Customer Reviews

Ooh Yeah!

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Usually Daryl & John's ballads are the biggest sellers, so it's no surprise that "Everything Your Heart Desires" hit the Top 5 on Billboard.

This album may lean on the techno-side a bit much for some people's taste but hey, you'll like it...

Best tracks are "Everything Your Heart Desires", "Missed Opportunity", "Downtown Life", "Talking All Night" (Which are all available as 12" extended remixes), and "I'm In Pieces". You'll love "Real Love", "Rocket To God" and "Soul Love" too.

I would bump my rating up to 5 stars if this album didn't sound so 'perfect'... But as usual, there's something for every fan of great music from the best in the business right here.

I got this CD for a birthday present. I never played it untill months later. What a great gift this turned out to be. "Everything you heart Desires," was a top ten hit,but my favorite song is "Rockability," were Daryl and John trade vocals in all kinds of directions. I love both of there voices,but John Oates has a great bass vocal. When I play a CD,sometimes I skip a song or two.In this Album,there's not one song I don't want to hear. You won't be dissapointed buying this record.

Considering this is the ONLY album left over from Hall & Oates 80s catalog of top 10 producing albums, it's a shame that this CD was not treated to bonus tracks. Like others, I have been surprised to discover just how good this album is--I never listened to it in the 80s because the lead single "Everything Your Heart Desires" didn't have the hard edge of tracks like Maneater, Family Man, Adult Education or Out of Touch, so I was convinced the band had totally caved in to the weak R&B sounds that were being produced at that time (think Keith Sweat, Gregory Abbott, etc).

I'm amazed to discover harder rock tracks like Rockability and the totally funkin Downtown life, which reminds me of the alternative band APB's single "When I Feel This Way". In retrospect, this album's lack of saturation in the market makes it the real collector's gem of the Hall & Oates 80s catalog. Which makes the 12" versions released from this album even more hot property. One mix each of "Everything Your Heart Desires(54th street mix)", "Downtown(downtown mix)", and "Missed Opportunity(unlimited mix)" appeared on volumes one and two of the Hall & Oates 12 Inch Collection CDs, but they should have been offered here as well, along with the second major remixes issued on the 12" singles of "Everything Your Heart Desires(if you want the world mix)" and "Missed Opportunity(Smooth mix)" AND the Jellybean remix of "Talking All Night"! At this point, I just don't see such a reissue being done, since when fans think of Hall & Oates 80s music, this album doesn't even show up on their radar.

While not necessarily scaling the same sonic heights as "Big Bam Boom" this 1988 release just focuses on solid melodic hook-laden songs with slick late 80s production that suits the material.Either the notoriously fickle public's tastes (or I should say 'musical priorities') were changing or Arista didn't do a good job promoting this album (or the follow-up) but it was obvious to me even when this album was new that people weren't giving it a fair chance. The only real clunker on this album is "Realove". The song in its writing and production doesn't really fit on the album and it's perhaps the dullest song Daryl and John ever committed to tape. But outside of that the remaining songs on the album are perfect 10's. "Rockability" has some exciting lead guitar effects that were indicitive of the hard rock at the time though this track remains a dance/pop song. The bridge and chorus to John's "Keep Pushing Love" is one of the most melodic, startling pieces of music in Daryl and John's cannon. Arista sent this and the 1990 follow-up into the cut-out bins fairly quickly and it just shows how unfair the music business is. This gem is long out of print but Debbie Gibson's "Out of the Blue" is still available? Enough said.Stand out song on this album is the ethereal "Missed Opportunity". That song is right at home with Paul Young's "Come Back and Stay" and Double's "Captain of Her Heart".But every song on the album with the exception of "Realove" was worthy of being a single.

Side one features Everything Your Heart Desires(3), Missed Opportunity (29) and the lesser known Downtown Life (31). Everything Your Heart Desires was the group's last top ten hits. (So Close only made it to #11 and Do It For Love reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts in 2002). The other two songs on side A, "I'm In Pieces" and "Talking All Night" are also real gems. Rockability from side B is the best track of side B. What I like most about Rockability is how Daryl and John share the lead vocals which is what made "She's Gone" was such a great song. "Keep On Pushin' Love" is the only song on the album fronted by Oates alone. It closes the album. I usually skip the three songs between. As much as I enjoy the accoustic guitar effects on Rocket To God, the words and melody are bland and forgettable. Real Love and Soul Love, almost sound like the same song. That may be incidentally why they bleed into eachother.

My personal opinion about this album is that this is one of there best pieces of work. They were at the top of their game when they made this album back in the late 80's. Every track is fresh enough to surpass time itself-even today. I have been thouroughly impressed by this album ever since I put it in my fathers 1990 CD player back in the day when they where just starting to get popular. Every song is uplifting and hip no matter what kind of mood your in or what your doing during the day. If you say that your a Hall and Oats fan, I strongly recommend that you add this as an essential part of your collection. Though slightly neglected in their greatest hits collection, nothing beats this album. In retrospect your better off ordering it online because you wont find it in cd stores.

OMG this CD is totaly awesome! I love the flare and flamboyance, especially "Rockability". A must own for all 1980's graduates!

Hall & Oates kept busy between their previous studio album Big Bam Boom. There was participation in We Are The World,a live album at the Apollo and a Daryl Hall solo album before leaving RCA for Arista. This label debut was the first fruit of this and rather made an interesting point about the band. During the mid to late 80's there seemed to be neverending shifts of passion when it came to the needs of the pop music charts. The same variety of melodic pop/soul that defined the duo and much of pop music earlier in the decade was fast coing to a close but all the same the duo didn't really have much intent on changing their sound and style much at this point. Their own unique self produced style that blended both live instrumentation and a sleek mix is something that sort of gets lost here as all of the music on this album is created from layer after layer of drum machine,synthesizer and heavily echoed vocal harmonies for what ammounts to a very 80's style dance-pop album,not showcasing the "rock n soul" flavor that defined their earlier work in the 80's. All the same the magic of their distinctively melodic songwriting,soulful rhythms and vocal exchanges are still very much intact and working on all thrusters across "Downtown Life","I'm In Pieces","Missed Opportunity" and "Keep On Pushin' Love". The ballad "Everything Your Heart Desires" was singled out as the hit from this album and not only is it somewhat unrepresentative but it's not quite the best song on this album. The most interesting songs here are the stop-and-start midtempo type songs that have a mildly jazzy pop flavor such as "Talking All Night" and "Rocket To God". The only song here that goes into a more rocky flavor is the dance/rock of "Rockability";it's not a certain rhythmic toughness to it even though it's not full on guitar riffing either. "Soul Love" attempts at a retro neuavo style R&B shuffle,as so many did around this time but the strong late 80's production defies the intent and it doesn't speak the volumes it should. This albu functions far better actually when it does revel in it's era and in that respect it doesn't date as much as when it's trying to stay retro. As with any Hall & Oates album it's the thoroughly consistant writing that saves the day,even if the album didn't have the hit making power they never seemed to be in danger of losing before.

For me, this was H&O at their creative best. The story goes that only one track was written outside of the studio.

The rest just evolved on a mushroom fueled blowout with Dave Stewart. Some of the band walked out in frustration... But the end result is, dare I say it their Sergeant Pepper.

Even after all these years and a thousand playings it still sounds fresh, vibrant and danceable.

Shake your booty!

i love ooh yeah! by hall&oates. the songs are very good. classics like everything your heart desires,missed oppirtunity,downtown life,i'm in pieces,keep on pushin' love,rocket to god,talking all night,and rockability still sound good all these years later. is there any other way i can describe this album? you will have to hear it for yourself. ed wilson