"...Live at the Apollo, 1962 opens with Fats Gonder, the emcee of the evening, addressing the Harlem, New York crowd. He says, “So now, ladies and gentlemen, it is Star Time. Are you ready for Star Time?!” He then rattles off a list of Brown’s hits to further bolster the frontman’s larger-than-life persona. After a brief instrumental, the band launches into “I’ll Go Crazy,” which sets the tone for the evening. The band is inhumanly tight and every musician is an absolute slayer on their instrument. I’ll remind you that this was a Wednesday night.

The nearly 11-minute version of “Lost Someone” is a high point; Brown demonstrates his ability to ensconce his sexuality in a preacher’s cloak. Throughout this song, it feels like he’s beseeching the audience to believe in a higher power. Judging by the screams of the audience, I’d say he converted all of them. This style of performance would later go on to be emulated by other larger-than-life performers such as Prince or Bruce Springsteen.

It’s impossible to understate the musicianship, the magnetism, the raw power hedged within Brown’s tender affection. Even though Brown financed the production of this record himself, was it ever really a risk? How could it be? From start to finish this album is perfect, and Brown knew it would be. His unbridled confidence (which in his later years calcified into what some may describe as arrogance) was completely warranted and I think he would have done whatever it took to share his genius with the world."   

- Evan Zwisler, flypaper.soundfly.com