Givin It Back/Brother To Brother (2 albums on one CD)
Live It Up/The Heat Is On
Go For Your Guns
Winner Takes All
Go All The Way
Grand Slam/Showdown
Inside You/The Real Deal

I already have '3+3','Harvest For The World','Between The Sheets' and several compilations.I finally decided to complete my collection

As you can see,I'm mostly interested in their 70s and early 80s work,but are there any other essential CDs that I should look for? From the 60s? What about the albums that came after 'Between The Sheets'?

Isleys jam of the day: "Here We Go Again" (1980)

SoulAlive said:

"This Old Heart Of Mine" (1966)


This album is a culmination of Isley's Motown years, needs to be apart of an Isley Brothers album collection.

"It's Your Thang" (1969)
First Release after leaving Motown. This one gonna be a hard album to find though, I'm sure you have all these songs are among your compilation Cd's.

"I Know Who You Been Socking It To"
"Somebody Been Messin'"
"Save Me"
"I Must Be Losing My Touch"
"Feel Like the World"
"It's Your Thing"
"Give the Women What They Want"
"Love Is What You Make It"
"Don't Give It Away"
"He's Got Your Love"





The Brothers: Isley (1969)
The begining of the FUNK!


"Given Back" (1971)


1. Ohio/Machine Gun 9:14
2. Fire And Rain 5:29
3. Lay, Lady, Lay 10:22
4. Spill The Wine 6:31
5. Nothing To Do But Today 3:39
6. Cold Bologna 2:59
7. Love The One You're With

This is an essential album, amazing covers of song's written by Crosby,Stills,Nash,(Stephen Stills) Jimi Hendrix, James Taylor. The Isley's do these songs some justice and then some. Isley's rendition of Dylan's, Lay,Lady Lay is so sensuous, I don't think you'll wanna hear Dylan's version again. lol.


"Brothers, Brothers, Brothers"( (1972)


I view "Given Back", "Brother, Brothers, Brothers", and "3+3" albums as a trilogy. Not to have all 3 albums in your collection is not to understand where the Isley Brothers were about to take you in the mid to late 70's/ early 80's.


"Spend The Night" (1989) "Mission To Please" (1996) & "External" (2001)








This is classic Isley's smooth laid back grooves; Ron kinda redeems himself after his "pimp phase". The two albums "Mission To Please" (1996) & "External" (2001) gotta be apart of your collection. "Spend The Night" (1989) was an Angela Winbush production, some have said it's too "eletronic"... has that 80's sound but I liked it. You'll have to make up your own mind about that album but the others, I stand by my choices.
[Edited 4/28/09 4:00am]

thanks!

I ordered a twofer featuring 'Given It Back' and 'Brother,Brother,Brother'.Can't wait to get into those albums.

...

Don't Forget This!!!!




Recorded live at the Bottom line in '72 : Funk, Rock n' Soul!!! I especially love the live version of Ohio/Machine Gun--Ernie smokes on guitar!!!!





...
[Edited 4/28/09 5:25am]

paligap said:

Yeah,I need to get that one,too! It will be my next purchase.I have the 'Live' CD that they recorded in 1993 and it is fantastic....a very energetic show!!

SoulAlive said:

Now you know, sista got that....

To those of you who have these remasters....is it two albums on the same disc,or two separate CDs packaged together?

funkpill said:

yeah,I know how you feel about "twofers"

Does anyone have the Isleys box set?

SoulAlive said:

Did you mean this one?, It's Your Thing: The Story of the Isley Brothers




If that's the one, just note that some of the "hits" on here are live studio versions, rather than the regular studio cuts-- apparently they were putting together a live studio album around 1980, but it got shelved, so they included a couple of those here. It's great for those who already have the discs and want some rare live versions, but if someone just got the box set expecting to get all those radio hits in one place--well their face is gonna be kinda tight, lol!


For example, cuts like "Groove With You", "Voyage to Atlantis", and "Don't Say Goodnight" are the 1980 "live in the studio" versions.....







...
[Edited 4/29/09 5:34am]

paligap said:

Yeah,that's the set I was curious about Live studio versions,huh? I guess I wouldn't mind,since I already have the original versions anyway.

ayo D

did you ever get the Isley's Original Album Classics 5 discer?

Cinnie said:

Nope,I didn't get that box set but I ordered three of those CDs separately.

