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The title song is the longest,almost 16 minutes in fact and catching onto this very deep and potent sound of what I call atmospheric funk:the sound seems to float but also be rooted at the bottom as well. Isaac was on a roll in the early 70's with his cinematic romantic funk/soul tales. It was all for not as it turned out: Isaac himself was already so successful and he and Barry's style of orchestration and approch were so fundamentally different at the very bottom that both could easily exist in the same world together. It's that concept that makes not only the music on this album so potent but adds that important ingrediant of thoughtfulness to what happens in the bedroom as well.
On "I'm Gonna Make It (Without You)" Isaac is the one whose been played but has learned an important lesson on both ends. In this day and age when one too many a male R&B singer seems all to wishy washy or plain just-don't-care-ish it is always refreshing to think of someone like Isaac who,while freely admitting romantic flaws also uses his own dignity and self pride to get himself into a better place no matter how it turns out. "I Love You That's All" of course has the distinction of consisting mostly of a toast between Isaac and his lady-after which the vocal consists of the sounds of love making:the aspect of Isaac's sound Barry White obviously borrowed most heavily from. On "A Man Will Be A Man" Isaac has been a cheat and is not asking to be forgiven but rather a chance to be accepted AND to redeem himself-looking at the possibility of again being some of integrity.
The psychedelic element,already being purged heavily from his sound during the Shaft period is completely gone here. The rest of the album is focused on slow grooves,all of them very much on the changing moods and twists in romance-both taken from the male and female perspective. Than around this this time BOOM.:I've Got So Much to Give,Barry White's debut album was unleashed on the world and all of a sudden Hayes started to seem like he was part of a movement rather than the sole purveyor of it. But then again that is kind of how joy feels sometimes and,it's certainly one of his classic slow burning funk jams.
Five songs,all between 6 and 15 minutes in lengh and featuring spoken "raps" in and around them are again the order of the day. In fact on this album Isaac is borrowing very heavily from Barry's cross pollination of his own sound. Not that it's noticable:while there are changes in production and arrangement style,the musical flavors remain the same.
Nearly 40 years after its original release this album remains a true "Joy" to listen to. "A Man Will Be A Man" and "I'm Gonna Make It Without You" were not released as singles but are pure vintage Hayes and are high points of this classic album. This classic album should be considered a 1970s R&B essential. The chugging, bubbly, sensual mid-tempo title track remains one of Isaac's most compelling ballads and also foreshadows the Disco style which would take the world by storm just a few years later.
i just got my copy of this album.YIKES.the opening track.nothing short of a 15- minute SEDUCTION.i suggest thee get it.NOW.
Hayes is the master technician of romance on a disc that is expertly balanced with a powerful party jam (the fifteen-minute-plus title cut) and the remainder of the album, a collection of "bedroom ballads" that will more than likely get the female listener's attention in the most arousing of ways.The "boys" that are populating today's R & B/hip-hop charts need to learn from one that knows exactly what women want and can convey his desires in a most passionate of musical wizardry. Cut #3 says it all: "A Man will be a Man". Isaac Hayes, like contemporary Barry White, has the bass pipes to seduce the heartiest of women.
Isaac Hayes was one of the rawest, funkiets, soul singers ever and his cd proves his legacy and he's way overlooked I mean Isaac made songs which always had a black mafia feel to it.
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