AshtrayHeart Here we have is what I'd consider to be an underrated album. This is James's 44th studio album and I can kinda understand why people say this is "just another James Brown album" however it's not bad by any means, I just think it's easy to find yourself oversaturates with his music but if you were to find this album in a record store you should pick it up again it's not a bad album. The album opens with one of my favorite JB tracks "Bodyheat" a nine minute funk jam, you can't go wrong with that. The album has a strong highlight that being the track "Kiss In 77" it's a balled and a great one at that. Overall your not missing much but I don't think it should be dismissed

AshtrayHeart One of the masterpiece albums by the lengadry James Brown, The Payback is an essential funk album for any record collection, a classic album in general. Funky guitars, gritty polish production, drums on the one, and almost every jam settling around 10 minutes long and lots of hip hops DNA is here. The album is insanely consistent and is easily James's best album Perhaps not recommended for the casual soul listener, this is a collection of extended jams, there's even parts on the album that remind me of Fela Kuti the funk(or just the sound in general) here is what I'd describe as "deep" or "thick" if that makes sense. James's vocal performance here is amazing as well even his grunts are powerful everything here just has this carisma to it. Words can't describe how good this album is reading reviews doesn't do it justice, what are you waiting for listen to this!!

js “James Brown Sings Raw Soul” came out in 1967, but its hard to tell when a lot of these tracks were recorded. The King label was well known for their shoddy albums that slammed tracks together in ways that made no sense and then package it in a cheap album cover with zero musician credits. This is a very diverse set of tracks that are arranged in sequences that make no sense. If this was a DJ set, said DJ would be fired on the spot as high energy numbers collide with ballads and there is just no congruence anywhere, but the saving grace for this album is James’ monster talent comes shining through on several of the songs.

This album was released during a time when James was transitioning from his old school RnB game and moving towards the new funk sound. This would be around the time when he was hitting the public with “I Feel Good” and “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”. There are several very good funk numbers on here, including “Money won’t Change You”, “Let Yourself Go” and a couple others. “Tell Me that You Love Me” is an insane piece of high energy rhythm that verges on chaos, but for whatever reason, it fades out after only a couple minutes. There are a couple of good classic James Brown power ballads, but when he starts screeching on the old jazz ballad, “The Nearness of You”, you will be happy when that one fades too.

Then there’s the odd numbers, “Yours and Mine”, is a sort of easy listening instrumental with a very good vibes solo running throughout, too bad we don’t know who is playing it. “Stone Fox” is a rock-n-roll instrumental with an unaccredited guitar player doing his best Chuck Berry riffs, albeit slightly out of tune. “Till Then” is a sentimental pop ballad with heavily reverbed background female vocals that sound like they belong at an Elvis recording session. Yeah, papa has a real mixed bag here, but there are enough really good tracks to make it worthwhile for the James Brown fan, and there is also just enough ironic oddness for folks who like that sort of thing too.

js In 1974 James Brown was, to cop one of his favorite expressions, standing at the crossroads. In the late 60s and early 70s James was one of the most influential artists in popular music, his introduction of a new syncopated music called the ‘funk’ had a huge influence on RnB, rock, jazz, blues and gospel, but as the 70s progressed, new younger bands like Parliament, Earth Wind & Fire and the Ohio Players were making him seem more and more like yesterday’s news. Brown’s ‘74 opus, “Reality”, had some good tracks on it, but it also showed signs that James was starting to turn to material that was not of the same caliber as his previous output. There are no musician credits on “Reality“, so more than likely these are just studio cats, plus James and his long standing horn arranger, Fred Wesley.

The album opens fairly strong with the title cut and “Funky President”. Both songs have James rapping more politics than usual as he expresses concerns about the US being in a moral tailspin while also encouraging his fellow African - Americans to show unity with one another while expanding their independence and self reliance when dealing with the world of ‘the man’. The next two tracks are in an almost older RnB style, but real signs of trouble come when James tries to funkify folk classic, “Don’t Fence Me In”. Side two starts off on the ‘good foot’, but “I’m Broken Hearted” drags things down again with overlays of cringy male sex sounds. The album closes out with James’ version of “Who Can I Turn to”, a lounge classic that is just a bad fit for the Godfather of Soul.

The production on this album is super slick and orchestrated, far different from the raw power of his late 60s band, but the sparkly sheen is attractive in places, especially the flute arrangements and some well placed corny exotic harp glissandos. James voice is still in good shape on here and his energy level is high. There are enough good tracks on here to make this worthwhile to the James Brown fan, but for the newcomer, check out what James was doing previously with Bootsy on bass, that is some of the most kinetic music ever recorded on to vinyl.

boredop Love Power Peace is the only official live release from the Godfather of Soul with his most powerful band, the original JBs. The story of their arrival on the scene is the stuff of legend: when James Brown's band quit on him en masse in the middle of a tour, he flew in a young band from Cincinnati called the Pacemakers to replace them. The Pacemakers were rechristened as The JBs, and their work with Brown set a new standard of funkiness. Powered by the Collins brothers, Bootsy on bass and Catfish on guitar, the new group recorded a string of funk classics in the studio, including Sex Machine, Talking Loud and Saying Nothing, Soul Power, Greedy Man, and Super Bad.

The JBs were also incendiary in concert, and the show that became Love Power Peace was captured live in Paris in 1971. But the original JBs parted ways with Brown soon after, and the album was shelved. It was finally issued on CD in 1992, with the full show following on a 3-LP set in 2014. (This review is for the CD mix.) I can't help but wonder if this would have supplanted Live at the Apollo as the essential James Brown live album if it had been released in 1971, because it is an amazing performance.

The band includes the aforementioned Collins brothers, along with funky drummer Jabo Starks (sometimes spelled by second drummer Tiger Martin), backup singer Bobby Byrd, and Fred Wesley on trombone getting most of the horn solos. This band is so tight it's almost difficult to believe - they can switch tempos or stop on a dime based on JB's cues. (Indeed, there is video of this show on Youtube. When I first watched it I was astonished to see that some of the segues between songs which I was sure were edited for the CD were actually played live.) This can be heard right from the opening medley of Brother Rapp and Ain't It Funky Now, as the band adjusts the tempo seamlessly while amping the energy level ever upward. Catfish Collins's guitar solo on Ain't It Funky Now is both a delight and a preview of great moments still to come, while Bootsy lays down the groove in a way seldom heard before or since - often imitated but never duplicated.

The show includes two great ballads (Georgia On My Mind and an incredible rendition of It's A Man's World) but it's never a long wait for this band to get back to givin' up the funk. The centerpiece of the album is a hypnotic 9-minute version of Sex Machine, with Catfish Collins spiraling out line after ecstatic line on the guitar while Brown and Byrd repeat the familar "Get Up, Get On Up" refrain, Starks accents Brown's dance moves from the drums and the audience gets worked into an absolute frenzy. And that energy level never lets up, all the way through the closing medley of Super Bad, Get Up Get Into It Get Involved, and Soul Power. When the concert finally ends, the crowd erupts and chants James Brown's name, and you just might find yourself doing the same.