Isaac Hayes

The greatest soul-based soundtrack album of the 1970s just got better, remastered in 24-bit audio, with a bonus track added in the form of a CD-ROM readable history of Stax Records. Shaft has been in need of remastering for years, having been transferred to CD in the late '80s, and the job done here shows why -- the music is now so close and so loud, and every nuance of the performance, from the vocals and the twin guitars on the title track down to the smallest detail of the drumming everywhere, is now up close and personal with the listener, with a presence that the old CD only hinted at. The music blazes hot and hard -- exactly the way you always heard it in your head -- except now it's real, and the only compromise made -- apparently to fit the bonus track on -- is the cutting down of the 19-minute "Do Your Thing" to just under five minutes, containing just the vocal section of the extended studio jam. That change is the only flaw in what is otherwise an idealized presentation of the original LP (which, in fairness, was expanded beyond the boundaries of the strict soundtrack in order to make the double-LP format fit better). As for the CD-ROM track, it will start up automatically on your computer, overriding the music program until you stop it manually -- it contains a history of Stax Records that focuses principally on the company's post-1968 history, when it split with Atlantic Records and went off in some new and notable directions, starting with Isaac Hayes. There are some short bios included and some album cover art reproduced, but most of what's here will already likely be familiar material to most serious fans of the label -- new listeners and those coming in late, however, may well find the history fascinating. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide