"Black Moses" - Isaac Hayes' Masterpiece?

[RobertZ]

I've listened to this amazing album several times in the past few weeks and have become addicted to it as I was back in the day. It strikes me now that this may well be Mr. Hayes' ultimate masterpiece - the selection and flow of material the arrangements, the singing, all are perfect.

What does everyone else think?

[splanky]

Black Moses is a really great album but I'd have a hard time calling it Ike's greatest work
especially since he produced so much stellar work on other releases like Hot Buttered Soul
and the still iconical Shaft. Ike was a master in the studio and as far as Black Moses his
cover of Part Time Love with Hot Buttered and Soul doing the background vocals is a killer
arrangement I still haven't recovered from after all these years:)...

[Motown Eddie]

I've listened to this amazing album several times in the past few weeks and have become addicted to it as I was back in the day. It strikes me now that this may well be Mr. Hayes' ultimate masterpiece - the selection and flow of material the arrangements, the singing, all are perfect.

What does everyone else think?

For me; Isaac Hayes' "Black Moses" is certainly one of his best albums. I've been enjoying it since it first came out back in '71. My favorite songs on it are 'Your Love Is So Doggone Good', 'Part Time Love', 'Help Me Love', 'Nothing Takes The Place Of You' & 'Never Can Say Goodbye'. And Rob Bowman's notes [[included with the 2009 remaster of the album) points out that "Black Moses" is in essence a concept album about the ups and downs of love [[and Isaac was undergoing a painful divorce at the time he was recording the album). However, for me his ultimate masterpiece was "Hot Buttered Soul". But "Black Moses" is truly a career highlight along with "Isaac Hayes Movement", "Shaft" & "To Be Continued".

[midnightman]

Black Moses was great but too much was going on. Nothing was more breathtakingly amazing than Hot Buttered Soul. That album reinvented Stax Records in the '70s [[albeit briefly) and reignited soul music in a time when we were living in a post-Motown/Aretha Franklin music world.