The James Brown Show: Live At The Apollo

Respect

Not at all what I expected from a James Brown album.
A good album but not one I'll listen to very often

He’s James Brown and he’s super bad (in the good way).

A little too intense for the whole album

Again, surprised why such a great artist has only 1 album on the list and it's a live one. It's a legendary live album no doubt, however he had a run of many great studio albums as well. But still for this historical record I reckon I'll give 4 stars.

The Godfather of Soul has one album on this list. Let that marinate. Think of all the empty soulless records you've endured on this journey.

4/5.

Better than Coldplay

Fun if formulaic song structures, talented musicians and back up singers and then James and his scrotum squeeze voice. Yeah, I don't think anyone needs to hear this before they die, I certainly didn't.

What a time to be alive. Greta show.

60s production is always poor. As are live albums. A combination of the two is just so atrocious.

Not as bad as the crowd though. The start of every song was (un)welcomed with this ear-splitting shriek from the crowd that wouldn't go amiss in a slasher film.

The music itself is pretty poor too. I felt blueballed in most songs. "I Don't Mind" was going pleasantly along, I was getting excited for the chorus, then it just ended. Lost Someone was that but for 10 minutes. The couple of songs at the end were a bit better but nothing massively redeemable.

James Brown has been done dirty here. He's got miles better stuff that could have been included instead.

🗣️ OWWW!! 🗣️
Delightfully fun and soulful. The crowd going insane for James Brown adds tons of charm to the record!

I hate so called live albums where you can tell the artist has had the vocals fixed in the studio or they add extra crowd noise. With this one however you can feel the energy is genuine.

Music wise I liked the album for the most part, I wasn’t overly fussed on the medley at the end. In saying that I got busy in work when it was on so I wasn’t giving it my full attention. Maybe on the second listen later it will be different.

Top Track - Think

Energy

Have had some slogs on the list recently, this ain’t one of them. It flew by!

While the mix isn’t great- which is understandable- the king of soul’s ability to still makes you swing 60 years later.

Якщо вже слухати Джеймса Брауна, то слухати у концертному варіанті. Енергетика мені подобається, але більше 3 поставити тут не можу.

I'm quite familiar with James Brown but this album is new to me.

This was a quite enjoyable live recording of early James Brown. I'll likely listen to this again.

I have a huge problem with live albums. They are a bit irritating. But when we're talking about James Brown, things change a bit. He just sends you the best energy through the headphones. Amazing performer. But it's still a live album and there are just a handful that are done ok, so I will give this a 3 just because I love James Brown.

not the biggest fan of this genre or live performances, but i'd still say this album is somewhere in the middle of the road

if it were longer, i think i'd lower the rating, but as it is, i'd say it's enjoyable at least for some background music unlike other albums on here

James Brown's music works best for me when he's at his highest energy. So, while Live At The Apollo isn't necessarily the bag I reach into when I want James Brown, there is still an undeniable importance to this album. This may even be better as a document than an album. The atmosphere of the concert experience is captured perfectly. There's just enough imperfection, and energy crackling around here. And the, almost rhythmically, *screaming* crowd here is one of the most important parts. People go crazy for James Brown, people go crazy for the "emcee", people go crazy for the band, and sometimes, it feels like people go crazy for nothing at all. But point is that the crowd is into it. It really captures the phenomenon that James Brown was. I'll also say, the way he blitzes through songs is *improbable*. Most of these songs are under 3 minutes. Except for the 10(!!!) minute long Lost Someone, the medley, which is sort of cheating, and Night Train. And a lot of these songs are a lot of fun. I will say that for its length, Lost Someone manages to not overstay its welcome. It helps that this album is so brief as is. This is like 31 minutes long. A Third of it is Lost Someone. Another third is The medley and Night Train. Which means that the rest of this album fits into like 10 minutes! It's almost a punk rock move. And the sheer tightness of the band helps a lot. I've heard that James Brown was almost impossible to work with and I believe it. I will say, for as much of a strength the brevity is, it's also kind of a weakness. This album doesn't have much weight as it passes through my ears. But, as I said, what is here is strong. Even though this isn't what I'm necessarily looking for out of James Brown, it is utterly successful in its goals.

James Brown isn’t usually my thing, but I really enjoyed Live at the Apollo. It’s bursting with energy, and the sound is powerful from start to finish. You can tell he was an incredible live performer — the band sounds fantastic and perfectly tight throughout. My only complaint is that it’s over too soon; I wish the album was longer!

Favourite track: I’ll Go Crazy, Night Train and Try Me are great tunes.
Least favourite track: Every song is worth a listen.
Album artwork: A cool and iconic cover that perfectly suits the performance.