What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye

1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Taylor Swift

Leaving country behind for pop in earnest, Taylor uses nostalgia to move forward.

It’s easy to forget that in 2014, Taylor Swift was still approaching an inflection point, reintroducing herself (at just 24) as the all-conquering presence we know today. She’d already started adjusting the ratio of country to pop on 2010’s Speak Now and 2012’s Red, working with Swedish superproducers Max Martin and Shellback on the latter. On 1989, Swift did away with the idea of ratios entirely.

Like Shania Twain’s Come On Over or even Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, 1989 is an instance in which an artist defies expectations and thrives. Swift didn’t exactly grow up with the synthesized, ’80s-inspired sounds that producers like Martin, Shellback, Ryan Tedder, and future bestie Jack Antonoff help her create here; as the album’s title reminds us, she wasn’t even born until the decade was ending. But just as she played with the traditions and conventions of country music on her early albums, Swift uses the nostalgia of 1989 not to look back, but to move ahead.

What’s Going On

Marvin Gaye

Proof that soul music can still be both confrontational and soothing.

When Marvin Gaye brought the title track of 1971’s What’s Going On to Motown founder Berry Gordy, Gordy reportedly said it was the worst thing he’d ever heard. The music was too loose, the lyrics too political. But even Elvis was singing protest songs (1969’s “In the Ghetto”)—why couldn’t Marvin Gaye?

“He had his finger on the pulse politically of what was happening in America.”

Elton John

The album’s genius is in its lightness. Songs drift and breathe; performances feel natural, even offhand—Eli Fontaine’s saxophone part on the title track, for example, was recorded when Fontaine thought he was just warming up. As Sly & The Family Stone channeled their anger into bitter funk (1971’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On), Gaye sublimated his in lush string sections and Latin percussion—signals not just of gentleness, but sophistication. Even in the face of bleakness (the addiction portrait of “Flyin’ High [In the Friendly Sky],” “Inner City Blues [Make Me Wanna Holler]”), he floats. The revelation was that political music doesn’t have to be confrontational—it can also be warm and inviting.

Apple Music 100 Best Albums

1989 (Taylor’s Version)

What’s Going On