What's Going On (1971)
0.6496Canon Score · ranked #4 all time
Aggregated from 7 of 9 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →
About the album
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by the American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World, United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye's first album to credit him as producer and to credit Motown's in-house sess
Why it ranks #4
Every list on which What's Going On appears, with its position as published.
| List | Authority | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums (2020) | Major international poll | #1 / 500 |
| VH1 100 Greatest Albums (2001) | Critics' canon | #4 / 100 |
| Rolling Stone 500 (2003 edition) | Editorial list | #6 / 500 |
| Apple Music 100 Best Albums (2024) | Critics' canon | #17 / 100 |
| NME 500 Greatest Albums (2013) | Critics' canon | #25 / 500 |
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear (union) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| TIME All-TIME 100 Albums (2006) | Editorial list | Selected |