Reviews (page 12 of 13)
Decent 60's soul although the near 10 minute backstory at the start of By the Time I Get to Phoenix didn't do anything for me. I also prefer the original Walk on By.
I could have done without the overly long, extremely awful intro to By The Time I Get to Phoenix. Yuck. The rest was fine. Good instrumentals. Songs were way too long and some of the production sounds dated at this point.
I’m not really an R & B person so I didn’t love this one. Sounds cool and I do like how there’s only four songs, it feels like it’s one flow throughout the album. Not bad at all thought, and for 1969 it sounds very modern!
Meh
Great production, but this dragged and dragged.
It was fine. I liked the first song best. 2 stars I did not like 9 minutes of talking in an 18 minute song. Also end of first song ruined it for me. Still better than every one star I have rated, 2 stars as well
2.4 2x good but not going to listen again
A bit too spoken word for me.
I think it’s a great soul album but that genre is not really my jam
Egentligen är det ganska trevlig musik, men det är alldeles för utdraget och enformigt
I love the album name but it's not really calling me for a second listen.
idk i dont like that tbh not my style
Songs are very long, more background music vibes to me, good voice and base
Love the jazz themes going on, but I don’t like the occasional silences and monologues. Songs are way too long
Struggle to listen through to these long songs, though Hayes is very soulful
Hayes has one of those voices that just lure me into whatever he is singing. The early 70s soul is hit or miss for me, but I will never skip this man’s voice. The mix is confusing because it’s either heavy in one ear or the other. Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic - say that five times fast.
Nice easy listening for a while. Good background music. Nice and funky but not too crazy. Then the song started where he was talking, and I did not care for that so much. The song is long enough that it goes through phases, and is nice in some parts. But the talking really interrupted my took me out of it for a while.
Wow, these were long songs. 4th song was practically an audiobook! I can see how he was super influential. I do not have the attention span for this.
Chill but boring
Not really for me but has some nice tones to it. Don’t really see any reason for the length of the songs though.
Great voice, the songs went on a bit too long though
Best Song: Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic. Some nice piano riffs in here, I guess. Worst Song: By The Time I Get To Phoenix. So much of this 18 minute song isn't actually a song. It's a preamble to the song, telling us how important the forthcoming song is about to me. And then when the prophesied song finally arrives, it's just alright. Overall: I didn't see the great appeal of this one. Sure, he's got a great voice (buttery, even), but the songs aren't particularly interesting. There aren't that many, and the ones that are there are overly long.
This is kind of a ‘cuddling soul’, and I prefer mine with more groovy vibes. Not bad, but a bit boring, and the songs are way too long. I especially question the necessity of the length of the final track—19 minutes of just two chords going on and on and on and…
All the songs feel stretched out and actually quite a bit. I would have liked to like this album more, but I can't. Really great album cover!
I wanted to like this, really, I did. Then it started playing. It's not that Isaac's vocals are bad on 'Walk On By', it's just that they're in a completely different key to the music. Did no one tell him? It is better when there are no vocals and I started enjoying 'Walk On By', until at about 8 minutes they just kept repeating one phrase way too many times and I thought, 'get on with it, for pity's sake'. 'Hyperbolic...' has a lot of curious grunting that switches from the left to the right channel and back again. You can see where Michael Jackson got a lot of his inspiration from, although MJ tends more towards squeaks than grunts. Then it descends into a long jazz/blues jam, again with weird channel placement. The piano wanders between left and right, was it on wheels? Irrespective, it is VERY annoying on headphones. 'One Woman', Sammie Davis Jr., is that you? At least Isaac is in the proper key this time and the song is of a respectable length. Good, because it is something that needs to end (relatively) quickly. Ah, 'By The Time I Get to Phoenix'. Starts off with Isaac speaking complete bollocks for several minutes. It's a 'deep tune' but apparently 'I have no idea what it's about' he claims, but Isaac is going to do it 'his way' anyway... Now some might argue that if you don't understand a song you CAN'T do it your way, Isaac... Oh no, I've typed all this and he's STILL talking nonsense, we're 5 minutes in now. I suppose I should be grateful for the lack of off-key singing? I like soul music. I've worshipped at the shrine of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone and others for decades. This is dreadful, self-indulgent nonsense. BTW we're now 8 minutes into 'By The Time...' and Isaac still hasn't started singing... ah... 8:44; the talking ends and the vocals start. It wasn't worth the wait. A scraped 2/5.
So so... Quiet, for listen background
Ikkje for meg
The arrangements on this album are simply fantastic, magnificent. I guess it's an unpopular opinion, but, the best parts of this album are when he's not singing...... or worse, talking. Wavers between genius and tedium.
