In Our Lifetime

One of Marvin Gaye’s most overlooked and underrated concept albums, In Our Lifetime?, as it was originally titled, was another example of the legendary soul singer’s insightful social commentary and skill as a composer. In Our Lifetime is one of two albums, along with Trouble Man entirely composed by Marvin Gaye alone.

Janis Hunter and impending nuclear war were on Marvin’s mind when he crafted the record which are topics reflected in the imagery of the promiscuous woman drifting in and out of his periphery throughout the album as well as the urgent need to have a “Love Party” and dance before mankind’s time drew to a close in nuclear holocaust.

The album, however, did not sell well when it was released in 1981 and, worse, it severed Marvin’s relationship with Motown as it was rushed before he had deemed it complete.

The relationship with Motown was irreparably ruptured when they released his album In Our Lifetime without his consent. They had made certain changes in the mix that infuriated him. Marvin believed that a couple of his musicians snuck the master tapes out of London and brought them to Los Angeles. It hardly mattered. The record was shipped to stores throughout the world, and Gaye vowed never to work with Motown again.
He made good on his promise, and though he renounced the record, it remains a glowing tribute to the vitality of his musical and spiritual soul. His life in London grew wild and untamed—he was to repeat his flirtation with death—but his art grew stronger, defying even his own instincts toward disintegration and despair. – David Ritz, Divided Soul

In Our Lifetime? was re-issued in 2007 with previously unreleased tracks and alternate versions of the entire album recorded in London’s Air and Odyssey Studio.