Album of the Day: Shaft, Isaac Hayes

Album of the Day: Shaft, Isaac Hayes

This started out as kind of a joke, but I really like this album.

1. Theme from Shaft

Just awesome. It's impossible not to airdrum along. There are like ten lines in this song, but do you really need more? 5/5

2. Bumpy's Lament

Smooth as hell. The organ is a nice touch. 3/5

3. Walk from Regio's

This one's got that whole 'spy on the move' feel to it. It worked perfectly in the movie. 3/5

4. Ellie's Love Theme

I honestly don't remember this one from the movie, but the strings work really well. You can definitely tell this is a soundtrack from a 70's movie. 3/5

5. Shaft's Cab Ride

Finally a shift back to a faster tempo. The horns are excellent. 4/5

6. Cafe Regio's

Straight elevator music. The length of the song works in its favor, allowing for more time to flesh out the cadence. It doesn't get good until about 2 minutes in or so, when the guitar kicks in. 3/5

7. Early Sunday Morning

I feel like I should be drinking a glass of wine and looking pensively out of a window as I contemplate life as I listen to this one. Ridiculously laid-back, yet my attention stays focused. 3/5

8. Be Yourself

Back to up-tempo again. I think I prefer these, so far. The trumpet has been consistently fantastic throughout the first half of this soundtrack. I feel like this would make a good sample, or at least the theme song to a campy sitcom. 4/5

9. A Friend's Place

Back to slow-tempo. It was over before I had a chance to think about it. 3/5

10. Soulsville

I hadn't even noticed that these were all instrumentals until now. Really down to earth, and once again the trumpet takes the spotlight. The 70's in a nutshell. 4/5

11. No Name Bar

There's a recurring theme going on here. I looked it up, and Richard "Johnny" Davis is the lead trumpet. Beyond that, there doesn't seem to be much about him. The organ is really good here, too. 3/5

12. Bumpy's Blues

The drums take the lead for me, this time, but of course the trumpet takes over about halfway through with a ridiculous solo. 4/5

13. Shaft Strikes Again

The trumpet is just all over this one, but the strings are an excellent backup. 3/5

14. Do Your Thing

Nearly 20 minutes long. The guitar dominates here (there's a guitar-drum-trumpet session that lasts about ten minutes that gave me chills), as does Isaac Hayes, who gives the song a nice funk-blues feel to it. 4/5

15. The End Theme

Same as the beginning theme, which just makes it awesome. 4/5