Isaac Hayes: Black Moses : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

You open the album and out flops an ad for Jet and Ebony, with a smiling Ike on the Ebony cover. Before you can comprehend, or recover, you have to deal with a tremendous foldover poster, in the sign of a cross. On the front, Ike's shown in Mosaic garb by the bullrushes; on the back, he's bare-chested and in gold chains. You also get an appropriately pompous history of the "soulful prophet," printed in Germanic script, written by the editor of Jet. Finally the packet with the by now de rigeur two records.

For the musical segment of the package, Mr. Hayes and his creative director. Larry Shaw, have done a truly admirable job of selecting the most beautiful and sensitive rhythm and blues ballads of the past few years–classics like the Jerry Butler - Gamble - Huff "Never Give You Up" and "Brand New Me," as well as obscure gems like "Help Me Love" and Curtis Mayfield's "Man's Temptation." Then they've gone and taken the poetry and life out of every single song.

Hayes' 1969 version of "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," was an interesting, commercially successful, gimmick. Since then he's put every song he's sung through the same wringer–same slow tempo, long raps, same arrangement patterns over and over. Every song on Black Moses winds up sounding pretty much the same–dissipated and self-pitying. Even when he hits on a good idea, like the vocal backups on "Close to You," he kills it by lethargy, schlocky strings, and drawing the song out beyond the lengths of human endurance, let alone interest. It feels like more creativity and energy went into his excellent "Theme from Shaft" single than into this entire double album.

"Shaft" brings up another big issue. Hayes speaks on "Shaft"; he does a few of his usual "raps" on Black Moses, but mainly he sings. He's a mediocre vocalist. You keep waiting for an Aretha, a Jerry Butler, somebody to break through the bland arrangements, to put some life, or at least some real feeling into the thing. In addition, the women back-up singers (called "Hot," "Buttered" and "Soul") add senseless phrases to the songs which deaden the meaning of the lyrics.

Even by Andy Williams' easy listening standards–Black Moses is dull and enervated, and, need I say, pretentious. Sly's recent music has mainly been about feeling down, zonked-out, being in pain; Isaac Hayes' music just wallows in those states of mind.