eMusic Review 0
The disco era was, for the most part, deeply unkind to the great soul singers of the 1960s and early '70s. While funkier acts like the Ohio Players and Parliament adapted fairly naturally to the new sound others, like Wilson Pickett, the Four Tops, debased themselves terribly while trying to keep their careers alive under the mirror ball. But if the title of Isaac Hayes 'newly reissued 1976 album Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) would seem to indicate the crassest kind of disco cash-in, it's actually a far better record than you'd have any right to suspect… at least, once you get past the witless title track, wherein he promises, "So just as long as they're around/You'll find me at discos getting down."
Thankfully, that kind of "getting down" wasn't on the agenda for the rest of the album. Backed by many of the same musicians who'd been part of his band since the early '70s, Hayes lays down some nicely polished funk on "Music to Make Love By," "Thank You Love" and "Love Me Or Lose Me," and delivers a sunny slice of soulful optimism with the mid-tempo "The Storm is Over." The six-minute ballad "Let's Don't… read more »
