Customer Reviews

Light Up the Night

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
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This is another example of producer Quincy Jones at the top of his game.
There was a period in the late 70's-early 80's where he was untouchable. He had a distinct sound, managed to get extraordinary results from otherwise ordinary artists, and took established superstars to new levels.

Consider the set of albums all released within a short (3-4 year) time frame: Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" and "Thriller", George Benson's "Give Me The Night", his own
"The Dude", and things like this Brothers Johnson album.

You will find impeccable, tasteful production values, engineered to standards that hold up to the most revealing remastering. Layer upon layer of drums with various other percussive instruments; fat luscious bass lines; orchestral segments with sweet string sections and funky horns; crisp (and more prominent than you'd recall) guitars and judicious use of the then-nascent synthesizer.

Above all, there were the vocals, both upfront and back-up choruses. He made people known for their voice, like Jackson, James Ingram and Patti Austin, sound as good as they ever have, and took those not necessarily known for their vocal prowess (like Benson and the Brothers) to levels they've never reached before or since.

So here, on "Light Up The Night", we have nine sweet-sounding tracks from 1980, led off by the tremendous "Stomp!"...everything a single should be. It sounds perfect on the radio, in your car or on headphones. A driving dance beat, anthemic vocals, killer horns and strings, melodies that hit you one after another with their clarity and soul. It has synth solos and bass solos (!) yet is better off with them as opposed to without them. That in and of itself is amazing.

The Brothers Johnson were masterful musicians. I still have videotapes from Don Kirshner's Rock Concert where they demonstrate their chops for all to see. They were low level stars, but among the most desired session men of their time. I swear the bass playing sounds like someone trying to tame a wild animal. He doesn't play it as much as he unleashes it.

Nothing on the album matches that initial high, but I found myself recognizing all the songs, even though I probably have not listened to this album since 1982.

The title track is a swift poppy number with soothing background vocals. Speaking of, Michael Jackson often showed up as a background vocalist on other people's albums around that time, and here does a nice job on "This Had To Be."

The ballads, like "Treasure" and "All About The Heaven", all sound like the early 80's ballads you know and love. They just happen to "sound" really really good.

Seriously...this Quincy Jones character was taking "sow's ears" and making "silk purses" as if it was as natural and easy for him as breathing.

There's an instrumental ("Smilin' on Ya") and a near-instrumental ("Celebrations"), just to warn you.

Overall, you will get this because:
a) you love "Stomp". And you should.
b) you have some affection for The Brothers Johnson. And you should.
c) you appreciate Quincy Jones' artistry. And you totally should.
d) and you can't beat the price...

If you've listened to all of Q's productions, not to mention Rod Temperton's compositions and the brothers' other works, you won't be surprised to find that this album is just as perfect. Possibly the best of all their works, this album features smooth, jazzy funk---music you can't stop dancing to.

STOMP - Killer, killer song...makes you want to stomp all night

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT - Smooth, funky song with awesome horns and lovely background vocals

YOU MAKE ME WANNA WIGGLE - Catchy and funky little number

TREASURE - Smooth slow jam, powered by the genius of Rod Temperton and Richard Heath's lead vocals

THIS HAD TO BE - Killer funk epic, with awesome synthesizers...backgrounds and co-writing provided by Michael Jackson

ALL ABOUT THE HEAVEN - Another slow jam with the smooth vocals of George allowing you to drift up into the clouds

SMILIN' ON YA - Nice instrumental with the great Jerry Hey on trumpet; co-written by Mr. Greg Phillinganes, a frequent collaborator with the Jacksons, Lionel Richie, and others

CLOSER TO THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE - Nice and simple song with great guitars powering this mid-tempo groove

CELEBRATIONS - The great Paulinho DaCosta does his thing on this groovy instrumental

This CD is definitely worth the purchase for all BJ fans, Q fans, and fans of general great funk from the good ole days...

I can vividly remember that day back in March of 1980 when I heard this album's first single "Stomp" on the radio for two reasons. One was that it had been two years since these guys had released a new record, and secondly because I sat there completely floored by the bass solo that Louis Johnson played at the song's breakdown. It didn't seem possible for a human being to do something that unbelievable with a bass! Of course I had to have the album right away, and I definitely wasn't disappointed with my purchase. Their fourth album, and in my humble opinion best one the Brothers Johnson ever made. The majority of the album is strong and contains few songs that would be considered throwaways. Highlights include the forementioned "Stomp", the title track, "This Had To Be"(which features background vocals by Michael Jackson), and the beautiful ballad "Treasure". The remaster nicely retains Bruce Swediens' excellent engineering, and the price is definitely right. Essential 80's R&B/Funk.

On the final Quincy Jones produced Brothers Johnson album the
pair pop and riff right along on the classic "Stomp" as well
as the kinetic title song,the spastic.rocking funk of "You Make
Me Wanna Wiggle" and Michael Jackson's slight discordant
"This Had To Be".But the ballads "Treasure" and "Closer To The One That You Love" are soulful,romantic fare superior to their previous slow songs.The smoothly grooving instrumentals "Smilin'
On Ya'" and "Celebrations" top off this wonderful musical cake with lots of layors and color.Whenever these two brothers get
together with Q,Rod Temperton and Jacko the results are CERTAIN
to be breathtaking.Sadly this is the only time that this happened so DIG IN!!!!!