I think these tracks work fairly well as singles but not quite so well as extended "prog" (heavy on the quotes) tracks. Walk On By is alright at the beginning - a sort of mellow soul, heavy on the organs and strings - but devolves in the last six minutes into an extended noodle. The energy does increase, but it's so gradual that it doesn't really achieve the desired effect. Instead of excited, we feel perhaps a little frustrated. Cool guitar solo at the end though. Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic (horrifically misspelled as "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic" on Spotify) is another consecutive "long, chill" track that doesn't allow the album to pick up steam at all. Again, it reads as an extended jam, which isn't terrible by itself but teeters on boring in an album context. The only song that doesn't (egregiously) follow this pattern is One Woman, which non-coincidentally is also the one I found the most engaging. It's balladesque and uses a slew of soppy romantic instruments that create a perfectly cheesy listening experience. Think soft harmonising trumpets, high strings, a xylophone, a crooning Sinatra-like vocal... great for slow dancing around a gramophone. I won't call it a masterpiece, because it isn't. It's not even particularly catchy. But you can't keep a huge grin off your face awhile you think about Isaac Hayes's love life and how it's so much better than yours. The behemoth of a closing track, the 18-minute By The Time I Get To Phoenix, starts off at a sluggish pace. The first part of the song is entirely summed up by "dude rambles over rhythmic cymbal tap". That first minute turns into two minutes. And then three. Then five, then seven. Finally, at just shy of nine minutes into the song, we finally get something that sounds half-decent, but at the cost of me dismissing the entire song as unnecessary filler slop that is very clearly designed to push up the album length. Tragically, good music is about good sounds, and (in my opinion) lyrics generally don't contribute much to the experience unless they're extremely bad. These ones aren't extremely bad, so they fade into the background and we end up with a cool 20% of the album being utterly devoid of the content I signed up for. Even the instrumental and singing after the 9-minute mark are noticeably less interesting than those of the previous three tracks. Which is kind of unforgiveable. If you don't have a full album's worth of solid material, dang it, don't release an album. Very surprised by how many 3, 4, and 5 star reviews there are here. 2/5 Key tracks: One Woman
Soulful, but boring. Great voice and the music is nice, but just kind of falls flat for me.
It’s groovy, and I’m all for quality over quantity, but these songs are insanely long. 19 minutes long for that final track, and a lot of spoken word just doesn’t quite do it for me. It’s fine as background music but I’m just not feeling it. Best Track: One Woman
the first song has amazing instrumentals . downloaded first
There are moments of awesome here, but I will likely never listen to anything here again except maybe "Walk on By."
I wanted to like it more. But it kept going way too long and just got annoying.
I like walk on by but the album as a whole was pretty lackluster
Not for me thanks
not a r&b fan
I thought this was weirdly good, not much to say really other than I really loved some of the guitar riffs, he has a great voice and this is kind of classic soul music. It made me feel quite happy but other than that I’ve got little to add or comment really. I’m kind of bored of four tracks on an album and one 20 minute song.
So I'm giving this 2 just because of the length of the tracks and that there is only 4 and they do go on too long in my opinion but for the actual sound, instrumentation and vocals I would give it more. I enjoyed this more that I thought I would, especially the opening track 'Walk On By' which felt like a powerful, exciting and just full of sound opening to an album (excitement dwindled as it went past the sixth minute though...) and the other that made me notice was the last track 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'. This was an interesting one because of the subject matter as in my recollection it's one of the few love songs that is from the mans perspective of trying to leave the woman and he keeps coming back to her but this is the final time and he gets away. I enjoyed hearing it from the other side for once and to hear the vulnerability from him and knowing he had to leave. As I say though, overall I'm afraid I won't be going back to this again but I am glad it came across my path.
Best Track - "Walk On By"
What an amazing voice! Unfortunately the songs are just ok. And half the *really long* By The Time I Get To Phoenix is him talking. It's an interesting talk, but I'm here for music not monologe. Would have been a 1 star for the songs, but +1 for the voice. Best song: Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic
Second album proposé après ‘Shaft’ que je n’avais pas trop apprécié (noté 2/5). Celui-ci n'est pas mieux ! =>2/5
2- Stars (4/15)
Smooth and soulful if skimpy on the type of songwriting and storytelling that makes it a must listen
By the time the track finished I had got to Phoenix.
meh. trying a little too hard.
Not for me this Album don’t enjoy 10 -15min songs and didn’t feel these songs where good enough to warrant that length I thought the band the Bar Keys where great tho
Jag är bara inte så förtjust i denna typ av musik.
My attention span cannot handle it. Also just not my vibe. Very funky. Not horrible. 3/10
Eh
I thought this was cool at first but I got supremely bored
A thoroughly forgettable early R&B album. 4 songs. The final one is 18:44. Which is about 18 minutes longer than it should've been. Pretty sure this list would've been better without this album.
4 tracks, 45 minutes, and half of it is just Isaac Hayes telling a story. Where's my music album, Isaac?
Fine until that last track, which is a giant waste of time
Žr ilgos dainos. Groovy. Literally 4 dainos.
