Customer Reviews

Voices

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

 

 

Superb first self-produced album by Daryl & John which launched their incredible 80's success in spite of non-promotion by RCA and constant ignorance by radio programmers. To show they still haven't learned their lesson, programmers of today's "80's" stations STILL ignore the best rock duo in history.

"How Does It Feel To Be Back" is a rock classic and the crown jewel of John Oates-penned music. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was ignored for two months before people started playing it, turning it into a Top 15 hit. "Kiss On My List" couldn't be ignored and had a three-week stay on top of the charts. Classic summer song.... "You Make My Dreams" was a Top 5 hit and other songs like "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear The Voices)", "Gotta Lotta Nerve (Perfect Perfect)" could have been hits in their own right but after more than a year, "Private Eyes" was hot on this album's heels and the rest is history.

Also featured is "Every Time You Go Away" which was written by Daryl Hall and became a number one hit in 1985 for Paul Young and received a "Song of The Year" nomination at the Grammy Awards. As you may recall, the award went to the over-hyped "We Are The World" song. A remix of "Every Time You Go Away" by Daryl and John appears on "The Ballads Collection" which I also recommend.

This album is a bona-fide definitive classic. Clear sound, great percussion and songwriting and the best vocals.

Hall and Oates made a big difference in my life back then. Watching them on Solid Gold singing "How Does It Feel To Be Back" - I was wondering - who are these guys? There was a certain fire to their pop and discovering this album was a goldmine. Little did I know that it was the sound of a duo hitting its peak. And what a peak it was. H & O would rule the charts for the next few years, and deservedly so.

H & O have always tread the line between being commercial, mainstream and progressive. Voices captures the balance between these elements pretty well. Along with Private Eyes - these are my two favourite H & O albums. Classic, cool and intensely creative.

The range in this album is eclectic and electric. Doo-wop soul in the form of Everytime You Go Away (miles away better than Paul Young's lite version); Rock in United State; Quirky pop with Gotta Lotta Nerve; Reworked Nostalgia with You've Lost that Loving Feeling and Top 40 hits all over the shop with Kiss on My List and You Make My Dreams. John Oates' solo songs are usually the minority on Hall and Oates albums but his groove here works.
The cover of the Righteous Brothers is also one of the very few cover songs that the duo ever did.

It's hard to say which is the best Hall and Oates album - everyone has their favourite but Voices remains highly rewarding, and almost - just about perfect pop.

Of H&O's 15 studio albums this is truly their most consistent and enjoyable. It pains me to say that most people snicker when H&O are mentioned, but this album is testimony to their place in rock and roll history. I have all 15 of their cds and all 4 of Daryl's solo cds. To be fair, Voices, Private Eyes, H2O and Big Bam Boom are all excellent discs with minimal flaws. However, it is Voices that still sounds like it could have been made today over the other three mentioned. I am biased towards the 1980-1984 H&O time period because it seems that was the time they were making their best music. I was only 7 when Voices was released but I have repeatedly gone back to it over the last 20 years. I never get tired of that cd, and if you are NOT a H&O fan, then this is the cd for you. It has hits: "How Does It Feel to Be Back", "Kiss on My List", "You Make My Dreams", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", and the original, non-Paul Young version of "Everytime You Go Away." It also has some great non-hits: "Big Kids", "Gotta Lotta Nerve", "Africa" and "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)". It's not a bloated, 75 minute opus like many of the cds being released today. It's 40 minutes in length and not a note wasted. No excessiveness, just a tight pop/r&b/punk/rock cd. Now, if only the record company would digitally remaster and re-release all 15 cds like other record companies have done for Billy Joel, Elton John, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, some Cheap Trick. Hall and Oates are an American classic. They haven't even been inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame yet, what a shame. Let's not forget that they still hold the record for most successful duo of all time in rock. Buy the cd and tell me that it's not great, I dare you.

I first bought this album in 1980, at the age of 17. It was great then, and is still great now! To this point, their Magnum Opus. "Africa", "Diddy Doo Wop", and "How Does It Feel to be Back" are my favorites on it. I just wish that Daryl and John had kept the original black and white cover on the album. If I am not mistaken, the cover had two different poses on it.

