"Marvin Gaye envisioned a "Dancing Party album" and almost released one called Love Man.
After some consideration, he changed his mind and aimed for an album that would spotlight his religious concerns.
Bottom line, some songs were written for the Love Man album, and some were written for In our Lifetime; If you see what I mean; A great mixture.
This is also the only album where Gaye does not collaborate with any other composer, making "In our Lifetime" one of his finest albums and capture him at the prime of his musical career. No Computer work or electronics; simply perfect music all played by real musicians from A to Z.
Very highly recommended for all Marvin Gaye fans; as for any person new to Marvin's music, start with "What's going on" and "Let's get it on"
P.S Marvin Gaye was very Annoyed that motown neglected putting a question mark after the main title"
My Favorite Marvin
E. J. Goolian | Whitmore Lake, MI United States | 01/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album for some reason has slipped into obscurity. I bought it in album form when it first came out and it has remained my favorite of all of Marvin's work and Marvin is in my pantheon of all-time favorites (What's Going On, of course, is a desert island record). But I LOVE this album. The bass work of Frank Blair on Heavy Love Affair and Funk Me is BRILLIANT. I can find little on Mr. Blair on the internet, other than that he later played with Robert Palmer. I have always wanted to write him a fan letter. I shared this album with a young bass player I know who had never heard of it and he was BLOWN AWAY by Blair's playing. This album just has the funkiest groove and satisfies on such a profound level. I'm so happy to own it in both album and CD form since it is seemingly so unavailable."
Pure soul classic
Lawrence Hodges | Baltimore, MD | 12/31/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Despite the fact that 'In Our Lifetime' was incomplete when released by Motown, this album is still a masterpiece. All songs were written and produced by Marvin Gaye. Musically, the album is all you want from a Marvin Gaye album. Vocally, the album slightly falls short of his previous albums, most likely because Marvin had not finished his vocals on all songs.
The songs that really stand out on this album are the party songs, "Praise", "Love Party", "Far Cry", and "Heavy Love Affair.""
Marvin's last with Motown, and probably the most underrated
finulanu | Here, there, and everywhere | 10/05/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album has a bit of an interesting story behind it. Marvin had originally intended his follow-up to Here, My Dear to be a "party" album - the excellent extended funk vamp "Ego Tripping Out," "Life is for Learning" (then titled "Life is in Session"), "Funk Me," and the title track (then known as "I Offer You Nothing But Love") all came from the sessions from that album - there actually exists a two-disc version of this album, the second containing the complete Love Man sessions. I don't have it, but I want it. Marvin scrapped it, instead wanting to make an album about his religion and second divorce, and that's where the rest of this album comes in. Needless to say, the lyrics are quite confused - whereas "Ego Tripping Out" is a celebration of sex and drugs, "Praise" is a gorgeous, Stevie Wonder-inspired sermon. The album's nothing Marvin hasn't done before, but it still works: "Life is for Learning" is a smooth, jazzy spiritual with a touch of funk; "Love Party" has interesting creepy synthesizers; "Funk Me" has a good bass part; the rambling "Far Cry" is oddly fascinating, with Marvin mumbling lyrical fragments throughout. Granted, some of it is poor (the preachy "Love Me Now or Love Me Later" - Marvin gets so wrapped up in his message he forgets to add a vocal melody, or even sing; the title track has an annoying voiceover, a term I have by now deemed to be absolutely redundant, but it's good otherwise), and it's rarely spectacular, but it's mostly solid and interesting ("Heavy Love Affair"), and a lot more even than most of Marvin's other work.