Not bad, just easy listening
It has a couple of really long songs on it. Not *exactly* like Lysol by Melvins. Maybe the Melvins are the Isaac Hayes of sludge metal. The last song he mentioned 'The Power of Love' but he didnt sing a Huey Lewis song. Curious thing.
feels like a slow burn romance but the rhythm of hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic gave me headache little bit boring tbh
4 songs? All long ones, from The Duke of "Escape From New York" fame. I instantly knew "Walk On By" from god only knows where. It's got a groove and some jamming guitar work before he ever sings a word. It feels like a soundtrack to a movie more than a single. And at 12 minutes, I walked and I walked, I did walk right on by and lost interest at the midway point. It got repetitive and glorious at that point but there was still 3 minutes to go. The next two songs were average at best, with "One Woman" being difficult to make it all the way through. Then he wraps it up with an 18 minute song with an 8.5 minute mumbling narrative to introduce it, I can drive to Phoenix in less time. The man is not a great singer. Honestly, how'd this make the T1001? I'm losing a little faith in the process after back to backs with Bjork and now this. How is this an album that had/has made an impact? One hit (the very edited version) but this isn't on heavy rotation anywhere. 9/10 people have no idea who Isaac Hayes is. No legacy. Really poor call on this one. The man has talent but it wasn't on display here. 1.5 stars.
This album just is.
It goes on and on. Insists upon itself.
A little too buttery for me. But definitely better than the grateful dead.
Some songs were better than others. The long songs had me bored.
Erster Song war geil, der Rest hat mich nur gestresst
It was easy to listen to, but didn’t do a lot for me. It also did not age well, particularly the misogynist tones throughout. For example on “One Woman,” it is not a second woman making you do wrong. You have autonomy. You are doing wrong. And that rant before “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” had more than a few eyebrow raising lines. It also made me wonder if this song would be over by the time I get out of Phoenix. I just don’t think Chef’s music is for me.
2,3/5
Some great funksoul tunes with a great production. Can’t be arsed with 18 minute songs though!! Radio Edits hit better.
4 souly, long tracks. Not my favorite genre so I couldn't really appreciate it. The recommended aongs after the album was good though. Maybe I should give it another listen and see if I can develop some love for soul in general as well as the album.
This is tough. Isaac is amazing, but tgus album isn't. The first two tracks a good. The other 3 are meh. And I have to say again, only Alice's Restaurant pulls off the super long song. End of day, sorry Isaac, it's not your, it's this album.
Too short … but also too long 🤷♀️
Has some good soul groove sounds but couldn’t get into some the more ballad type songs.
Smooth and oh! that’s the Public Enemy sample. Very cool. Too long and meandering though. Nobody needs 18 1/2 minutes of “By the Tine I Get to Phoenix”. Eh, it’s good nackground music.
4 låtar, 45 minuter.
Lovely voice. Fine instrumentation. But God it goes on. I fear that by the time Isaac had seduced me I’d be asleep.
They voice is everything here and its deep and smooth. Its not enough to drag me in though. It was a fun listen but not something I will come back to.
langweilig
Progressive Soul album starting with a great groove getting extensively boring with extended vocals, instrumental stretches and a whole, spoken-word story.
Err yeah..all I can think of is chef from South Park 🤣
I was hoping to really get into it with this but I never really clicked. Obviously the songs are way too long.
I found this quite a struggle. Having made it through the first couple of session-style songs I found the third track a relief at a mere 5 minutes long, only to get into “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and all of its 18 minutes. While I generally like or at least don’t mind soul, I don’t (personally) think Isaac Hayes had the sheer charisma and singing talent to pull off these kinds of tracks in terms of length. I found the single edits easy enough to listen to but the full versions were a drag. Having read up on him I get the sense he had an outsized influence beyond his solo career and is credited with being a significant part of the music of the 60s and 70s, with influence lasting much longer, but that didn’t make me enjoy this any more.
First surprise was learning that 'Walk on by' wasn't an original a stranglers track. Second surprise was that it's twelve minutes long. Generally this album has a cool, funky, soul sound but the tracks just ramble on for too long and by the end seem quite repetitive. I'd rather be left wanting more than find myself waiting for the track to start or end, especially when nothing much is going on except three minutes of noodling or eight minutes telling you how deep the tune is about to be.
Need another listen, just instrumental
Standout Songs: Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic One Woman Already my second soul album on this journey, yikes. I’m starting to learn soul isn’t really my thing.
Personally not my sorta of music but I do see the fun appeal
I liked Isaac Hayes, but this album is kind of ponderous and lackluster. Not a whole lot of excitement here.
Last song sucks, this is really hard to rate, there's 4 tracks 3 of them are pretty good if a littleong, last is half the length of the album and starts really really bad, i think you could justify anything between a 2 and 4 here honestly
Smooth voice but this is only a 4 song album. It was part jam band in “Walk in By” and the songs lasted a loooong time. It’s not my style.
I’ve never been a fan of this type of music, and this did not change my mind. To me it is more concerned with the vibe, which is cool, but this vibe doesn’t resonate with me.
Sorry smooth deep-voiced man. Listening to you talk isn’t all that interesting to me. I couldn’t wait for you to get to Phoenix and finish that damn song. Walk on By was pretty enjoyable but even there the outro is way too long. Overall this album is more about the backing musicians than the vocals. Talented people.
Some interesting orchestral arrangements of well known tunes. Unfortunately Hayes laid-back style and the long drawn out songs make this album a bit tedious. The songs could have been half the time they are.
nice
Miss me with soul, bby.
