Out Of Sight (The Very Best Of James Brown) - James Brown

Advantages: Timeless REAL soul music
Disadvantages: Only 10 tracks

...has been reduced to comedic effect in 1980's Hollywood films. Stupid white men (like me) dancing sideways with their shoulders hunched and lips pursed in offices only to get spotted by the janitor. Strip all this nonsense away and you still have a very fine song This was recorded in 1965, was way ahead of it's time and congratulations if you can work out more than half of the word without using the lyric sheet! Mark: 5/5 MBM: "Papa's got a brand new bag. Diddaliddaliddalidda. Bang! " 5. Cold Sweat I've heard this two note brass riff on a thousand rap singles over the years, but the original still oozes superiority, still reeks of passion. It's typical Brown with just the funky drums, the picked guitar and baritone sax underpinning his vocals. The best James Brown tracks are those that build up to a feverish instrumental climax... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Pure James Brown
Disadvantages: only 1 disc

...This is a CD containing 20 of James Brown's best hits. It has songs ranging from Get Up Offa That Thing to Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, from It's a Man's Man's Man's World to Living In America. The complete track listing is below. Before i bought this CD i'd only heard of Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (bad for a DJ i know) by James Brown's but ever since i bought it i can't get enough of him. It has to be the Funk mix with the soul that does it for me. The best thing was i picked this copy up from some supermarket for a pittence of what it should have been. Only £3.50 ish i think. Is well worth the £10 a high street shop would charge. I believe it is now possible to get pretty cheap copies of the net. If you love anything James has done you'll love this CD. Highly Recommended. The track list is as follows: Papa's Got... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Contains his most well-known classics
Disadvantages: None!

...Like Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder, James Brown possessed the uncanny ability of having a distinguished, instantly recognisable and unique vocal style of his own. In his case, his primal vocal delivery was capable of such immense and impressive volume and power that was purely adrenalin-driven. Visually, James Brown was a larger-than-life figure from his wildly over-the-top slicked hairdo to his acrobatic, athletic-like dancing in his seemingly improvised stage performances. James Brown just effortlessly conveyed such raw and passionate energy both on stage and on record. He quickly became one of the giants and most important names in black music history. He has apparently disputed his birth on a number of occasions for some unknown reason though it is most commonly believed to be somewhere... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful