![]() In a lot of ways, Big Bam Boom is the perfect mid-’80s album. When you’re at the top, of course, there’s only one place to go. Even their leftovers were cresting the charts. Rock ‘n’ Soul included two new songs - “Say” and the sphincter-tighteningly dumb “Adult Education” - and both of them were Top 40 hits. 1: Greatest Hits is a compilation, and therefore has no place here, it’s noteworthy for including one of the duo’s best-ever songs, “Say It Isn’t So” (download). ![]() Choosing to cover Mike Oldfield’s “Family Man” (download) did send a signal, albeit a rather subtle one elsewhere on the album, even if the songs were a little more cynical (or, as some critics suggested, borderline misogynistic), they still hewed pretty closely to the platinum formula, and the mostly unfortunate “Italian Girls” proved their sense of humor was still more-or-less intact.Įven the following year, when Hall & Oates released their version of the dreaded “best of, part one” album, their hot streak showed no signs of slowing. With the benefit of twenty-plus years of hindsight, it’s easy to say most songwriters would kill to have written even one of Hall & Oates’ hits but when you’re young and everything you’re touching seems to turn to gold (and critics everywhere are calling you a lightweight), a little hubris is perhaps to be expected. An extremely prolific songwriter and one of the most gifted vocalists of the modern era, Hall - at least early in his career - seemed hellbent on proving himself as a Serious Songwriter barring that, he at least wanted to demonstrate the breadth of his musical palette. It was becoming apparent, though, that the duo - or Hall, anyway - was getting restless. If you don’t believe me, listen to it again, and tell me if you could say “I’m horny and sick of being on the road” with that kind of poetry. The album was another sales monster, spinning off the gigantic hit “Maneater” (which is, incidentally, the song that made me hate Hall & Oates until I was old enough to know better) and the less-played-but-infinitely-better “One on One” (download), which is quite possibly the greatest tour ballad ever written. And Hall & Oates - who had released an album of new material every year since 1972 - showed no signs of slowing down.Īt least not until H2O came out. Of course, the beauty of Top 40 radio is that it really doesn’t matter what you’re really singing about it’s going to be the theme song to eighth-grade formals anyway, and as dark in spirit as songs like “Private Eyes” might be, they have a good beat and you can dance to them. The final effect is sort of like Smokey Robinson with a keytar and a skinny tie (and on a therapist’s couch). Though on the surface, many of Hall & Oates’ hits might seem to be about nothing more than boys and girls, there’s an undercurrent of uniquely modern themes - alienation, paranoia, dissatisfaction with consumer culture - running throughout everything they did post-1980. Musically speaking, they were textbook, old-school pop and soul filtered through modern rock and new wave - something they deliberately underscored by covering “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” on Voices - and the same can be said for the lyrics. “Head Above Water” (download) and “Mano A Mano” (download) may not have been hits, but they perfectly sum up their sound and perspective in the ’80s. And besides, Private Eyes is deep with solid tracks. Forget about the hits - although the title track and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” are good songs and great singles, their impact has been dulled by decades of oversaturation. While Private Eyes isn’t my favorite Hall & Oates album, I have to admit that it’s pretty clearly their best. ![]() As a devout, longtime Hall & Oates apologist, that’s a sad and difficult truth for me to admit, but…well, it’s the truth nonetheless. True, Part Two is where they released their biggest hits, but it’s also - as we will shortly see - when they lost their creative spark. (And re-examine my ability to recognize ironic praise.) Will our star duo be so lucky a second time? Last week’s installment in our Hall & Oates Guide got big love from Stereogum and Entertainment Weekly, among others, forcing me to further question my belief that the blogosphere is almost entirely populated by unrepentant rock snobs.
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