So why is James Brown’s Star Time on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Trying to “rank” albums (or any kind of cultural output, really) is an odd and challenging task – or at the very least a colossally subjective one – I think we can all agree.
That’s the big picture, or at least an aspect of it. Then once we get down to saying, “okay, we’re going to look at as many albums as possible, which we can define as some kind of ‘collection of songs’ that have been released together at a point in time, and rank the very best 1,000 of them,” that gives us some parameters to work from. Large parameters, but parameters!
But then things can scramble up in my brain pretty easily when I look at where my final best 1,000 albums “landed,” so to speak, and recognize that R.E.M.’s Chronic Town, with its puny (yet mighty!) five songs came in at #273, and now here we have James Brown’s epic box set collection at #272, produced over a lifetime by one of the all time greats, that includes 71 songs and runs some four and three-quarter hours!
Nonetheless, I’m thrilled to showcase this massive album – released on four CDs back in 1991 – from the self-described Hardest Working Man in Show Business.
In pursuing Star Time’s track listing, the first thing that pops out is the astonishing number of songs that jump out as simply iconic James Brown songs. Of these, the one that resonates with me most of all is “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag.” Nearly 60 years after it was released in 1965, this one still absolutely smokes and sizzles while simultaneously it shakes and swings.
Brown’s singular combination of funk, soul, and R&B can literally never be replicated*. There is no artist alive who can do what Mr. James Brown did. And no one ever will.
* Not even from the new fangled AI bots, I’d wager!
If you had to tie one single song to James Brown, it would likely be “I Got You (I Feel Good),” but there are so many upper tier/elite songs that are also “classics” or “massive hits” (and usually “both”) that it gets a little ridiculous, ranging from the powerhouse and soulful “It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” to the wildly funky “Super Bad” (credited to Brown and The J.B.’s) to the gorgeous ballad, “Try Me.”
One song that didn’t make the cut on Star Time that merits mentioning is “Living in America,” which was both his final chart hitting single and was featured in the movie Rocky IV (which was a big deal during my childhood in the 1980s).
It’s a great song on its own merits – jumping, upbeat soul and funk, everything you could want from a James Brown song – but it also just so happens that Carl Weathers, the great actor and Rocky series legend who played Apollo Creed, passed away the very day of this writing. RIP.
I’ll end on what has to be one of the single best song titles of all time: “Hot Pants” (She Got To Use What She Got To Get What She Wants)*.” And indeed this is one funky number. And man, those horns – so great.
* This one is also credited to both Brown and The J.B.’s.
Some stats & info about James Brown – Star Time
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Funk, Soul, R&B
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #54
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Star Time released? 1991
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #272 out of 1,000
James Brown’s Star Time on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from James Brown’s Star Time that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I feel good, I knew that I would.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.