Painfully boring. 3/10, do not listen on night shift
Not for me
Not a real stand-out to me but certainly some solid smoothness and interesting spoken word moments. (2.5 stars)
Movie theme music but not my bag.
Fine I guess. Can See the craftmanship, but Not for me.
The monologue was good, but a lot of this was just gratuitous.
meh
Very repetitive. Can imagine why it was ground breaking at the time, but I found myself waiting for it to end.
Standard late '60s fare. Some good grooves, but very long-winded.
A bit of a struggle to even make it through 4 songs! Minus points for cover versions.
Lieblingssongs: Wenn dann überhaupt Walk on By Also weiß nicht warum das Album hier auf der Liste ist. Hat mich nicht gecatched, obwohl Soul ja schon catchy sein kann.
Overall: 2.2/5 Favorite Song: walk on by Notes: The intro to the album makes me want to put on my leather jacket, pull up to a pool hall in my 61 corvette and smoke a cigarette while slicking back my hair. A soulful, sexy album for the ages, ready to play at your next Casino Royale theme party. Unfortunately for me, I’m neither soulful nor sexy. Not my cup a tea
Not a huge fan. Sounds like they just press record during a studio jam session.
Always a pleasure to see the Robert Antichristgau seal of approval in the form of a negative review before listening to an album, always raises my expectations. Side A was good, always a pleasure to hear a talented artist perform their own rendition of Walk On By Side B is a mixed bag, One Woman is alright and the SECOND HALF of By The Time I Get To Phoenix is fantastic but sitting through the intro is a real chore. Overall, it was alright. The novelty of listening to an album by Chef from South Park wore off after the first track and I really don't see myself coming back to this. Though the first and (half of) the last tracks were good, there are other versions of both songs that are better (or more accessible in the case of the former). Still, there is no doubt that this is the album I'd put on to fight Xenu with my fellow Operating Thetans. Highlights: Walk On By, By The Time I Get To Phoenix (from approx. 8:45 onwards)
I’m normally a fan of longer songs but this is too much.
The music that's here.is pretty good, but half the album isn't music.
Hayes has a nice voice and overall it has a pleasant sound, but it's just absurdly dull. The whole thing is pretty slow, really the only excitement is from the backup singers when they do that crazy made-up word. But the last track is just ridiculous - I got about 10 minutes into it and had to give up. It's just him with a bunch of echo effect telling some aimless story. I need something with a little more going on.
A couple of good tracks, but the last one was endless.
Clearly very talented but needs an editor to cut these songs to a manageable length to listen to. It is very telling an Album with only 4 tracks is very lacking in variety and hopefully he learnt this in later albums as I like a lot about what he is trying to do. By the time I get to Phoenix is one of the dullest songs ever.
This was okay but the songs were just way too long for me to stay interested, like the one that was 18 minutes? really? that’s a tad excessive
Very saucy, I felt off listening to this at work.
Didn’t vibe with this at all. Really long songs, but none of it really caught me. I understand the significance of this album on soul and music for the era it came out but you must have had to been there.
It's okay I suppose, but I really wasn't feeling it.
There’s so much going on for something so boring. This said - four tracks? What an absolutely bizarre and oddly impressive go at an album.
Definitely a groove but couldn’t get into it
So long
This was gonna be 3 stars until the last song. Now it’s a solid 2. That said, the last half of the last song is fine? But not worth dealing with the first half. I might enjoy other albums of his though? 2/5
Please no more prog records
Mwah. Irritant om 15 min te kletsen met een drum
Nice to listen to. Doesn’t really draw you in
Was happy to see this, the theme from Shaft is a brilliant piece of music. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about this album. I mean it's not that bad but the two cover versions were actually awful. The strange thing is, I really want to give it a 3 but can't justify doing it.
Not bad, as far as Soul albums go. Maybe a bit on the longish side, and therefore somewhat tedious. The long spoken work passage, and not to mention the interview, both don't help. 2/5
Isaac Hayes, man what a character. This album just didn't do much for me.
I was not prepared for the length of these songs! Didn't love this one.
Didn't ask bro
Warm margarine life by Ballsac paynes
2nd track was quite good, the others were fine. By the time I get to Phoenix dragged on and on and on so I got bored and skipped it.
Not my cup of tea
Cool, music and production. I had some high hopes for this at first. After a while, the songs became very drawn out and repetitive. Most had no hooks and were pretty intense.
Not my jam. I'm sure it's grand if you like soul, but it's not for me. 2
Nice vibes, but maybe too long
Not bad, but not really my thing.
I got this album on vinyl, but didn't listen to it very much. I find the songs to be a bit too long/boring for my tastes. The funk is there, but it feels like this album drags. The first two tracks are my favorite, but overall I think the album is in need of an editor.
This just isn't for me. It feels like Isaac Hayes is the black Frank Zappa.
Too long.
Not my thing. still an interesting listen.