The duo was discovered by Quincy Jones in 1974(approximately I think i was right:))In '76 they released their first album and it was a smash!between 76 and 79 they were the most successful RnB/funk group,to be honest.And the year is 1980, the American Music Industry considered 1980 as the last year of the disco era.Maybe they were misleaded, but the fact is Brothers Johnson had their all-time greatest album in 1980. First of all, as i said this album is a masterpiece.All of the songs are brilliant and bring you the optimism of soul.Must have album!Funk it!

If you enjoy Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" and "Thriller", the work of Rod Temperton and Heatwave, GQ, The Sylvers and a number of other Soul/Pop/Disco acts from the mid 70's to early 80's who produced tight, brief albums with 8 or 9 cuts and no filler, covering a wide range of moods, textures and grooves all within the confines of about 30-40 minutes, then this 4th LP by George and Louis Johnson is exactly what you want. Often (and unjustly) chided for the super smooth, polished production of Maestro Quincy Jones the Brothers had a terrific run of singles and LP's in the late 70's and early 80's with this 1980 release being thier last big hit; rightly so with stellar tracks like the title cut, "Stomp!" and "U Make Me Wanna Wiggle" leading things off. There is also a beautiful jazz influence on the ballads heard here with the gorgeous instrumental "Smilin' On Ya'" virtually inventing what is now known as "smooth jazz". Another flawless effort from one of the greatest production/performance teams in music history.

This album truly showcases George and Louis' skills as musicians and producers This album is SOLID truly an album you can put on and just let play. From begining to end it is hard to pick a favorite song (THEY ARE ALL THAT GOOD). ....

Thunder Thumbs and lightening licks do it again for the final time. This is the last album that Quincy Jones produced for the The Brothers Johnson, before they faded into obscurity. This album is filled with foot stompin tunes like "Stomp" and "This had to be"(featuring Micheal Jackson) and soft romantic tunes like"All about the heaven". Then to add more accalades to a swollen head they show off some of their jazz heritage with "celebration". This is a must not miss album, with it's Louis's rich thunderous Bass and Goeorges cool understated vocals. Quincy Brings in his dream team staff of writers and friends such as Rod Temperton(heatwave), Steve Lukather(toto), Paulho Dacosta(percussion), Patti Austin and so many more to name. You can hear how Louis had perfected the funky thumb slap on the bass which is rumored that he created. Dont miss it, or you will miss it!

The cd is great Ive been looking for the cd for about 4yrs I love it thanks so much jeff

Sometime during 1980 the collaboration between Quincy Jones and The Brothers Johnson broke up and a certain era of music came to an end. At the same time it was another beginning. In between that there was a lot of session work on the part of both prothers (especially Louis) with the newest Quincy Jones produced star Michael Jackson. As with Motown over a decade earlier Quincy had an unmistakable musical stamp but always made sure that every artist under his wing maintained their own distinctive sound. For example this album contains all the same musicians (Greg Phillinganes,Rod Temperton,Jerry Hey and Paulinho DaCosta to name a several) that appeared on Mike's Off the Wall a year before and was recorded in the same place,some it possibly at the same time. All the same the musical priorities are very different. This album emphasizes more synthesizers and electronics and generally a more musicianly flavor than backup for a vocalist. The music comes first,not the singing and that defines where this stands in the early 80's Quincy Jones cannon.

This nine track album is filled with a pretty diverse range of musical treasures. In fact there's actually a song by the title "Treasure",a very Heatwave style soul ballad sung by Alex Weir doing his best Johnny Wilder impression (note there's only ONE Johnny Wilder). There are four very impressive sophistifunk tunes here,making this overall the slickest and glossiest album the Johnson's made up to this point. "Stomp" and the title song,with it's cosmic synths and bass moogs are classic dance friendly funk with some the brothers finest bass and guitar work. "You Make Me Wanna Wiggle" is one of their finest examples of hard core funk,slower than some of the other uptempo tunes here and of course that's why it funk's harder. "This Had To Be" of course brings MJ himself on vocal harmonies (his trademark "WHOOO!" even shows up on the bridge) on a fierce electro funk number.

The latter half of the album showcases a more organic urban contemporary flow with ballads such as "This Had To Be" and the midtempo "Closer To The One You Love" having the same sort of flavor Temperton and Quincy baught to Patti Austin and James Ingram during this same period."Smilin' On Ya" has a great jazzy guitar hook and actually gets into some more stomping funk around the bridge. Ditto for the latin carnival flavored closer "Celebrations",where the tempo goes from slinky urban pop jazz and to celebratory funk in the blink of an eye. As the closer to the Quincy Jones era this emmerges as one of the Johnson's finest albums and has the distinction of being both very consistant and very diverse. How many albums can you say that about? If this had been the very last album they ever released they'd have had the distinction of never having released a bad album and going out on top. As it was they at least closed out this phase of their careers on a creative and commercial highpoint.