Search - Isaac Hayes :: Love Attack

Attacked by the Eighties

rolf corriveau (prozacthecat@erols. | Virginia, USA | 06/05/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Isaac Hayes' album recording output during the 1980s after 1981's uneven "Lifetime Thing" was rather minimal and substandard. Apparently personal issues and other professional endeavors took priority over making records, and it shows somewhat on this 1988 Columbia Records release. Hayes made two transitional albums for Columbia in the mid to late 80s (this one and "U-Turn" in 1986), and for longtime fans neither lived up to all the expectation and hype prior to their release. However, Isaac Hayes has never released a bad album, and "Love Attack" is not without its moments. Thankfully there's classic and typical Hayes the balladeer and songster present - such as the sultry and seducing "Eye Of The Storm". Even the early two club/dance oriented tracks "Love Attack" and "Showdown" (a minor hit which received some radio & club play) manage to work for southern `soul man' Hayes trying to get his 'groove back' in the late 80s. Ike's raps on record are legendary and stirring, but the rap infected "Let Me Be Your Everything" is an obvious attempt to be hip and just doesn't hit on all cylinders. The last half of the album consists of more keyboard/drum programming and the 'same ole same ole', with Isaac rapping as an intro to his own low-budget updated remake of "I Stand Accused", putting his Black Moses stamp on Major Harris' classic "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (with another pre-song rap) and tastefully delivering a very personalized, soulful and tender reading of Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way". Although "Love Attack" is not showcasing Isaac Hayes in all his glory, it does play out nicely as a link from the Polydor Records era to the two stellar albums he released on Virgin Records ("Branded"/"Raw & Refined") in the mid nineties and hint at the musical "Chef" to come later."

One of Isaac's best post-Shaft period albums

Preston | nc | 11/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Trust me, I love's Isaac Hayes' songs from the '70s but I remembered when this album came out in 1988 and when Showdown was the first single. Showdown had the funkiest, rollicking groove, and the cold-as-ice rap that could rival any of LL Cool J's own '80s songs! Had the boasting of most hip-hop too! The album version is about 6 minutes, longer than the 4 that was for the radio version. When the radio announcer said it was Isaac Hayes, I went, Isaac's got a new album out?! But I heard the album a few years later and it was a solid musical effort. It clashes the soul of his best '70s work with the trendy urban grooves of the '80s in one album. A few times closest to hip-hop. Again, Isaac makes the smoothest ballads here. He sticks to what made him a major star with his rhythm sections and solid songwriting here. The other uptempo numbers are just as funky as Showdown. This is really one of his best post-Shaft period albums and just as strong as his ultra funky late-70s hit Zeke the Freak. Please get this superb Isaac Hayes album too."