This was...interesting. I like the longer tracks quite a bit. Not a huge fan of the album though and I feel that the runtime could have been used to be more inventive. Fav Track: One Woman
Did not enjoy it. Too long, made me sleepy
Very long instrumentals and blues
Do you like soul music? Then this album is for you. That bad thing abt this album is the there´s only 4 songs and sum are pretty long. But anyways the beats of the song are nice I would like listen to this while i´m working out or chilling in the couch. The guy voice is nice, and the lyrics are decent. This album is great I would recommend this album.
Are you searching for albums you can play in the background while studying? Hot buttered Soul by Isaac Hayes would be the perfect album. It has a very interesting low sound which sounds like whales but it does relax you. His voice is also low which sounds nice while being played with the other affects. I do recommend this album but its not for me unless I want to fall asleep after a stressful day.
1st song- its ok i rate like a 5/ 10 2nd song- i mean i dont like it i give like 1/10 3rd song-
With it being Halloween season was not surprised when I opened today’s selection and saw the album cover. Took me a few seconds to realise that it was not a pumpkin but a bald bonce belong to Isaac Hayes. This would have been an album I would have avoided at time of release but reading the albums Wiki page I was encouraged not to dismiss it now out of hand. And I must say I was at least 50% surprised. The two long tracks were particularly good and appealing mainly due to their orchestration and the way the tracks built towards a dramatic end. Both those I have favourited for future listening but as for the rest and the album as a whole I won’t bother revisiting. 2.5/5 30/10/24
12 ja 18min kappaleet + 12min jorinaa. Kokemuksena pettymys ja tyypiltä "odotti enemmän".
There must be better Isaac Hayes albums. This is an okay listen, but didn't really grab me--a bit too repetitive maybe?
One trick pony, the album.
I can only hear Chef (that said, it's some smooth butter). High 2s.
Aptly named album, but man, these are some long ass songs. Not my style.
Chef fra South Park! Lagde faktisk mærke til det mens jeg lyttede, kunne ikke huske i starten. Anyway, det er for langsomt, spoken word og laaange sange, ikke lige meget. Dog fed wah-guitar og imponerende de effekter der er på og hvor godt det lyder for 1969, en verden til forskel mellem det og f.eks. Doors som ofte lyder distraherende Lo-fi, ikke tilfældet her
Guitar tone on walk on by 😎
Was excited to listen to this - largely mehhhhhh though - will forever be chef from South Park lol
Was expecting much better!
Can’t deny the man has a voice made for soul - unfortunately the entire album comes across as self indulgent and kinda uninteresting for large parts of each track.
honestly? dude has what 4? 5? songs I love this genre and honestly I was vibing crazy with the guitar for the most part but everything else is a let down. ik it isn't exactly the genre for quick simple jams but it really starts to get old after the first 5 minutes
Pretty useless. Boring. Two stars
I can appreciate, but not for me.
It was okay
More poetry than music
Halfway through ‘Walk on By’ I thought, nice funky-soulful groove, but maybe just a bit too long. And then I got to ‘…Phoenix’ and I realized I had no idea. Shame that half the songs overstayed their welcome, it would be higher. Great voice, good music, but track length sinks this album. Music 4/5, length 2/5
Probably a really good album, just not in the right headspace to listen.
Bummer I didn’t like this more. I think the problem is the songs are so long, and there’s only four of them, so if I didn’t like one, well, it’s going to be ten more minutes until I can hear another. All time great name for an album, though.
Not wild about this album. Might work better live, or as a soundtrack, but the songs were way too long and didn't have enough going on. Would not listen to again.
Didn't care for this one. It was long, and I'm not sure why the songs are so long? I was getting lost. 2/5
Nothing grabbed me. Likely wouldn't listen again.
Man. I thought I loved this album. I have it on vinyl. I've listened to it a lot (well, mostly side one). "Walk on by" is still brilliant soul...that fuzz guitar is soooo chewy.and "Hyperbolic...etc." is fun. But "One Woman" and rhe insanely long "By the time..." are fucking garbage filler sounds....it's like Hayes already knew people were just going to fuck to his music, so he made these extra long, radio-unfriendly tunes that could fade into the background and last longer than most of the men who bought the album. And since South Park, it's impossible to listen to these songs as anything other than alternative, edited versions of "Chocolate Salty Balls". I will always celebrate good, thick, juicy soul and funk grooves, but this hot buttered mess melts into greasy self-indulgence.
... it's ok... not super engaging... putting me to sleep, actually.
Seems like the individual tracks were just stretched to fill an album. The last song is almost 20 minutes of which the first 9 minutes were just spoken word. Then after reading the wikipedia article on the album, I'm pretty sure that was the case. Apparently the record label had lost their entire back catalog and needed all of their artists to record something. Anyway I appreciated Issac's vocals. But surely another album could have been chosen for this list. Either way I won't be listening to this again.
Langdradig
Nice bits on here but the songs. are. so. long.
Generally what I expected, though perhaps more experimental (long tracks, spoken-word intros etc). I enjoyed the vibe, but wouldn't really listen besides enjoying a particular kind of background groove.
I kinda enjoyed it. Fantastic vocals and some groovy tunes but the length of the tracks is ridiculously excessive.