Way back in my early teens, I'd heard "Kiss On My List" on the radio and I thought that that was the best song I'd ever heard in my life. I quickly got the album and found out that that too was one of the best albums I'd ever heard. That began a new love affair with the usual moments of love and hate thinking how the heck could you release such a lousy album if you care about your fans and the "thank you for the great work of art" moments as well throughout the years that followed.

Soon after "Voices", H&O released their best ever album, "Private Eyes" and I then decided to dig out every album these guys had done. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I'd ever done in my life.

What's unusual about this album though is that it actually contains a cover, the Righteous Brothers' standard, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" that became a minor hit for them as well. Otherwise, all the other tracks are originals and flow very cohesively throughout.

This album was the great commercial breakthrough of their second coming into the pop mainstream. This version has been very well remastered and comes in a lp-sleeve design with all the lyrics in English and Japanese. Definitely THE version of the album to get if you are a H&O or rock and soul fan.

Hall and Oates have always been better at producing great singles than they have at recording consistently strong albums. That said, "Voices" should (arguably) get the nod as the best of their original studio albums. It was also the album that started the duo on their great run of success in the early 1980s with the smash hits "Kiss is On My List" and "You Make My Dreams." But behind those obvious high points are some other real winners, including an ace cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You Lost that Lovin' Feeling," "Every Time You Go Away," and "How Does it Feel to Be Back," the latter being one of their catchiest non-hits. The rest of the material is filler, but not terribly so.

Overall, "Voices" is one Hall and Oates album worth hearing beyond the obvious hits.

Way back in my early teens, I'd heard "Kiss On My List" on the radio and I thought that that was the best song I'd ever heard in my life. I quickly got the album and found out that that too was one of the best albums I'd ever heard. That began a new love affair with the usual moments of love and hate thinking how the heck could you release such a lousy album if you care about your fans and the "thank you for the great work of art" moments as well throughout the years that followed.

Soon after "Voices", H&O released their best ever album, "Private Eyes" and I then decided to dig out every album these guys had done. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding things I'd ever done in my life.

What's unusual about this album though is that it actually contains a cover, the Righteous Brothers' standard, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" that became a minor hit for them as well. Otherwise, all the other tracks are originals and flow very cohesively throughout.

This album was the great commercial breakthrough of their second coming into the pop mainstream. This gold version has a decent sound but is not remastered. For that and an improved sound you would need to get one of the remastered verions that are out there. That's what I did although seeing as how rare this gold disc has become, I'll probably hold on to this as well.

This is where the whole H&O phenomenon began. This music sounds as crisp as it did almost twenty years ago. I find this one even better than their "Greatest Hits" CD.

THIS ALBUM IS NON STOP HITS. TO DATE (3/20/99) BEST ALBUM FROM HALL AND OATES. TOP OF THEIR GAME, PURE POWER

This album is Ground-Zero for the most popular duo in recording history. "Voices", released in 1980, was the album that propelled the hitherto moderately successful Daryl Hall and John Oates into superstar-dom. The album spawned two mega-hits, "You Make My Dreams" and "Kiss on my List", both of which still receive regular airplay today, nearly twenty years later.

Even putting aside such commercial success, "Voices" stands as the cornerstone; a benchmark for its simplicity of production and quality of sound. Struggling through the 1970's, Hall and Oates suffered at the hands of a virtual parade of producers. Finally taking the reins in 1980, the two produced themselves; and the results are pure gold.

Clean, sharp melodies, uncomplicated rythems, and the now-trademark harmonies (blending Hall's high-heater with Oates' low, breathy vocals) make this album a classic, and the measure against which all their future work must compete. The quirky, syncopated "Diddy-Do-Whop," with its psycho-killer lyrics is pure enjoyment, as is the original, wrenching rendition of "Everytime You Go Away." With it's organ pipe background and Hall's ripping Gospel vocals, it's enough to give you religion.

Anyone with an interest in Hall & Oates music MUST own this album. I own the original vinyl (remember vinyl?) from when I was a teenager; eighteen years later, it still delivers bliss.