SoulAlive said:

I don't know if you have any Original Album Classics for other artists in the series but

Basically they scanned the front and back covers of the original album sleeves, and put each cd in one card sleeve.... there's no liner notes or anything.

But it is nice if you want to have a bunch of albums by someone at once because they only cost about $30. I also got The Jacksons, Cyndi Lauper, Lou Reed, and Earth Wind & Fire.

Cinnie said:

I hate when remastered CDs are packaged cheaply,without new liner notes and photos
I'd rather buy the CDs separately,if it means I will get all those other things too.

SoulAlive said:

Good collection. I have 3+3 and Live it Up on cd. The rest of the essentials
i have on either LP or cassette. I'm not really into much of their work
before 3+3 besides the hits. I never heard inside you or the real deal
in its entirety. I would like to give them both a listen but they usually
want to much for the two fers. I used to like Do it all for you.
I would love to get go all the way on cd.

I've been going through an Isley Brothers phase, too! Up until recently, I only had like maybe 3 of their CDs. But, over the last couple of months, my Isley CD collection is up to around 13 discs! With the lack of decent,new music on the market, it's forced me to reach back and discover what I missed in the past.

kitbradley said:

I know what you mean

kitbradley said:

Amen. I'm going to get these Isleys CDs as soon as possible. Before you ask, I already got "3 + 3", "Live It Up" and "The Heat Is On" so I'm definitely going to add to the collection. I regret buying their last two albums tho, lol.

paligap said:

I saw this on a two'fer that contained "It's Your Thing". I have "Go All The Way" on vinyl but was thinking about buying the CD because I have a scratch on "Here We Go Again" in which I have no idea how it got there. But then again, I thought to myself...I'm not buying this CD just because my vinyl has one little scratch. I'm just curious to what the "It's Your Thing" album sounds like. That album may be what sells it to me.



I definately want this CD because these two albums are the only ones I don't have from the "3 + 3" era through the "Between The Sheets" era. I have the 45s "Inside You" and "The Real Deal" but I want to hear those other album tracks. I'm glad they put those particular two albums together. That was just luck.

Yeah,I'm curious to hear those early 80s albums,which I've never heard before (beyond the singles).I'm pretty sure that I will like the 'Grand Slam' album,since I love the singles from it ("Hurry Up And Wait" and "I Once Had Your Love").Gonna have alot of fun exploring their catalog!

Timmy84 said:

I refuse to buy any of their recent "Mr.Biggs",R-Kelly produced albums.I'm gonna just stick with the 70s and early 80s albums.'Between The Sheets' is where it ends for me,although I liked a few singles that came after that ("Smooth Sailing" for example).

SoulAlive said:

Me too. Anything past 1983 is off limits from now on.

I've been on a serious Isley Brothers kick lately myself. For years I only knew them for songs like "Between The Sheets", "For The Love Of You", "That Lady" and "Downlow" with R. Kelly, i'm ashamed to say lol. I really did not know too much about them aside from a few songs, but I just got into them last year really. The only album I own of theirs is "Go For Your Guns", which includes my fave song of theirs "Voyage To Atlantis". I'm not sure what to get next though. I was thinking either I should get "The Heat Is On" or maybe just buy a few compliaton/greatest hits cd's, but i'm not sure. I've loved pretty much everything i've heard from them, excluding the new stuff. I don't care for it either (Well I like Downlow and Contagious, but that it's).

Cinnamon234 said:

'The Heat Is On' is considered their masterpiece,but I'm gonna recommend that you get their 1976 'Harvest For The World' CD next I bought the remaster a few years ago and it is superb.....a strong,consistent album filled with good songs! The title track is one of their most inspired songs (excellent lyrics and message) and the album also includes the slow jam "At Your Best (You Are Love)",which was covered by Aaliyah in the 90s.That's two great tracks right there,but the album also includes "Who Loves You Better","People Of Today" and "You Still Feel The Need".Really,every song is great.

vainandy said:

.


"I Know Who You Been Socking It To"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...-ij5l4whWY

"Give the Women What They Want"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...e-lOKoOd-E

"SAVE ME"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...m_Nvg6Bu-M

"LOVE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...HqKHFl8dPg

"Feels Like The World"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...epquw9oI_M

"Its Your Thang" LP
http://music.shop.ebay.co...0405213387
[Edited 4/30/09 2:43am]