Shaft (Original Soundtrack)

Mojo - "...The melodramatic strings, sleazy horns and wacca-wacca guitars are all present, but it still feels as ersatz as an old Top Of The Pops compilation album..." Entertainment Weekly - Ranked #40 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A funkafied mama jama..." Mojo - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks". Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It single-handedly enhanced the reputation of a stylish but dull feature, and helped give rise to an entire movie genre. The potency of that track...highlights Hayes; top-flight skills as a composer....its lasting impact is more obvious..." Mojo - "...boasting Issac Hayes' brilliant score. The main theme proved unstoppable, an award-winner that resulted in countless similar funk fiestas..." Entertainment Weekly - Ranked #40 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A funkafied mama jama..." Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It single-handedly enhanced the reputation of a stylish but dull feature, and helped give rise to an entire movie genre. The potency of that track...highlights Hayes; top-flight skills as a composer....its lasting impact is more obvious..." Mojo - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks". Mojo - "...boasting Issac Hayes' brilliant score. The main theme proved unstoppable, an award-winner that resulted in countless similar funk fiestas..." Spin - "[T]he man's true genius was as an arranger, and his marvelously tricky blend of funk and Bacharach-like sophistication is in perfect balance here." Uncut - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he ghetto lament 'Soulsville' and the symphonic chill of 'Do Your Thing' endure as exemplars of '70s soul." Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.36) - Ranked #40 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A funkafied mama jama..." Mojo (6/02, p.66) - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks". Q (10/00, pp.142-4) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It single-handedly enhanced the reputation of a stylish but dull feature, and helped give rise to an entire movie genre. The potency of that track...highlights Hayes; top-flight skills as a composer....its lasting impact is more obvious..." Mojo (11/99, p.132) - "...boasting Issac Hayes' brilliant score. The main theme proved unstoppable, an award-winner that resulted in countless similar funk fiestas..."

The title track's perennially recognisable hi-hat and wah-wah guitar intro, interlocking horn/string parts, and smooth, proto-rap verses conjure the name SHAFT as surely as a snake-charmer's incantation. It also conjures the name of Isaac Hayes--the songwriter, arranger, musician, and producer responsible for the phenomenally successful soundtrack to the landmark 1971 Blaxploitation film. Hayes's status as a key player in the Stax/Volt soul empire, and as a solo artist of considerable renown, went through the roof with this double-LP (now compiled on a 70-minute CD).
Hayes's lush, ambitious arrangements are performed by the Bar-Kays, one of Stax's premier house bands, along with guest string and horn players. Aside from the highbrow funk of the title track and two other vocal cuts (Hayes's ballad "Soulsville" and the near-20-minute midtempo funk of "Do Your Thing"), this is an instrumental set with a strong "cinematic" feel. Jazz, lounge, R&B, and atmospheric interludes are blended to give ample evidence of Hayes's brilliance as a composer and arranger. SHAFT was a commercial zenith for Hayes, and made his name as a giant of soul.|