Mike Natale:Listened to: MP3
Why is this on the list? For the track “I Got To Move”? Because that is the only track on this album that’s not on Star Time, the much higher ranked, 4-disc compilation of James Brown. Ok, so this album was the first release of Funky Drummer, but guess what? You get that on Star Time! I link to Wikipedia all the time, I know, just because it’s easy, but one sentence in it’s article ought to sum up the reason for this album’s existence. “Originally issued to capitalize on the popularity of Brown's music in hip hop circles at the time…” Here we go. There it is. This whole album is just a bunch of remixes and alternate takes. But I gotta tell you, I stand by Star Time. While I don’t agree with Nick that no compilations or greatest hits should be on the list, you should only need one per artist. This album is basically pointless.
This is not to rag on James Brown. He was a genius, and one of the greatest performers to ever live, but how about instead of giving me another set of studio takes, how about we put out more live material. Live At The Apollo is on of the greatest live albums ever, and the energy James had live could never be replicated in a studio. So why should I care about this? Don’t get me wrong., the music is fun, and some of Brown’s wailing is really on, but come on, really? Save yourself the 63 minutes, and just get a copy of Star Time. Sure it’s longer, but it’s much better. This album is a pointless exercise for completists and collectors. Star Time is more than enough, there was no reason at all for this.
Would Replace With: Either/Or by Elliott Smith
Yep, we’re going from a man who gets more than his fair share on the list (James Brown was the godfather of soul, and if this album yielded more than one track of new material, maybe it’d fly, but you can NOT put the same material on a list 3 times just because the track order is different) to a man who was criminally ignored by it. There is not a music person I talk to today who is unfamiliar with Elliott Smith, and Either/Or is arguably his best. The soft, singer-songwriter side of Elliott (a label he despised and would try desperately throughout his life to distance himself from) really shows on this album, from lamenting tracks like “Between The Bars” and “2:45 am” (the bitterest answer to “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning”) to the gorgeously understated love song of “Say Yes”. I truly wish I could have though of the lyrics “I’m in love with the word/Through the eyes of a girl/Who’s still around the morning after”. Elliott may not be a household name, but I’m not concerned with being the type I often mock, praising unheard of artists. Elliott’s a fairly well known individual (hell, he was nominated for an Oscar) and his music’s influence is obvious (“I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab For Cutie sound less original now? It should). There is much more reason for Elliott to get a slot on this list than an exploitative rehashing of Mr. Brown’s legacy. Skip In The Jungle Groove, and give Either/Or a chance. I assure you my pick will stand the test of time much better.
-Mike
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Once again, Nick Young.
Sorry for the late entry, everyone. This is the last time I'll hesitate when it comes to popping in my skullcandy earbuds and giving a highly recommended album a deserving chance.
I'll admit it- I went into today's assignment thinking I was going to replace James Brown's 1986 compilation album "In The Jungle Groove." I even had the album in mind to replace it with (can anybody who witnessed the premiere of the DVD-exclusive "They Don't Care About Us" video who isn't Mike Natale tell me they haven't been on a reinvigorated Michael Jackson kick?). After listening to this pristine funk powerhouse of an album, however, I decided to skip over MJ's last great album (for now) and go straight to the source of his vicariously drawn pyrokinetic inner light. It might be hypocritical of me to say this, but I'm going to temporarily recall my scathing condemnation on "Greatest Hits" albums for the mighty James Brown. This is a very rare occasion for me, so I hope you understand how important this album has become on this soulful new day at the outset of a soulful new decade. It's a big fucking deal.
We really do need soul music in these harsh times. We need lovers with soul power to get us through the night. In order to accomplish this, "we got to let the girls [or lovers (depending on your preference)] know what they got to do for us!".
James Brown was fearless when it came to his carnal desires. He possessed the appealing self-conscious savviness in the way he carried himself (his oft parodied soulful strut) and in the way he effortlessly articulated his carnal desires. People wonder how Lady Gaga can be so explosively erotic in, well, basically everything she does. I guarantee you the sex appeal and desire to flaunt it is not so much channeled from has-been burn-outs like Madonna or Britney Spears as you might think. No, she has lasting appeal because she goes for sex-fueled ass-pumping greatness (like the late great James Brown), not material-girl mediocrity.
"Never get too confident," Brown excitedly warns us. It's possible to lose your thing. Just look at Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley. Brown doesn't seem capable of losing it (at least not on this album). Though his voice sounds modest and his advice playfully cautious, his voice is burning with nonpareil enthusiasm. His delicately savage jazz-fusion (-ish) style for me beats the Hell out of Sly and the Family Stone. I feel like I could get down to "Funky Drummer" any day of the week- and that's the [double] truth, Ruth!
So no disrespect to the boy who never grew up, I just can't allow myself to not give credit where credit is most definitely due. Michael Jackson was like a self-denying embryo born from James Brown's soul (meaning that what he grew up into was most certainly NOT James Brown). It's well understood that Jackson could channel the immortal Mr. Brown essentially from the day he learned to speak, but had he embraced Brown's undeniably more 'normal' lifestyle (I use that term very broadly), he could have absorbed the man's raw sexuality without shocking the world time and time again.
Can you get a witness, you ask? You have one right here, Mr. Brown. You've proved to me with songs like "Get Up, Get Into It & Get Involved," I Got To Move," and most puzzlingly, "Hot Pants" (never thought I'd be typing that I like those two words side by side) that you deserve to be on this list. If anybody would like to recommend a more deserving James Brown album, then by all means please do so. I'm open to any and all suggestions.
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Well, thanks for reading. I’d elaborate more on Either/Or, but it’s my first day back to class, and I’m rushing my ass out the door as we speak. Just listen to the fucking thing, you’ll see what I mean. Well, see you tomorrow for #359: Stankonia by Outkast. Which should be fun but a briefer review, as I have a 9 am class tomorrow. Hopefully we should have a return from our resident hip-hop expert to make up for it.
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