Rca: The Ballads Collection

Hall & Oates | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 7, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00005LN5H
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #560,426 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deeper Side of the Duo not found in "Greatest Hit" albums, December 26, 2002

By 

Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rca: The Ballads Collection (Audio CD)

This is an excellant compilation which includes hits such as "Sara Smile" and "One On One", but also soulful ballads that reveal a more intimate, a more intense facet of their talent.

Like the other reviewers, I also object to the 'blue-eyed soul' label, but I do hear a whole lot more soul influence in this collection than others seem to. The duo themselves use the term, "integrated music".

The big thing here is the fact that you will feel emotion as you listen. "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid", "Every Time You Go Away", the cover of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (a personal favorite of mine), and in fact the entire set reaches deep.

Hall & Oates have proclaimed that there's sensitivity, honesty, and rawness in their music, and this is a good assessment. However, you'll hear more of their rawness when you listen to more of their album work, such as you have hear, rather than listening only to the slicker, more commercial hits.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ballads and a Bonus! Part of RCA's 100th Anniversary, August 10, 2001

By 

TomAzon (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rca: The Ballads Collection (Audio CD)

OK, there's two bonuses. Along with album tracks you won't usually find in an anthology (there are plenty of them anyway...), this Jeremy Holiday compilation includes the remixed version of "Every Time You Go Away" and the 12" extended version of "One On One".

It has five pages of liner notes which unfortunately describes Daryl and John as a 'blue-eyed-soul' duo. I was hoping RCA would be a leader in getting that derogatory term out of our lexicon. (Would anyone call Duke Ellington a "brown-eyed jazzman"? No...). Besides that, they're a rock duo unless you count Daryl's "Soul Alone" album - see my review for that one.

That one criticism aside, the liner notes by Michael Hill are well-written and accurate. I would like to have seen a listing of the albums from which these songs were culled as well as chart history of the RCA Hall & Oates albums and singles featured here.

This 14-song collection has many tracks that will leave you wondering why radio stations ignored (and continue to ignore) so much of their music. "Do What You Want, Be What You Are" and "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" are classics. "Melody For A Memory" and "Bigger Than Both of Us" are signature Hall and Oates songs. "Someone Like You" (w/guitar solo) shows off Daryl Hall's unreproachable vocals.

As a third bonus, they should have put "Someone Like You" with the sax solo on this album since it's only available as a 12" single. It would behoove RCA to put out a collection of all of Hall & Oates' remixes.

John Oates fans won't be disappointed with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", "Melody For A Memory" or "Possession Obsession".

Get this piece of history and enjoy.

5.0 out of 5 stars great album, October 4, 2011

By 

Tia Karen - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ballads Collection (Audio CD)

I love Hall and Oates so bought this just for fun. I LOVE this album. It is my favorite of all of their compilations. It has some songs I never heard before; one of the songs has become my all-time favorite. This is Hall & Oates at their best -- ballads.