Interestingly put together album. All the tracks are very different from one another, both in composition, duration and vibe favorite tracks: "Walk on by", "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", "One Woman". Basically I liked most of the songs, but the nearly 20 minute long track By the time I get to phoenix didn't work for me. For most of this track Isaac is just talking. album cover: interesting to compare to some of his other album covers and see the difference. Some of the covers have a very "gangster rap" vibe to them, while others look very different. The album cover made me expect very different music than what I got.
was ok. probably won't listen again
not a huge soul fan I guess
Cool samples and relaxed vibe but long track times didn’t hold my interest
weird vibes all around
Was alright, not amazing though
2 kinda groovy at the start and then the album starts to drag. The songs are all entirely too long and even tho they jam packed with instrumentation they somehow feel empty. I wouldn’t consider the music to be bad at all. I just kinda got bored
Long, meandering songs. So much Hammond organ, Wawa pedal, etc. Interesting format and many great moments, especially the vocals. But as a whole, not my thing.
Godds
Need short songs
Yes! Listening to the first track now and thinking about the hip hop songs that have sampled this. This is a jammy album. I could throw this on and groove. Okay, now they are getting a bit excessive.
Four, ten minute long songs made for a very different type of listen.
Not my scene.
Not my scene
83/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Not my taste, but it was very easy listening.
Not my bag
Chamou mais atenção pela quantidade e duração das músicas.
I wanted to like this more than I did. The music's good (though the last two songs have too much of that flutey smooth jazz stuff for me). Hayes' voice is great. But the album is 4 songs and It just. goes. on. forever. And wtf is the last track? Did Matt and Trey go back in time and write this script for Chef? I guess I truly understand where the character comes from now. Hayes just babbles on with some weird story set to an obnoxious triangle metronome for almost 9 minutes before anything that can be called music starts. And then it goes on for another 9+ minutes. I can't. 2/5
Consisting of only four lengthy tracks, Isaac Hayes' "Hot Buttered Soul" is considered a landmark album in the history of soul music. While the some of the sounds and grooves are really moving, the long, drawn out conversational affect really detracts from the experience. Also, nothing better than a looking at the shine and pores/stubble on a man's scalp.
not really my thing
I don't deny the talent, but the album bored the hell out of me. Perhaps that's its intent? Cleansing to soul by putting it to sleep first? Ok, joking at a genre's expense. Just not for me. I did notice a few bits of music that have been looped into other songs, both hip hop and other.
Didn't mind it at first, the first song was good. Then I started struggling and went to the reviews to occupy myself with something. That's when I learned that he was Chef from South Park and I couldn't unhear it since
its a 3 but not a 3 not as bad as the previous album that also got a 2 but idk this felt too repetitive
So disappointed. It's like he channeled Rex Harrison and just talked his way through it.
meh
Honestly, this one blended into the background even more than most.
Nja, den håller definitivt inte samma klass som "Shaft".
2/5 - This album 3.5/5 - This album but 24 minutes
2/5
I only listen to 2 songs haha
No time to review, other than the album got worse for each track...
I didn't really care for this, but not because I thought it was bad; I thought there was some good stuff for the genre, I just don't care for this style of music that much. 2.5/5
Walk On By and Other Woman are great, but the other tracks are far too long to warrant a higher rating.
Ridiculous song length. Amazing voice, obviously, but the songs aren't that exciting.
Allt låter exakt likadant. Hade räckt med en låt. Det var ändå lite avslappnande. I alla fall om det hade varit lite mindre blåsinstrument och sånt. Kanske inte om man lyssnar aktivt, men okej att ha igång i bakgrunden. 2 /5
• 60% av omslaget är av en flint, blir hungrig av albumnamnet • 4 låtar på 45 min • Låg volym • Souligt • Mycket instrumentalt • Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic • Bakgrundsmusik mest Betyg: Inte så dåligt egentligen, men lyssnade knappt och det var långa låtar => 2/5
Not my cup of tea
Hey there children Hi Chef Couldn't quite get into it more than a few key moments in Walk On By and Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic
Got the point, why it‘s on the list - I think.. But it‘s not my style to dive deep into (yet?)
Not exactly my style, a lot of syrupy sweet orchestration and era appropriate decadence that make it more of a relic than a great album.
Not bad, but….”By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was ridiculously too long. I would much rather have heard 3 or 4 songs in that time period than the boring story he told setting up the song.
Just way too smooth for me. Hard to think of much to say about it really, other than that he's got a very nice voice and his band can play. They just do very little of interest with it.
Soulful, easy listening album. I'm not familiar with Hayes' work but I would say it is probably similar to his peers' work. Which isn't a bad thing but I was left wanting something to make me want to come back to this album.
enjoyed the music & his voice, but by the time he finished his monologue on By the Time I get to Phoenix, I had lost interest. knocked off some of his rating because of that.
