Grainy proto-funk from the Black Power era
mojo_navigator | 05/07/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The late '60s was a time of great change for the music of James Brown. From 1967 - 70, JB's brand of hard soul was rapidly mutating into all-out funk and this album, originally released in 1968, was an excellent example of this transition. Raw in the extreme, it has an almost low-fi quality and contains several examples of The JB team's finest work. This is definitely one of Brown's tougher studio recordings and like most of his material from '65 - '75, it also illustrates a community in transition, a community that was finally finding it's assertive voice. And Brown was there to translate it all into a musical revolution, a revolution that would compliment and give sustenance to the social one being hatched.
Down-side: as with all of Brown's LPs, there is some filler and it is true that while his git-down credentials were second to none, he wasn't averse to pulling out the ol' vegas-lounge-circuit tendancies when expedient. Still, even his 4 star recordings, like this one, are far more potent than most's 5 star ones.
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I agree with the other reviewer and add.......
Eliminator Man | Plymouth, MN | 10/06/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with what the other person said about this one. Just have to say that Can't stand myself... is my alltime favorite James Brown song. Also would like to mention that There was a Time from this album is a partial excerpt from a longer cut that can be found on Live at the Apollo part 2, which is a fairly recent 2-cd set. There is about 10+ minutes of There was a Time, which grinds to the max."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1