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I thought I knew this album, but no, it was a first for me. I was right, however, about it being a head-nodding soul from Memphis, Tennessee. In fact, when the first track, "Walk On By" drops, I instantly recognize the beat that Portishead must have sampled for one of their trip-hop songs. I groove with the full twelve minutes of this piece and could have gone on longer, but it breaks for another long-player which is just as smashing, or rather, it's hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic. Now, is this song about love for a woman or love for heroin? You tell me. Of course, the most famous love song by Isaac Hayes is performed by Chef in South Park's episode "Cartman Gets an ... Probe", and it goes a little something like this: "I'm gonna make love to you, woman, Gonna lay you down by the fire! And caress your womanly body, Make ya moan and perspire." I could have done without the first ten minutes of an 18+ min track "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" only because I probably won't care for the retelling of the same story for the second or third time in a row. Nevertheless, I always welcome more Shaft in my life, and look forward to more of his albums on this list, if they should decide to appear.