Average Not for me
My daughter thought this was funny as she recognised Chef from South Park. I wasn’t as enamoured with the long, long monologues. Only needed one listen as there were repeated versions of the songs. Listens: 1 Fave Track: Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic ( this one was only 10 minutes!) Rating: 2
Not great
Starts good then lost me. I didn't like the super long intro on the last song (By the Time I Get to Phoenix) and 2 out of 4 on here are remakes. Doesn't do it for me.
Can only think of Southpark Chef when listening to Hayes. Looooong songs that had soul for sure but a bit too buttery for me. Give me B Dub over Sir Isaac anyday.
Souliger Auftakt .. und viel „Gschwätz“.
naja
Didn't blow me away.
The voice is distinctive, but I never liked the "sad passion and heartbreak" genre - there is some excellent and surprising instrumentation on here. Still, it was a relief to change the channel at last. And what's with that long narrative monologue? If you want to be an actor, try the theatre!
Alright, funky
Solo me gusta la canción de woman
These songs are really long.
Quería escuchar música no un podcast.
I didn’t mind this at first, but the 8 minute intro to 19 minute track lost me
Isaac is very "talky" and the message always seems to be a story of infidelity. Very long songs on this album.
Ok so Walk On By is a fucking amazing song of emotion and feeling. But the rest of it? It's not really my jam. 2/5
Isac is on fire. I'm not so much into this one right now
Long and repetitive songs. I’m not sure what that 17-minute long slam poem was in the middle of the album. Unique I guess?
There’s only one thing this music is good for, and that’s not what I was doing while I listened to it.
Yes, his songs are long winded but beautifully performed.
Music is alright, but track lengths are way too long. Started to drag on, especially the final track.
its just missing something
- Eh - Good soul but nothing I'd go back to - Long songs but vibey - 2.5 again
Weird fusion of funk, soul, and jam band stuff. I didn’t mind it until the last track which was ridiculous
Not for me, the edits were too long without doing anything. Did like some of the instrumental bits in some of the songs
Some cool stuff, but not enough of it.
Not enough here
2/5
OK album, kinda boring. Not surprised given the vintage, people had different standards back then.
it's alright
Parts of it are borderline iconic, but do we really need 18+ minutes of Isaac Hayes droning on and on in By The Time I Make It to Phoenix?
4 tracks - wtf? actually pretty pleased when it ended, not my bag
Starts off promising and then just slogs along. The last track was especially terrible. It's not 1 star bad and I can kind of see why others would like it but this is a "never again" for me.
Tämäkin sopis gallerialle taustamusaks mut en usko et tuun kuuntelee yksin kotona
It was alright. I was hoping for more depth and diversity. Won't listen to it again.
Vorzeigesoul, sehr entspannt. 2,5
Ridiculously long tracks. I can see how this appeals to some, but not for me.
Parts of it were good, especially the beginning, but overall not for me.
Experimental, new sound
Not my cup of tea
This ended up dragging on by the end. By the last song having an almost 10 minute into, I ended up skipping part of the song.
Walk On By is iconic… otherwise…
It wasn’t awful but for an album to be 50 minutes long and only have 4 songs, it needed to be a lot stronger than that.
I definitely didn't think the first song had lyrics (2+ min before they start) I have difficulty getting a handle on a song once the length gets over 5 min. Second song could have ended at least 2 min early without losing anything.
The songs were just TOO LONG. They were good for a little bit but dragged. Especially the one where he was just talking for like eight minutes at the beginning. There is a reason why most songs on albums range between 2 and 5 minutes, and while good longer songs do exist, they need to be long for a reason. I did really like "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" and will probably listen to that song every once in a while though.
Doesn’t offend
Good but basic, more evolved versions exist for this type of genre.
Underwhelming, pleasant, rambling. I liked song 3 (one woman?) Best
First two tracks are really good. Much funkier than I expected, and had a great mood to them. Then we get to some slow live song that deflates everything and end with a 19 minute long absolute slog of wimpy baby-did-me-wrong bs. What a ridiculous choice. It's 4 songs and two are laughably bad and ridiculously long.
Well hello children! I had higher hopes tbh. It’s alright but I’d probably never listen again
3 fois que je l'écoute, et je suis incapable de le décrire... 2/5 ?
No soul fan and definitely not a fan of songs longer than usual. Feels repetitive and unsatisfactory. Can appreciate the technical work though.
Thought I like Isaac and I know I am supposed to love this album, but found it pretty lame.
Decent, but the songs are overly long.
Chef doet enorm z'n best maar dit soort pornomuziek ligt al niet helemaal in m'n straatje en daarbij is het nogal langdradig. Niet zozeer de totale speelduur, maar wel de lengte per nummer. Track 1 is te lang, te meh. Track 2 (met de onmogelijke titel) is z'n speelduur wel waard, dankzij een lekkere jamsessie aan het einde. Track 3 is wat korter, maakt verder niet al teveel indruk. Beetje cliché. Track 4 is met 18 minuten, waarvan de helft bestaat uit een monoloog van Chef terwijl iemand op de achtergrond dolken zit te smeden, totale waanzin. Na een minuut of 14 wordt het wel een leuk nummer, maar kom op man. Tussen de 2 en 3 sterren voor mij. Die track 4 zorgt ervoor dat ik op 2 wil klikken.
