 25 mins and listen to this podcast, you will not be dissapointed. I love this story and I adore this album ….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/gaye