Sex Machine [LIVE]

James Brown

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 23, 1993)
• Original Release Date: August 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B000001E0S
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,096 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #8 in	Music > R&B > Live Albums > Classic R&B
  #96 in	Music > R&B > Live Albums > Soul

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

After the legendary Live at the Apollo and the even better Love Power Peace: Live at the Olympia, James Brown could be forgiven if this 1970 live set disappoints. But this is Brother James, so skip the forgiveness. Sex Machine is the bomb, capturing a thrilling moment in Brown's funky revolution. The disc features 12 hot and sweaty, and sometimes slinky, live cuts recorded with the James Brown Band in 1969, plus three more studio jams (including a 10-minute title track) with his next band, the great JB's. "Can I get into it?" James shouts at the top. Oh man--does he even have to ask? --David Cantwell

Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BROWN,JAMES
Title: SEX MACHINE
Street Release Date: 03/23/1993
Domestic
Genre: SOUL/R & B

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The sounds of freedom, July 23, 2005

By	Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

For those tired of today's mainstream music scene, which seems to combine the worst of both worlds with its mix of the pointlessly offensive and the blandly sanitized, James Brown's Sex Machine is a rousing shot of pure energy, a reminder that music can have the ability to move its listeners in more ways than one. Sex Machine is a supreme distillation of decades worth of black music, compressing rock, soul, and R&B into a lean, frighteningly efficient sound that's had hips shaking since its release. Regardless of your age, race, or any other irrelevant superficial characteristic, this hour-plus-long live recording's raw, sweaty power effortlessly comes accross in every dizzyingly nimble horn inflection, every razor-sharp guitar line, and every intricate polyrhythm. And of course, towering over it all is the singular presence of James himself, exhibiting his unmistakable charisma as he shouts, howls, and wails his upbeat, liberating lyrics.

This album's finest moments are to be found in its tightly-played, compulsively danceable funk numbers, most notably the opening Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine, Brother Rapp (Part I & Part II), I Got the Feelin', and the high-octane closer Mother Popcorn. Driven by propulsive grooves and frenetic arrangements, these tracks and others like them all prove extremely effective when it comes to loosening inhibitions and provoking unconscious spasms of head-bobbing and foot-tapping. However, that's not to discount the record's emotional, horn-fueled balladry, led by the supremely soulful and musically complex Bewildered and If I Ruled the World. This set also throws in the instrumental double-shot of Lowdown Popcorn, which allows you to hear the band's instrumental chops if they weren't apparent already. All in all, Sex Machine is an essential document of the career of one of popular music's most important performers, and a must-buy for non-lame-o's everywhere.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real thing - totally hot, genuine and funky, December 26, 2006

By	Charles Cecil O'meara (guilford, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Maybe the reason i don't like hip-hop is because i heard this album (and many others) by the master of minimalism and soul. James Brown released a lot of hot albums, but this one oozes sweat and energy. That simple. Listening to this album is like standing at a primordial swamp at the dawn of creation: a TON of contemporary black music is directly indebted to and descended from J.B and especially this album. Just *$^@+++$&&!&!~ing buy it already

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars **** Slack Jawed ! ****, October 22, 2006

By	Frank Booth "Vanilla Thunder" (Oz) - See all my reviews

As a long time fan of Mr. Dynamite , I have collected a LOT of his recordings, and although I do especially love the Live Apollo shows especially 62 and 67 , THIS recording IMO runs circles around those two. It's the JB's with Bootsy and Catfish Collins and Bobby Byrd and Fred Wesley that make this record SMOKE !.........It's actually from two different dates and two different bands , but it ALL works !!!........If your a fan or a newcomer who wants to hear what " The Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness " is REALLY all about , then pick this record up ........You'll soon understand what all the fuss is about ....Enjoy !