Love Songs: Bedroom Ballads
Marvin Gaye'sVulnerableis the work of a genius adrift--a lavishly arranged, never-completed album of standards about unrequited love that the great singer tinkered with from 1967 to 1979, finessing his vocals and overdubbing them into a fine, layered mesh. (It was finally issued a few years ago.)Love Songs: Bedroom Balladsis a peculiar beast, combining the seven extant tracks from theVulnerablesessions with six boudoir-minded originals recorded between 1973 and 1980. It's all splendid, if a little too schizophrenic to help seduce the soul fan of your dreams. Gaye had an exquisite touch with the tender lyrical sentiments of the vintage pop he was revisiting, although he tended to get a lot more direct when he put things his own way. "Why Did I Choose You" is one of his prettiest performances, but it's miles away from "Funk Me," and the panting and moaning in the background of the fabulous "Since I Had You"--well, if Gaye had had housemates, they'd have run the dishwasher.--Douglas Wolk