2.5
Um, was not the best album for me at this time... Really couldn't get into it. 2/5
Not my kind of soul.
# 52 : IDK. Why the long long long….. 2 VERY BORING STARS
2.5, more meh than I expected
Not my preference but can understand the appeal
Some of the songs just went on for too long, but some of them are great. This album is a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion, not a classic in my book.
I like the psychedelic soul vibe but i’m not a big fan of soul, but its still good album. Its look like a soul version of a Pink Floyd album its very interesting
Not really an album, more like a jam session. It's not exactly radio friendly. I wanted to really like this. But it dragged with no real direction. One Woman works well - and that's the shortest track. Nineteen minute of By the Time I get to Phoenix is about fifteen minutes more than you need.
It wasn't what I anticipated. I didn't like it as much as I expected.
Not for me
Bit of a strange album, lots going on and not all of it I enjoyed. His version of Walk on By is great, if a little long and meandering.
He's got a smooth voice. Guess this is in the category of Marvin Gaye. Unfortunately it didn't really do much for me. An interview on the album I listened to too, strange choice! Also really long monologues in songs aren't for me Won't be going back and didn't particularly enjoy it. Sorry chef
A lot of long babbling
I had mixed feelings about this album. It wasn't bad but all the talking made it feel quite pretentious. All in all wasn't really my thing.
It's OK
I'd never heard this album before and was looking forward to it. Turns out the whole thing is just pretty stupid. Only 4 songs? Stupid. 9 minute spoken word intro? Stupid. To an 18 minute song? Stupid. One nonsense word song title? Stupid. One song where he justifies (or at least excuses) his infidelity, followed immediately by a song where he complains bitterly about his partner's infidelity with seemingly no recognition of the irony? Stupid. The musicianship is impressive but that's the only thing keeping this from being a 1 star album.
Great musicians, soulful singing, but tracks are too long! Spotify would not play the last track interview.
Not my kind of music
let me start out by saying that under most circumstances, i am not usually a fan of songs over eight minutes in length. in my opinion, if it takes longer than that to get your message across, you’re probably being long winded. i state all of this because there are three songs on this album over eight minutes long. there’s only FOUR songs on the entire album. so, i kind of knew going in that i probably wouldn’t like this album. isaac hayes has a great voice. it fits in with this music. effortlessly cool with a natural confidence. having said that, if the songs were on average half as long and there were instead twice as many songs on the album, it would probably be pretty good. however, the songs start to become redundant after a while. i really enjoyed the second song for a while, until i felt like it just kept going and going. if it was about three minutes shorter, it would have been great. the last song “by the time i get to phoenix” is a perfect example of this. he starts out the song with an intro of him telling some sort of backstory about the protagonist in the song. that’s cool. that intro lasted for over EIGHT AND A HALF EFFIN’ MINUTES. bottom line: while i find isaac hayes to be immensely talented, i find this album to be self-indulgent garbage.
Four songs and 45 minutes. This isn't Mozart so I'm probably not going to like this. Made it 6 minutes into walk on by. Made it 3 minutes into ld;fasjuioruean;cvfkld;auiea One Woman was pretty good. This is what's frustrating. He knows how to make a song go somewhere, this one had movements and changes and was only 5 minutes long. Walk on by went literally nowhere for 12 minutes (I spot checked the second half of the song). Can't wait to see what this 19 min guy has in store. 9 minutes of talking. Awesome. At least it decided to go somewhere after that. Okay, it has a couple of movements in it. This wouldn't be terrible ifit didn't start with 9 minutes of talking. Frustrating album because the actual music is good. The knowing when to stop is non-existant. This album feels self important.
Lotta good stuff here. Lot more rambling, though. If these songs could be edited down, this would be a great EP. But it’s too jazzy for me where it goes all over the place. Didn’t know they had soul R&B jam records, though. Almost like some of this should be the background music of some tense movie like Dead Presidents or something. But damn, get to the point of the Jimmy Webb song for crying out loud. As a whole? Not my thing. Also, why does it have to be 45 minutes long? I feel attacked.
Moved a bit slowly for me, but that’s his style. No matter how long it takes, Isaac Hayes will get you into his bed. Doing a bit of research it appears he had a lot of children. I guess that’s what happens when you sing love-making music.
My favourite parts were the extended jams. Other standouts: Longest song title I’ve ever seen. And most unnecessary 19-minute song I’ve ever heard.
Great voice, except I can’t unhear the chef from South Park 🙁 Also, some of the content hasn’t aged well.
2.5/5 This is just not my genre of music. It wasn't that bad musically but anyone that talks like he's God's gift to women, loses points for me. Also, if a song goes past 9 minutes, 5 too many people have solos. 18 min songs? Are you kidding me? There is no need! This album would be given a better rating if the songs were broken up and there wasnt one that went on for 5 mins about cheating on a good woman, or one that talked for 9 of the 18 mins. It was just a very ego stroking album and I'm not here for it.
4 songs. Lots of talking. 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back. How people enjoy this I'll never know. His voice was okay. The songs were okay. I still hated it.