Abandoned Luncheonette

Hall & Oates, Daryl Hall & John Oates | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino Flashback
• ASIN: B0017CW5CQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,205 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Hall & Oates, Abandoned Luncheonette

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best early Hall & Oates, September 11, 2000

By 

David Hugaert (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abandoned Luncheonette (Audio CD)

"Abandoned Luncheonette" features the kind of music at which Daryl & John are most adept-Philly Soul. All the songs here are excellent, with the cream of the crop being "When The Morning Comes", "Las Vegas Turnaround", "I'm Just A Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like A Man)", the title track, "Lady Rain" and "Laughing Boy". "Everytime I Look At You" is the most soulful track on this CD, which has a "hillbilly" banjo and violin-laden instrumental at the end. This is probably as close to country that H & O ever got! This has to be the best CD in their entire catalog. Oh, and "Abandoned Luncheonette" also contains their first hit single, "She's Gone", which appeared on the Billboard charts on two separate occasions. If you are a fan of soul and/or pop music, you can't go wrong here. Please buy this CD!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent record., November 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Abandoned Luncheonette (Audio CD)

ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE, for an Hall and Oates's second album, is great. However, for a followup to their debut, the disappointingly dull WHOLE OATS, ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE is simply amazing. The duo had certainly matured a lot since WHOLE OATS, too. Filled with enough strong tracks, this album is one of their best, thanks to strong songwriting and a fabulously low-key production by Arif Mardin. The songs seem to reflect the atmosphere of the time when it was recorded: quiet and humble, but happy and joyful at the same time.

All Hall and Oates albums have a lost gem or two hiding around, and ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE's opening track seems to be one. "When the Morning Comes" is one of the best folk songs Hall and Oates wrote, and even the synthesized oboe it featured made it all the more strong. "Had I Known You Better Then" acts mainly as a flashback to one of John Oates's love affairs, and his lyrics, though mundane, tells the story well. "Las Vegas Turnaround" is a nod to the pop music of the time with a giggly subject about his girlfriend Sara (of "Sara Smile" fame) as an airline stewardess. "She's Gone," though, is a seamless songwriting collaboration between Hall and Oates. Poignant and with memorable lyrics and a greaceful melody, it is the best song on ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE, and perhaps this is the only place to find it in its original five-minute length (with an exception of THE ATLANTIC COLLECTION).

This album is also great because "She's Gone" is not its only strong track. The title song has some of Hall's best lyrics, while the mandolin-driven "Lady Rain" has a somewhat sad and serious melody. The only weak song on ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE is "Everytime I Look At You," a failed effort to fuse rock 'n roll with country music.

Hall and Oates have had a remarkable career, and they are known chiefly in rock history for the chart-topping peak period in the early and mid-1980s. While those period albums could be very good, only BIG BAM BOOM could match the strength of their 70s work. MARIGOLD SKY, Hall and Oates's 1997 comeback effort, was remarkable, and it actually captures the true Hall and Oates spirit more than any other of their records. While starters for Hall and Oates would do best with the double disc set STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN, ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE would make a close follow-up in terms of overall quality.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And They Thought They Lacked Direction In The 70's, February 26, 2002

By 

chris jennings (Florida, the best of the u.s.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abandoned Luncheonette (Audio CD)

Interview Hall & Oates, and they will tell you they feel like Voices is their first album!! While I agree that the period between WarBabies and Xstatic was not brilliant,there was some flourishes of brilliance such as Ennui On The Mountain from 75. ABANDONED LUNCHEONETTE was undoubtedly their masterpiece!!!.This album is mostly acoustic, and takes some getting used to if you've only heard Private Eyes kind of stuff.This album sounds more like Cat Stevens , Dan Fogelberg,Carole King,etc . I had thought of H&O as kind of throwaway pop,the way I currently think of Britney,until I bought a used vinyl of this in the early 80's, I suddenly took them very seriously.My favorite is the title track simply because of the storyline and the constant time changes.There is a new DVD of them live in 1976 called Musikladen that has an outstanding version of this song where the ending kicks into hard rock.Buy this and you will find yourself humming "Will you survive,learn to drive,I know you cant describe the dreams-im just a kid dont make me feel like a man". Las Vegas turnaround is also a standout track.you should also get Whole Oates and the various collections of demos that cover the 69-71 years (Past Times,Really Smokin,Lot Of Changes comin,Backtraks).The songs on these are even better, just recorded poorly.If you like these early albums, seek out newer artists like Bernard Butler , Edwyn Collins, Five For Fighting,Train,Stereophonics.I guarantee you will like them. I personally thought the Voices album pulled the keys out of the ignition that was keeping them aflight-It's A Laugh-and the funny thing is everyone thought the Abandoned Luncheonette would be open forever!!! (pun intended)