Daryl Hall & John Oates

Customer Reviews

• Almost As Good As Abandoned Lunchoenette  Jun 13, 2001 (9 of 10 found this helpful)

  If you want to hear good songs from Hall & Oates that aren't on the radio that often, this album is a good choice. If you want to hear their classic radio hits, this album only has one, Sara Smile. Most of the other songs on this album were not radio hits. "Alone Too Long," and "Camelia" were released as singles but never really reached the popularity level of that "Sara Smile," although they probably should have. My main gripe with the album is "Nothing At All," sounds a lot like the second part of "Out of Me, Out of You." Other than that most of the songs are well written ballads with a touch of early R&B. "Camelia" is classic Hall & Oates style & sounds a lot like the classic Atlantic material from Abandoned Luncheonette and Whole Oates. The rest of the album shows very clearly an evolution away from the accoustic style they began with in their first three albums as they moved closer to the three albums (Voices, Private Eyes, & H20) which gave them their largest group of #1 hits.

• Philly Soul  Oct 26, 2000 (9 of 10 found this helpful)

  Hall & Oates are the most successful duo of all time on the charts. This is in large part due to their 80's output which has some good songs like "I Can't Go For That" & "One On One", but has alot of cheesy stuff like "Maneater", "Method Of Modern Love" and others. Their 70's music is a different story. They released some of the best blue-eyed soul music ever recorded and this self-titled album is a great example. Most people are familiar with the big hit "Sara Smile", which is a great song, but the album has alot to offer in addition to that. "Out Of Me, Out Of You", "Gino (The Manager)", "Camellia" and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" all have a definite Philly Soul sound and they easily could have been recorded by any of the Philadelphia International artists. The duo started to get a more poppier sound after this release, but this one is a real burner and worth a listen.

• The prime of Hall & Oates  Jan 31, 2006 (2 of 3 found this helpful)

  Before they had real commercial success in the 80's with a popped up version of their blue-eyed soul, Hall & Oates hit peak form with Adandoned Luncheonette and this offering, sandwiching the disappointing War Babies.
  
  These two albums really showcase their vocal and songwriting talents - in particular on Sara Smile, one of THE great love songs, Camelia, Alone Too Long, Out of Me and It Doesn't Matter Anymore.
  
  Daryl Hall has to be one of the greatest vocalists of all time, and the harmonic blend with John Oates was made in heaven.
  
  An excellent, underrated album.

• Demos  May 27, 2008 

  If you're a H&O fan and just want to purchase the CD to hear the 2 Demo recordings please don't - trust me. There's a reason Daryl and John left these 2 songs off. Otherwise it's an above average with half the Album full of good tunes and the other half full of mediocre ones. Standout songs are Camellia, It Doesn't Matter Any More, Along Too Long, Gino(The Manager) and of course Sara Smile. I find Grounds for Separation interesting as it has grown on me quite a bit.

• Great Music  Feb 8, 2008 

  This is a great album. This is the album where they found there sound. It hints at what's to come. I would recommend this album to anyone.