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Critic's Review
Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
Taken from live performances, Direct Source's Best of Marvin Gaye: Live does include many of the songs for which the singer was so revered and beloved, including "Let's Get It On," "How Sweet It Is," "What's Going On," and "Sexual Healing." So the problem with the album doesn't lie so much in the track selection as in the actual sound of the record itself. Gaye's voice often sounds muted, and while the band sounds tight, again, the sound quality isn't exactly up to par to contemporary recordings or remasterings. Gaye also includes some of his later, more disco-influences songs ("After the Dance" and "I Want You") and gives a new treatment to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," but none of this is enough to make up for what's lacking on Best of Marvin Gaye: Live. Money would be better spent on either a studio album or a different greatest-hits compilation.
