Customer Reviews

Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates

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The '80s were filled with great songs that either touched me emotionally or made me want to dance. Hall and Oates, talented musicians whose rock 'n soul will permeate the airwaves forever, produced some of these songs. Their newest compilation includes the beautiful ballads "Sara Smile" and "One on One" as well as "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes," and "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)". It also includes the one song I can listen to over and over, "Out of Touch." Fortunately, the tracks aren't cut off early like on some other greatest hits collections, and are the versions you're familiar with from the radio. As a true Hall and Oates fan, this CD is a definite must. It's more than worth the money, especially since you get 18 tracks for your listening pleasure. And you may even discover something new as you realize Hall and Oates sang a few songs you're not as familiar with.

Someday the combined musical appreciation societies of Rhino and Buddha Records will release the domestic Daryl Hall/John Oates collection their fans long searched for.

It will include their hits in complete versions (the extended, atmospheric beauty of "She's Gone," their Temptations medley with Eddie Kendricks & David Ruffin) their last RCA & Arista hits ("Your Imagination," "So Close," "Everything Your Heart Desires") their should-have-beens ("Do What You Want, Be What You Are," "Back Together Again," "Don't Change" from 1977's "Beauty On A Back Street") and even Daryl Hall's solo hits like "Dreamtime" and "In a Philly Mood."

It could easily cover two discs and complete the unique "art & soul" picture of a sound this prolific duo created and used so well the first, most memorable years of the 1980s. For now, this is at least the most complete, if not best, Hall & Oates hits set.

"The Best of Hall & Oates" covers nearly all the duo's RCA chart hits including their impressive 1980-84 string matching soulful harmony and backbeat to frosty, stomping new wave rock ("Private Eyes," "Family Man," Fall 1984's still thrilling "Out Of Touch.") The set also restores David Foster's studio-produced version of "Wait For Me" (heard live on 1983's earlier "Rock n' Soul Vol. I") and adds 1978's poignant Top 20 "It's A Laugh."

Michael Hill's instructive essay accompanying the CD quotes Hall as comparing his and Oates' personalities to Lennon-McCartney's, calling his duo "the eighties Beatles." The comparison is not simply ego or wishful thinking; while "Did It In A Minute" and "Rich Girl" are not songs the whole world sang, they infused great pop melody and simple, sometimes sweet lyrics with foreboding and even danger. Hall often pointed out that "Kiss On My List" meant yours was only ON the list, not necessarily topping it. Like Philly contemporary and one-time producer Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates filtered art-rock lyrics and folk-soul harmony through Motownphilly R&B they worshipped as children and young musicians.

"The Best of Hall & Oates" will do for casual fans needing a quick early-80s fix. But longtime fans should reach for Rhino's "The Atlantic Collection," the scarce "No Goodbyes," or early, cohesive LPs like "Abandoned Lunchonette" and the superb "Bigger Than Both of Us." These, plus this recommended set, should give an excellent picture of Hall & Oates underrated, near-30 year career.

Okay, RCA tried, (and failed once again), to release a definitive Hall and Oates "Best of" collection. I'll keep this review short: if you want the best compilation currently available, skip this one and look up the double-disc Australian import, "Starting all Over Again; Best of Hall and Oates", with a generous 36 songs, total. It contains 17 of the 18 tracks on this CD, ("Wait For Me" is missing, but who really cares?), but also features the full-length 5 minute version of "She's Gone", plus tracks from their Arista releases and a couple of songs from Daryl Hall's solo "3 Hearts" album. It's a much better buy than the CD you're looking at right now.

Fresh for the new millenium is this greatest hits package from one of the most successful duos of the 70's and 80's. Covering the years 1976 to 1985 nearly all of Hall and Oates top 40 hits are here including the #1's "Rich Girl", "Kiss On My List", "Private Eyes", "I Can't Go For That", "Maneater", and "Out of Touch". Just about all of the tracks are the full length album versions except "It's A Laugh", and "Out of Touch" which are the single versions, "Adult Education" is the promo 12" mix(remixed by Bob Clearmountain & Nile Rodgers), and though the timing on the back of the CD lists "I Can't Go For That" as the edited version from "Rock N' Soul part 1" it is actually the album version. Because this package only includes their hits on RCA, other Hall & Oates hits like "She's Gone", "Everything Your Heart Desires", and "So Close" aren't included. But with this disc clocking in at 75 minutes, it's hard to complain too much. A strong compilation and worth picking up.

