Lyrad's Random 10

There isn't a whole lot I can say about Isaac Hayes soundtrack for Shaft that hasn't been said a million times already and, if I speak too much about it, somebody will inevitably tell me to shut my mouth. It's a great score to an outrageously overrated movie. With a producer like David Golden working the movie, who had score a huge hit the previous year in Love Story and would again with Kramer vs. Kramer and Endless Love, I have a hard time with the overwrought sincerity of the movie. At this point, if it isn't Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song, I really don't have a lot of interest in the dubious "Blaxploitation" genre any longer. This soundtrack, however, is phenomenal, and a good representation of why Hayes has become so revered over the years (in spite of the Scientology business). "Shaft's Cab Ride" is some of the best driving music ever recorded. It's a shame that it clocks in at just over a minute, but I'd just recommend looping it onto a tape for half an hour. It won't get old.

1. Isaac Hayes--Shaft's Cab Ride (from the soundtrack to Shaft)
2. The Dixon Brothers--I Can't Tell Why I Love You
3. The Velvet Underground--I'm Sticking with You
4. Sergei Prokofiev--Scythian Suite for Violin & Orchestra, Op.20; 4. The Glorious Departure of Lolly and Procession of the Sun (Ruggiero Ricci, Vn; Swiss Radio Orch; Ernest Ansermet, cond.)
5. Bruce Springsteen--Highway Patrolman
6. Roy Budd--FB M2 (from the soundtrack to Foxbat)
7. Rhapsody--Trolls in the Dark
8. Tall Dwarves--Ride a White Swan
9. Mudhoney--Let Me Let You Down
10. Led Zepplin--The Ocean