Midnight Love & the Sexual Healing Sessions
This set's first disc is a sparkling upgrade of Gaye's final album. Hardly as frivolous as the artist claimed in the David Ritz-penned biographyDivided Soul, 1982'sMidnight Lovefinds an assured-sounding Gaye melding with smooth, rhythmically dense tracks; the thoughtful smash "Sexual Healing" is hardly the only masterwork here. "Third World Girl" nods toward Bob Marley, "Joy" perfectly captures Gaye's trademark urgency, and "Turn On Some Music" is a sex song worthy of "Let's Get It On." The second CD's archaeology sometimes gets tiring (anyone for an "alternate 12-inch instrumental" of "Sexual Healing"?) but turns up the occasional winner (the a cappella version of that song). A must for soul students and those who just want to seduce--or be seduced.--Rickey Wright