Forget my review on the previous brief CD I did of 1983's Rock 'N' Soul Part One Greatest Hits. This is even much better it adds seven songs with all eleven favorites not counting for the missing "She's Gone" which it isn't on here but includes Daryl Hall and John Oates doing a sixties cover ballad classic version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. Also from the Big Bam Boom album is "Out Of Touch" with "Method Of Modern Love" plus "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid". There's also "Did It A Minute" a studio not it's live version but the original "Wait For Me" and "Family Man". I really enjoy listening to the rest of the tunes that were very popular like "Maneater", "Sara Smile", "Rich Girl", "Private Eyes" & "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)". So in my own opinion for the improvement and expanded digitally remastered eighteen tracks from it's RCA record label that they did is a pretty good job here. I would give it "Thumbs Up!". Let's see if these two guys I think should release and put out another compilation volume of more song highlights they recorded together from their 70's and 80's albums someday soon!

There is no denying the classic simple pleasures of the music of the 1970's and 80's. There were just so many groups that still continue to make that stride in full focus from Chicago and Pink Floyd, to classic artists like Paul Simon and Elton John. But there really aren't that many artists that have made it from Philly and are still rocking today. In the case of Hall & Oates, they're still rocking it all the way through. In the 70's and 80's, they made some of the biggest music known to man within the past, that still continues to influence artists today.

The 2001 Very Best Of Hall & Oates is a compilation of 18 of their biggest hits on one album. Although this collection only reflects the RCA years, the songs here are still as timeless as guilty pleasures in the sunlight. The songs range from traditional Soul from hits like Rich Girl, Out Of Touch, and Sara Smile, to lesser known hits like Private Eyes, and Method Of Modern Love. Still, there are just so many of those hit collections that've been made that are still just as unbelieveable as you could expect. In fact, in the past couple of years, there have been about 4 different greatest hits collections reflecting Daryl Hall & John Oates musical partnership, and this one takes the cake.

Although the record doesn't have songs like Everytime You Go Away, which was made famous by Paul Young, or their version of Jingle Bell Rock, there is no doubt that this collection is truly the one for any die hard Hall & Oates fanatic. I truly suggest that if you've never heard of anything by Hall & Oates, now is the time to do so, and get this collection.

This is an incomplete version of the greatest hits. What happened to "She's Gone" and "You lost that lovin' feeling"?

Although I was a teen in the 80s, there aren't really much musical greats from that era... new wave, synth sound, Madonna... well, ho-hum... not as rich as the sound of the 70s. There is one group, however, that can bring some redemption to the 80s... Hall and Oates (Kenny Loggins was a creature of the 70s). They churned out not just hits but great rich and deep sounds. Its a good thing us 80s people have a duo like the Hall and Oates... at least the 80's wasnt really that much of a loss, musically.

I would've wanted to see other great songs like She's Gone and Possession Obsession included in the compilation.

I was maybe about 3 or 4 when my dad used to play Hall & Oates on 12" LP's. I can still remember songs like "Private Eyes," "Sara Smile," and "You lost that lovin' feelin'." This CD brings all those memories back. YES! I was a rock & soul music lover even at that age. Now that I am older and can "hear" what Hall & Oates are saying in they lyrics. I have a better appreciation for their songs. These fellas got some soul! For a while I thought they were Afro-American. Two thumbs up, 5 stars, and a "10!"

By the time Hall & Oates hit their peak in the early 1980s, I was sick of them. I was sick of hearing "You Make My Dreams Come True" on the radio every day. I was sick of "Maneater," and sick of "I Can't Go For That." If I never heard a Hall & Oates song again, it would be too soon. But as time goes by, I find myself re-discovering the musical mastery of this duo, and can see how they took the charts by storm. (It really is too bad the track which I feel is their most inspired, soulful, and enjoyable "She's Gone" is not here.) But listening to this collection, you can see these two certainly are more talented, and you can almost understand why they were played so heavily on the radio in the 1980s. Of course, "Private Eyes" always was a favorite of mine, and now I find myself enjoying almost all the songs on this track. The moral of the story: with the distance of time, you can gain a better appreciation for things. Darryl Hall and John Oates are talented singers/songwriters/musicians. They deserve the acclaim they've received. These tracks are among their all-time best.