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- Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
- Style: Soul
- Label: Stax / Concord
Isaac Hayes survives the disco era with his usual panache, and a healthy dose of weirdo
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We Say...
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 Ever Blow Our Thing" harkens back to the extended smoochfests of Hayes' early '70s catalog, and might well be the best thing on the record. The weirdest thing on the record is unquestionably "Lady of the Night," a love song to a prostitute that's so maudlin and over-the-top you wonder if it's a joke — at least until he starts singing about how his wife (who "used to smile just like you do") died and left him lonely, at which point the creep-out factor becomes utterly unbearable. Overall, however, Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) remains a solid effort, even if it never quite scales the brilliant heights of Black Moses or Hot Buttered Soul. -
They Say...
This is the follow-up to his successful 1975 album Chocolate Chip. But what was so enduring and skilled on that effort doesn't show up here. By 1973, Hayes' hitmaking skill became streaky. On this effort, he seems to be in a holding pattern. Hayes doesn't make any significant strides forward and fails to expound on the melodic richness of Chocolate Chip. This starts off with the title track. "Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) is just one of those songs that had to happen. The song has no shame and features a two-minute intro of Hayes and his bandmembers at a "disco," whopping it up with some loud woman. Although this is the unquestionable nadir, with lyrics like "They say disco music is here to stay/And it will never go away," Hayes' trademark arranging skills bailed him out. By this time, Hayes' fans could tell one of his lackluster efforts from miles away. This is one. The ballad "Let's Don't Ever Blow Our Thing" clocking in at 6:08 is probably too long-winded for even his biggest fans. Being one of the more talented and underrated artists, Hayes was going to get one or two prime moments. The album's best track is the haunting "Lady of the Night." The song has Hayes perplexed and falling in love with a prostitute as he sings, "How many Johns have come and gone/I wonder but I really don't want to know." That track is about as interesting as Hayes was going to get here. This album was oddly reminiscent of his mid-'70s disappointments Tough Guys and Truck Turner. Hayes sounds a little distracted throughout, and without any big hits, this album quickly came and went.
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| 01. |  |
Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) |
9:39 |
|
| 02. | |
Let's Don't Ever Blow Our Thing |
6:07 |
|
| 03. | |
The Storm Is Over |
4:44 |
|
| 04. | |
Music To Make Love By |
6:26 |
|
| 05. | |
Thank You Love |
4:50 |
|
| 06. | |
Lady Of The Night |
4:09 |
|
| 07. | |
Love Me Or Lose Me |
5:33 |
|
07 Total Tracks, 41:28 Total Length
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