Here My Dear

Marvin Gaye | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1978
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Motown
• ASIN: B000001AKC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,561 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #22 in Music > R&B > Classic R&B
  • #41 in Music > R&B > Motown
  • #62 in Music > R&B > Quiet Storm

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Painfully brilliant., August 2, 2004

By 

Robert Johnson (Richmond, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here My Dear (Audio CD)

Marvin Gaye completely lets his guard down and stands naked on HERE, MY DEAR, the record on which he speaks directly from his wounded heart. Much more than just the chronicle of his divorce from Anna Gordy Gaye, the album is also the portrait of a conflicted soul at the height of his torment and a heartbreaking metaphor for the healing power of music.

All of the songs are terrific and they are immaculately woven together. The doo-wop of the title track sits perfectly among the intense "Anger" and the lovely, lifting "Sparrow." The transitional songs "I Met A Girl" and "Everybody Needs Love" are gorgeous and pained, while "A Funky Space Reincarnation" brings in some sly humor at just the right moment.

Though every track is individually terrific (including "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You," the probing centerpiece to the set), the entire album should be thought of and listened to as a collective work. The compositions are loose and extremely complex, which is exactly why it went misunderstood by critics and audiences at the time of it's release. Possibly the most harrowing, emotional, and brutally honest releases to ever come from a mainstream artist.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvin Gaye's Breakup Album, October 5, 2005

By 

B. Bowman "Double B" (Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here My Dear (Audio CD)

If you own a copy of "Let's Get It On" for when the relationship is going smooth, this is the album to get for when things fall apart. I've had this CD for ten years and it only gets better with time. Marvin Gaye captures all the emotions of a breakup and sings with so much emotion about his broken marriage that you can feel it yourself. He expresses the love he still has for his ex-wife, the anger about the court proceedings and attorney fees, and even takes a jab at her in the opening song for using their son to keep him in line. I think the vocal arrangements and harmonies on this album are incredible, and you get some insight into how Marvin worked in the studio from the liner notes, which also detail how the album came about. The liner notes also state how the album bombed when it came out due to the disco boom that was occurring at the time of its release. This album definitely falls under the category of overlooked gem. If you are a Marvin Gaye fan or just had a relationship hit the skids, buy this disc.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soothing for the bewildered & broken-hearted, June 8, 2006

By 

Agile Viking "alferik" (Kingdom of Norway, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here My Dear (Audio CD)

I came across this excellent gem last summer, during the final court proceedings etc. of the ugly break-up of a relationship. My ex kept suing and suing relentlessly, until she had exhausted all possibilities. She had been the greatest love of my life and... Well, don't wanna bore you with all the details.

During my trials & tribulations (literally), I was on an emotional rollercoaster of anger, self-doubt, the pangs of disprized love and what not, and absolutely nothing seemed to help. I was devastated and exhausted.

I picked up Gaye's masterpiece by coincidence, as I had seen it featured in the presentation of the all time top 100 hundred rock and pop albums, by one of the UK's largest music magazines. (Possibly Q or Mojo).

I was immediately attracted to it upon happening incidentally upon it in the shelfs of a music store, and started listening.

For all of last summer, I never *stopped* listening to it. I took it with me everywhere. Whenever pains and self-doubts and remnants of profound loving emotions for my ex came along, I put in my discman and was immediately balanced and brought into a pleasing, if somewhat bittersweet, equilibrium.

As noted by some, track no. 11, the 8 m and 12 sec puffed-up sci-fi opus of "A Funky Space Reincarnation" doesn't really belong on this album, and upsets the flow of it. But in the age of CD-players, Ipods etc., one can easily skip it, and I frequently did.

I agree completely that this is one of the top 100 albums of all time, and must definitely be one of the top 10 soul albums of the world history, at any rate.

I recommend it as the perfect antidote to an ugly and/or painful relationship break-up - as have many other reviewers on this product page - and especially in those cases involving court trials and/or lawyers.

This record will save you innumerable hours of pain and anguish, and possibly even drug store tabs.

I do not know how it will come across to someone who as of yet have been spared of harrowing relationship break-ups, and speculate that it might not resonnate fully to such fortunate, youthful people. Hopeless romantics should stay clear of it, and leave it to be cherished by those of us whose doctors would have easily prescribed it had they known it's healing capacities.

For the baggage-laden adults who have been in places where Gaye painfully wails and laments from in this everlasting, allways fresh and soulsoothing opus, I truly recommend this painstaking effort by the late soul-crooner, as his most elaborate, resonnating and to-the-core delivery effort, and as part of an anti-blues ("blue funk") regimen along with DVD's such as Atom Egoyans "Exotica", and the idiosyncratic Jim Carrey-effort of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

Feel better!