release date: Jul. 1972
format: digital (2009 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Curtis Mayfield
label: Victor Entertainment - nationality: USA
Soundtrack album by Curtis Mayfield originally released on Curtom Records for the homonymous film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. This is a remastered Japanese reissue containing 11 bonus tracks. The album is often referred to as a cornerstone of modern pop music with it's combination of traditional soul and what was to be termed as funk. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". It may very likely be ahead of its time, only, I do not like funk in any incarnation almost just as such, which is why I cannot rate this higher. However, almost all music magazines and music critics praise this as a hugely inspirational album due to its style, which would influence soundtrack music for almost a decade, but also via Mayfield's lyrical contribution by writing about ghetto life.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]
