Hall & Oates - Hall & Oates - Rock 'n' Soul Pt. 1: Greatest Hits

Raised on Philly soul, Daryl Hall and John Oates hit their stride in the mid-'70s, when they abandoned the misguided folkish direction of their early albums for a sound that accurately reflected their roots in mainstream pop and smooth R&B--"rock 'n' soul" as they accurately called it. A string of brilliant hits followed, from the gorgeous "Sara Smile" and "She's Gone" to the wicked, finger-pointing "Rich Girl" and "Maneater" to Top 40 manna such as "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes," and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)." At only 12 tracks, this best-of collection is a little skimpy, but it'll do until the inevitable Hall & Oates box set arrives. --Daniel Durchholz Amazon.com

classic rock&soul:1974-1983

hall&oates have had many hits. among those hits sara smile.she's gone,(reissued after sara smile hit the top10.) wait foe me,kiss on my list,pricate eyes,i can't go for that(no can do),and maneater. this collection also has 2 new songs say it isn't so and adult education. this is an album that is worth hearing, if you like hall&oates,you will like this album. ed wilson July 22, 2007

An inspired duo!

Nowadays, the duos as musical figures is almost a rarity, but in the late sixties, seventies and eighties, it was synonymous of successful formulas such as Simon & Garenfunkel, Carpenters, Zager and Evans and Air supply.

In this mainstream, Daryl Hall and John Oates filled if I may, a true necessity in the market. Their innovative expressiveness and original moods meant the sound of a generation.

Listening them carefully, you will notice their songs are far to be dated because of its formal construction and melodic lines, attractive and seductive.

Get close to this fabulous duo.
June 16, 2006

A good (but flawed and short) pre-1984 H & O intro.

This short collection came out in 1983 at the height of Hall & Oates' popularity. At the time, it was probably very thorough, taking several of their then-current hits, mixed in with a few of their 70's songs. Today, though, I'd recommend it as more of a sampler (with only 12 tracks).

1973-1979 TRACKS:
-Sara Smile
-She's Gone
-Rich Girl
-Wait For Me

Being that I'm really not familiar with their work before the 80's, I can't really say if there are any key songs missing here, but it is a nice inclusion. "Sara Smile" and "She's Gone" (in its shorter version) are slightly folkish, medium tempo pop love songs.

1977's "Rich Girl" is their earliest song I've really gotten into. It's more of a mix between their folk/pop stuff, and the sound of their 80's arena pop/rock hits. Starting out as an accoustic ballad before a ringing electric guitar and steady beat (though sung in a slight folkish tone) elevate it to a medium rock level.

1979's "Wait for Me" is another medium pop hit, not unlike that too, although I wish the studio version had found its way here instead. Chrnonologically speaking, after this, is the gold mine of the collection!:)

1980's VOICES:
-Kiss on My List
-You Make My Dreams

These monster hits obviously should've made the cut, but their R+B pop/rock remake of "You've Lost That Lovely Feeling" and "How Does it Feel to be Back", both sizable hits too, got cheated.

1981's PRIVATE EYES:
-Private Eyes
-I Can't Go For That

Especially with both these songs representing different styles, it's a nice addition, but it annoys me how the rest of this album always goes relatively unnoticed. "Did It in a Minute" is probably one of their catchiest arena rockers ever, and "Your Imagination" is a great, somewhat unique pop/soul hit.

1982's H20:
-Maneater
-One on One

I love both of these songs, but just like the previous two, so much got sadly left out -- the slow and sexy rocker "Open All Night," the chugging arena rock (and big hit) "Family Man" in particular. Even John Oates' semi-well known silly pop "Italian Girls" would've been nice.

1983 NEW SONGS:
-Say it isn't So
-Adult Education

Both of these went on to become major hits themselves, and rightfully so. "Say It isn't So" is a semi soul-influenced loud pop hit that easily could've been on the previous couple albums. "Adult Education" - a humorous look at present and post-high school life - is a mid-paced, unique guitar pop/rocker that includes elements of rap(!) and hard rock (great guitar and drum build-up toward the end).

OVERALL: With all of even the 1980-83 songs missing, this is obviously not a comprehensive collection, but it's still a good place for a very casual and/or new H+O fan to start. Espeically with its age, it should be fairly easy to find an inexpensive, used copy. Afterwards, I'd recommend one of their more recent collections -- which would include their 1984 and later hits, such as "Out Of Touch", "So Close," and "Everything Your Heart Desires," which obviously aren't here either. November 23, 2004

Fantastic

I'm sure everyone from the generation before my own has had wonderful memories of Hall and Oates in highschool and college. For those of you who have grown up with this music, my review will probably be nothing but drivel. But if anyone is reading this that is not too familiar with Hall and Oates and checking them out for the first time, then I implore you, get into them! Sadly, it took me years to actually give this album a listen. I had heard of Hall and Oates before, but they were stereotyped in my mind as cheesy 80s garbage. I couldn't have been more wrong. Every track on Rock 'n' Soul is absolutely breathtaking (with the exception of Adult Education, I can do without that one). The majority of the songs on this album are indeed made up of Rock and Soul, but that brief description hardly does justice to such passionate music. I can honestly say that anybody who enjoys a song that is full of love and life will thoroughly enjoy everything that this album has to offer. Tracks like Rich Girl, You Make My Dreams Come True and Wait For Me give me goosebumps every time I hear them. Other numbers like She's Gone, Kiss On My List, Private Eyes and One on One are stellar too. If you're looking for an ebullient, flavorful and longlasting listen, then you have found yourself the right recording in Rock 'n' Soul Pt. 1. May 26, 2004

Dated Collection - Start Somewhere Else

This is a very dated collection of greatest hits. It was released back in 1983. At the time, it probably was a very good greatest hits collection. It contains 12 songs and back 20 years ago, to get any release with 12 songs was great - but that was in the pre-CD/digital days. Since then, Hall and Oates have released much better and more complete greatest hits collections. I'm recommending "Ultimate Daryl Hall and John Oates". This contains every song on the "Rock and Soul Part 1" CD, plus it goes deeper where Rock and Soul Part 1 failed to go and it contains post 1983 material.

One thing that really annoyed is when an artist calls something "Part 1" and never comes out with a "Part 2". To me, it would have been very easy to come up with a "Part 2" of their post 1983 hits and have another CD. This is just a gripe that I have. The liner notes are also pretty thin in here. Not a lot in terms of credits, discography, photos, etc. Inside the liner notes is a pseudo handwritten version of the lyrics for "Adult Education". I also did learn that Mickey Curry was the drummer for Hall and Oates. If you are a Bryan Adams fan, you will know Curry's work. Two glaring omissions from this collection are "Family Man" and "Did it in a minute". I would have liked to have seen these songs on the collection. This was probably to make room for "Adult Education" and "Say it isn't So" which were newer songs that were released for the first time.

In the post 1983 work, Big Bam Boom would become the next release. It was the most successful album by Hall and Oates and its hard to now see any Greatest Hits collection without songs from that album. You can't blame Rock and Soul Part 1 on this one, its just that more time passed since this was released.

Chances are, if you do get this CD - you probably are going to get it either used or at some sort of bargain sale. And if you can get a good price on it, go for it. Otherwise I'd recommend the 'Ultimate' collection is the way to go as the way to start up your H&O collection. The content is still there on the CD and there are some very good songs on here. My advice there are better places to start with Hall and Oates. May 14, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...