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What is the best Isaac Hayes album?

By YPB Team

Eighteen-minute ballads, an Oscar-winning soundtrack and a quieter late-career comeback all sit on one shelf here. The obvious landmark casts a long shadow, but it isn't the only record with a case.

  1. Hot Buttered Soul — ranked #11
    Hot Buttered Soul
    The 1969 breakthrough of just four long tracks, including an 18-minute 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix', that reinvented soul albums.
    1000pts
  2. Shaft — ranked #22
    Shaft
    The 1971 double-album soundtrack whose theme won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
    1000pts
  3. Truck Turner — ranked #33
    Truck Turner
    Hayes' 1974 funk soundtrack for the blaxploitation film he also starred in.
    667pts
  4. Joy — ranked #44
    Joy
    A 1973 album built on the slow-burning 16-minute title track, a favourite of sample-hunting producers.
    667pts
  5. ...To Be Continued — ranked #55
    ...To Be Continued
    Hayes' 1970 follow-up of lush, sprawling ballads featuring his long take on 'The Look of Love'.
    439pts
  6. Chocolate Chip — ranked #66
    Chocolate Chip
    The 1975 debut on his own Hot Buttered Soul label, which topped the R&B album chart with a disco-leaning sound.
    439pts
  7. The Isaac Hayes Movement — ranked #77
    The Isaac Hayes Movement
    A 1970 album of extended orchestral covers, including 'I Stand Accused' and 'Something'.
    439pts
  8. Black Moses — ranked #88
    Black Moses
    A 1971 double album with a famous cross-shaped fold-out cover, mixing covers and spoken-word raps.
    439pts
  9. Don't Let Go — ranked #99
    Don't Let Go
    A 1979 disco-era comeback whose title track became a top-20 pop hit.
    0pts
  10. Presenting Isaac Hayes — ranked #1010
    Presenting Isaac Hayes
    Hayes' 1968 debut, a loose late-night jazz session recorded after a Stax party.
    0pts
  11. Live at the Sahara Tahoe — ranked #1111
    Live at the Sahara Tahoe
    A 1973 double live album capturing Hayes' big-band stage show at its height.
    0pts
  12. Branded — ranked #1212
    Branded
    Hayes' well-reviewed 1995 return to classic orchestral soul on Pointblank Records.
    0pts

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