Search - Hall & Oates :: Ultimate Daryl Hall & John Oates

A Complete End to End Collection of Hall and Oates

L.A. Scene | Indian Trail, NC USA | 09/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in 1983, Daryl Hall and John Oates released what was a highly successful Greatest Hits album called "Rock and Soul Part 1". However, things have changed since that release. Namely: 1) Hall and Oates went on to release other material, most notably the their biggest hit album "Big Bam Boom"; 2) With the advent of CD, it is now possible to fit more than 12 songs included on "Part 1". In the 90s, RCA would release a slightly more complete Greatest Hits collection entitled "The Very Best of Daryl Hall and John Oates". While this has 18 songs, it still mostly covers the "hits period"- it still doesn't do a good end to end job at presenting the Hall and Oates portfolio from career inception to modern times. This is where "Ultimate Daryl Hall and John Oates" has its sweet spot. On "Ultimate Daryl Hall and John Oates" you will get some of the earliest material from Hall and Oates starting with 1973's "She's Gone" all the way to 2002's "Do It For Love". This collection contains 37 songs packaged on 2 CDs - it is as closed to a boxed set as you can get. It also is the most comprehensive Hall and Oates collection available today.



Despite today being a dated greatest hits collection, "Rock and Soul Part 1" did a nice job for its time at being a greatest hits collection. I was always intrigued by that title because of the "Soul" being used in the title. Hall and Oates have always had a Soul influence in their music. This dates back to their early days of being a Philadelphia based band in the "Sound of Phildadelphia" days (I music, I think Philadelphia was to the 1970s a lot of what Detroit was to the 1960s). Clearly on "Rock and Soul Part 1" you will hear some soul influences in songs such as "Maneater", "I Can't Go For That" and even earlier songs such as "Sara Smile". However, one general problem with "Part 1" is that album was it never went deeper into some of Hall and Oates' true "Philadelphia Soul" works. Since "Ultimate Daryl Hall and John Oates" does a nice job at providing the end to end view of Hall and Oates' work, you are going to see much more of a better representation of this period. In fact, 11 songs are prior to 1980's "Voices". The liner notes include a nice writeup by Michael Hill that pays some tribute to the early days of Hall and Oates - newer fans and even 80s fans will learn something more about the duo from reading this.



Although the deep Hall and Oates fans will know all of the early songs, this provides a great introduction to the more casual and mainstream fan to these works. The track "Las Vegas Turnaround" from the "Abandoned Luncheonette" is a terrific sound and really shows some of the duo's "Soul Roots". You will hear 'Sara' in this song - yes this is the same 'Sara' as from the song "Sara Smile". This refers to Daryl Hall's longtime girlfriend and soon to be songwriting partner, Sara Allen who at the time was a stewardess (Hall recently split with Allen after nearly a 30 year relationship). Of those first 11 songs - yes the casual fan will know "She's Gone", "Sara Smile", and "Rich Girl" - but much better "Soul" sounds will be heard from "Cameilla", "Do What You Are", "Back Together Again", "It's a Laugh", and "I Don't Want to Lose You". There is some terrific sax playing on "It's a Laugh" and "I Don't Want to Lose You". The song "Back Together Again" reminds me a bit of ELO's "Evil Woman". Finally, Hall and Oates show they are not all "Soul" on the folksy sounding "When the Morning Comes".



Hall and Oates brought in producer David Foster for the 1978 "Along the Red Ledge" and "X-Static" album. Foster has a distinctive keyboard sound on a lot of his productions. Foster gets somewhat of an unfair rap when he transformed Chicago into a "adult contemporary" band, but Foster still managed to keep true to their brass horns roots (if was after Foster where they really deviated). With Hall and Oates he also kept true to the Soul roots - especially songs like "It's a Laugh","I Don't Wanna Lose You", and "Wait For Me". Following working with Foster, Hall and Oates began to move more into the Rock and Pop direction with 1980's "Voices" featuring such classics as "Kiss On My List" and "You Make My Dreams Come True". However the duo never fully abandoned the soul roots - yes they did change gears, but songs such as the cover of "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling" and the original version of "Everytime You Go Away" prove these roots are still in check. The version of "Everytime You Go Away" is very different than Paul Young's 1985 cover.



What is nice that even after "Voices", you'll still hear plenty of "Soul" influence. This includes such later hits as "I Can't Go For That", "Maneater", "Your Imagination", "Possession Obsession", and "Missed Opportunity". They are even true on the later works such as "Starting All Over Again", "Promise Aint Enough", and 2002's "Do It For Love." Plus they still do a great job on the Pop/Rock stuff such as "Out of Touch", "Method of Modern Love", "Did It In a Minute", and "Family Man".



The only disappointment is that there is no inclusion of any of the songs done from the 1985 "Live at the Apollo" album. Terrific liner notes give you all the song credits as well as little tidbits of background behind some of the songs. You won't find any lyrics to the songs. This is by far the best greatest hits collection Hall and Oates has put out - I highly recommend it."

Thirty years in the making and worth every minute

Pat Kelly | Here, There & Everywhere | 03/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Odd that with all the favorable reviews, no one, including Amazon has seen fit to list the tracks on the 2-CDs. Let me remedy that:Disc 1
1. She's Gone 5:16
2. Las Vegas Turnaround 2:59
3. When the Morning Comes 3:13
4. Camellia 2:49
5. Sara Smile 3:09
6. Do What You Want, Be What You Are 4:35
7. Rich Girl 2:25
8. Back Together Again 3:27
9. It's a Laugh 3:46
10. I Don't Wanna Lose You 3:48
11. Wait for Me 4:03
12. How Does It Feel to Be Back 4:35
13. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling 4:37 (Righteous Brothers cover)
14. Kiss on My List 4:26
15. You Make Me Dream 3:10
16. Everytime You Go Away 5:24 (covered by Paul Young)
17. Private Eyes 3:37
18. I Can't Go for That Long (No Can Do) 5:08
19. Did It in a Minute 3:37
20. Your Imagination 3:33 Disc 2
1. Maneater 4:32
2. One on One 4:17
3. Family Man 3:27 (a Mike Oldfield cover!)
4. Say It Isn't So 4:17
5. Adult Education 4:34
6. Out of Touch 4:08
7. Method of Modern Love 5:32
8. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid 5:25
9. Possession Obsession 4:07
10. Everything Your Heart Desires 5:01
11. Missed Oportunity 4:47
12. Downtown Life 4:28
13. So Close 4:41
14. Don't Hold Back Your Love 5:14
15. Starting All Over Again 4:08 (Mel & Tim cover)
16. Promise Ain't Enough 5:47
17. Do It for Love 3:58 This is definitely and definitvely the best H&O collection I've ever seen, beating even a 2-CD Australian import I paid primo bucks for. My sole regret is that the Tempations medley that Hall & Oates performed with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks in front of a worldwide audience (& hometown crowd) at Live Aid, and which later cracked the top 40, is not included on this or any other Hall & Oates CD."

All You Need

T. C Lane | Marina, CA USA | 03/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is all you'll need if you're looking for a career overview of Hall & Oates' hits. Covering their Atlantic, RCA, Arista and 2 Independent labels, this has all of their Top 40 hits (save for their Live at Apollo medley). Brief liner notes, chart info and some mini recollections on certain songs by the duo, this is the best of the many Hall & Oates compilations that are on the market. Also check out their underrated studio albums, the best being: Abandoned Luncheonette, Big Bam Boom, Voices, Along The Red Ledge, H2O and Daryl Hall's 1980 studio album, Sacred Songs."