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There's a plain lack of dramatic force here. Nobody can fault Isaac's voice on this legendary album, his rich baritone glows on every track and the playing is rich, leisurely and groovy. no track on the album has the deadly impact of Ike's early Bacharach cover of "Walk On By" or the unstoppable funkiness of "Branded", and just about every song is stretched into long, floating sections with biiiig echo. If you come from his earlier albums or the Shaft soundtrack - which had arrived earlier the same year and catapulted him into a megastar - you may get tired after a while though by the uniform palette. This is very much a ballad album, the hard funk of "Do Your Thing" or "Theme From Shaft" or the teeny pop swagger of "Ain't That Loving You" are nowhere to be found. There's few tracks here that could be called filler and I can see why many people love the disc, but it rarely makes me hold my breath in excitement and awe the way many other Hayes albums do.As a whole, very much a celebration of the dignified masculine spirit and irresistible ladies' man charm of Isaac Hayes, on a track like "Ike's rap IV/A Brand New Me" the lyrics and the voice make him sound like he was fifteen years older than his 29 at the time of recording. I find myself wishing he'd broken up the thick layers of brass and strings, restricted them to fewer songs and put them closer to a driving beat.
As we call it here, "It's all of a program", or in a french way "Toute un programme".Imagine (if you're old enough) that you are just rising for life and plunging into the unique flavoured set of that prodigious decade and you are in the portuguese sun paradise of Algarve. Yeah, that's right, dancing at Silvias, Zebra, 7 & 1/2 (discothéques) in the late 70's,.and amid a revolution where carnations had poped out of the soldiers weapons. all the dreams where still possible, no matter in which side you was,and some of us have the possibility of making a custom made decoration of life's atmosphere with a special soundtrack, with Brother Isaac being a very important part of that, among many other "sounds". Peace.
More than the voice, more than the performance, this is a collection of inspired interpretations of classic songs. Production sophistication years ahead of it's time, this is one of the greatest producers of all time at his very best.
This is definitely an Isaac Hayes classic. My personal favorites are "Part time Love, They long to be close to You, and Your love is so doggone Good". I'm so glad this album along with his other's made it to compact disc. Practically almost every song on here is hittin' on all cylinders. This is definitely one soul cd to have in one's music collection. I was glad to have copped it when it first hit cd.
"Black Moses" is Isaac Hayes' finest and most accomplished album ever. His stunning remakes of "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Part Time Love", "They Long To Be Close To You", "Your Love Is So Doggone Good" and "For The Good Times" have him literally reinventing these hits and making them all his own in the process. Lush and ultra-smooth string arrangements and orchestration are ever-present on most tracks that add a haunting quality which matches Isaac's deep baritone and romantic (yet at times wistful) vocals perfectly. This album remains a stone classic of '70s Soul while serving as a precursor to what the late Barry White would do shortly thereafter.
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