Review: James Brown, In Jungle Groove *****

In Austin, there is a famous, local, independent record store called Waterloo records; its one of those stores that, in way, both defines and reflects Austin’s native culture. Anyhow, when I bought James Brown’s In the Jungle Groove, the owner and manager of Austin’s most famous record store happened to be the guy who rang it up. He took one look at the album, and looked me dead in the eye “This album,” he said with a grave tone “is my favorite recording of James. And now that I think about, it might be my favorite album in the entire genre.”

Indeed, after the two years that I’ve been listening to James Brown's In the Jungle Groove; I can say, without question, that it is the greatest musical achievement in all of human history. Or, actually, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. However, at the very least, I can promise that after you buy this album, you'll up saying to yourself, "God damn, that album kicks ass!". And while perhaps In the Jungle Groove is not history's greatest musical achievement; I have no hesitation in proclaiming it to be “James Brown's best album.”

Track one, “It's a New Day” [listen in WMA], starts the album right off with the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk. Out of the hundreds of James Brown recordings that I've listened to, I've only heard one track that has more energy than this one – and it happens to be track three on this album.

During the second track “Funky Drummer” [listen in WMA], James Brown lets his legendary band take center stage. Though most people are unaware of it, you’ve heard parts of this song countless time on the radio. In particular, the drum beat that gave this song its name [listen in WMA] is one of the most widely used samples in hip hop.

The highlight of this album is track three, “Give It up or Turnit a Loose”.[listen in wma] As I mentioned earlier, to my knowledge, there is not a single recording of James that tops this one in terms of energy, groove, funk, and soul (and what else really matters?) The listener will even pick up on how aware James is of the quality of the track. About half way through the song, James begins to freak out. The funk becomes so intense that James starts to scream uncontrollably (and I mean uncontrollably for James brown); he makes sounds that I’ve never heard come from a human being. Toward the end of the track, the band drops out leaving only a funky tribal beat and the god father himself chanting: “clap your hands/stomp your feet. In the jungle brother…” Hints, the title of the album.

Five Stars for this one... no question about it. Now, groove to this, and ask yourself why you haven't added this album to your collection yet. *****