Word: soundness
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...vocal style. He scales to ear-shattering highs and teams with John Oates for swirling harmonies that sharpen the tonal disparity between their voices. It's a fine song reminiscent of many earlier Daryl Hall tunes, but it probably will be disliked by many listeners because of its loose sound...
...problem is that there's no real Hall and Oates sound. Not many groups can switch from a country, acoustic sound on an album like Past Times Behind to the futuristic, electronic rock of Bigger than the Both of Us. And perhaps that constant state of flux explains why Hall and Oates have never attracted a massive, fanatic following. They have some characteristic sounds; they can play formula pop or experimental rock, but not everyone likes their use of different styles of music. And Along the Red Ledge, in the end, becomes a Hall and Oates sampler, offering a little...
...indeed, does the two-disc album, a live recording of unspecified stops made on Bowie's 1977 summer tour. Each side has a distinct sound, roughly charting some of the solar systems Bowie has visited in his galactic travel...
...begins with his older stuff, "Ziggy Stardust" and songs from that album like "Five Years," leaving on the rock riffs and self-consciously-confused lyrics. The sound quality will strike fans of the vinyl Bowie as poor; his lushly-produced effects get stripped down to what a seven-man band can handle on stage. Bowie's vocal machinations, so clever and startling out of the studio, lose some of their sparkle when forced to follow one another in sequence. The side has a nightclub feel, like a good band at Jack's going through some of Bowie's old hits...
...second side is much more pleasing. "Station to Station" starts with a synthesized spaceship zoom that will become all too familiar by the album's end. The sound, accordingly, becomes more electronic; the musicians, it seems, were chosen for their talents in that direction. But the following song, a version of "Fame," is loose, funky and better than the original, even if it does take four guys to fake "TVC-15," a companion song from the album Station to Station that has Bowie growling lyrics about his favorite android...