A Brief Overview of the Works of Hall & Oates

1.Private Eyes

While I may not like every song on this album (I'm not the biggest fan of "Tell Me What You Want," "Some Men," or "Friday Let Me Down"), there is no doubt in my mind that Private Eyes is Hall & Oates' best album. Although this album did not have the most hits, it definitely contains the best songs. "Privates Eyes," "I Can't Go for that (No Can Do)," and "Did it in a Minute" are all songs I've heard on the radio, and rightly so, as they are iconic and masterfully crafted songs. But not only are these relatively well known songs absolute bangers, but "Mano a Mano" is an incredibly underrated song, as are "Head Above Water" and "Looking for a Good Sign." All in all, Private Eyes is a crazy good album.

2.Voices

Voices was an extremely close second for Hall & Oates' best album in my mind. Their 1980 Album has more smash hits than any of their other albums. "You Make My Dreams," "Kiss on My List," and "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling," are all classic 80s songs that are featured on any respectable compilation. I also really enjoy "How Does it Feel to be Back," "Every Time You Go Away," "Diddy Doo Wop," and "Hard to be in Love With You." Those are all solid songs. However, I don't really like "Big Kids," "United State," "Gotta Lotta Nerve," or "Africa" (I much prefer Toto's "Africa").

3.Ooh Yeah!

In terms of albums that I would not skip a single song on, Ooh Yeah! is very much near the top of my all-time list. While there weren't really any super popular songs off this album, every song on the album is solid. It is a rare occurance where I like every single song on an album as even my favorite albums usually have one or two bad songs (e.g. "Through the Long Night" on Glass Houses, "Fairly Local" on Blurryface, and "Lame Claim to Fame" on Mandatory Fun). But anyway, "Rockability" is one of Hall and Oates' best songs off of any of their albums, and songs like "Rocket to God," "Downtown Life," and "Everything Your Heart Desires" belong in the top 50 of any self-respecting Hall and Oates fan. As a whole, if there's one Hall and Oates album I recommend for someone to listen to all the way through, it's Ooh Yeah!

4.X Static

I know this pick may come as a hot take to some, as there really aren't any currently well known songs off of this album. I'm sure picking X Static over H2O may upset some hardcore 80s Hall and Oates fans, but I stand by this ranking. While none of my top 25 favorite Hall and Oates songs are on this album, as a whole it is a solid album. Songs like "Bebop/Drop," "Who Said the World Was Fair," and "Wait for Me" are all good songs, and there really aren't that many bad songs on this album. I don't really enjoy "No Brain, No Pain," "Hallofon," or "Running from Paradise," I could tolerate those songs if I had to listen to them to get through the rest of this good album.

5.H2O

Okay I really don't get all the hype surrounding H2O. Does it have a cool album cover? Yes. Does it have some hits on it? Yes. Is it anywhere near the best Hall and Oates album? Heck no. Also I'm not just saying this to be contrarian, but "Maneater" isn't an amazing song. It's a good song, but I view it in the same way I view Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl"- I wish people knew other, better Hall and Oates songs rather than thinking of "Maneater" when someone mentions the duo. But regardless, H2O does have some very good songs. "Art of Heartbreak," "Crime Pays," "Family Man," and "One on One" are all great songs. However, "Italian Girls," "At Tension," and "Go Solo" bring down the overall strength of the album, resulting in it sliding in just under X Static in the rankings.

6.Marigold Sky

It's an absolute travesty that this album is not on Spotify. While I concede that there aren't really any songs on this album that are absolutely essential to know if you call yourself a Hall and Oates fan, there are some great songs on here, including "Romeo is Bleeding," "Marigold Sky," and "The Sky is Falling." "Love out Loud" and "I Don't Think So" are also solid songs, but other than that, the rest of the album is pretty weak.

7.Big Bam Boom

Honestly, "Out of Touch" is the only reason for this album being ranked as high as it is. Of course, I'm a big fan of "Possession Obsession," "Cold Dark and Yesterday," and "Method of Modern Love" but the rest of the album just isn't good. I would almost never listen to this full album, as three of the songs are remixes (plus, "Out of Touch" is already the perfect song to dance to, it does not need a Dance Remix) and the rest of the album is bad.

8.War Babies

I really wanted to rank this album higher. Like Ooh Yeah! I think as a whole it is one of Hall and Oates' best albums, but it doesn't really have any amazing single songs on it. I view it in the same way as I view Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, where there are only one or two songs I'd listen to by themselves ("Time" and "Money" on DSOTM and "Beanie G and the Rose Tattoo" and "70s Scenario" on War Babies). However, I am a huge fan of listening to this album all the way through. The transitions between songs lead me to believe this is a concept album of some sorts, although I am unsure of the overall theme. Plus, Todd Rundgren helped produce this album which is cool.

9.Change of Season

This is the last of the "good" Hall and Oates albums. Don't get me wrong, the others have good songs on them but are not great albums as a whole. Change of Season has several pretty good songs like "So Close," "Starting All Over Again," "Heavy Rain," "Give It Up," and "Everywhere I look." Of course, the album has some bad songs on it, but solid, mid-tier songs like "I Ain't Gonna Take It this Time" and "Halfway There" make up for it.

10.Beauty on a Back Street

This album is has some of the most polarizing songs for me- the good songs ("Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts," "Don't Change," "Bigger than Both of us," etc.) I really like and the bad songs ("Winged Bull," "The Girl Who Used to Be," "The Emptyness") I really dislike.

11.Our Kind of Soul

This album is actually a pretty solid album. However, I was not going to rank it very highly as most of the songs are covers. I have no problem with covers, but it's hard for me to rank a cover above an original song (of course, I am aware that "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" and other songs are ranked highly) unless the cover is really good. Two out of the three original songs on this album are really good ("Soul Violins" and "Let Love Take Control") and there are a few really good covers on this album ("Used to Be My Girl," "I'll Be Around"). But as a whole, most of the covers are not anything spectacular.

12.Daryl Hall & John Oates

As a whole, this album really sucks. It's full of bad songs, with the exception of "Sara Smile," "Alone too Long," and "Camellia." But, because of these three really good songs, I have to rank this album at just below the middle of the road.

13.Whole Oats

Despite being their first album, Whole Oates is actually pretty okay. "Fall in Philadelphia" is a really good song and "I'm Sorry," "Goodnight and Goodmorning," and "Lilly (Are You Happy)" are also solid. However, it's a kind of weak album, therefore I'm ranking it as number 13.

14.Bigger than Both of Us

There are two good songs on this album, and they are exceptional songs. "Rich Girl" and "Back Together Again" are two of Hall and Oates' best songs, and are the reason for this bad album being ranked 14 and not 17.

15.Do It for Love

There are two good songs on this album, and they are exceptional songs. "Man on a Mission" and "Do It for Love" are two of Hall and Oates' best songs, and are the reason for this bad album being ranked 15 and not 17.

16.Abandoned Luncheonette

I actually really like the song "Abandoned Luncheonette" and I also really enjoy "She's Gone." There are a few other okay songs on this album like "Las Vegas Turnaround" and "When the Morning Comes," but as a whole I'm not a fan of the softer sound present in early Hall and Oates.

17.Along the Red Ledge

The only songs I somwhat like from this album are "Melody for a Memory" and "I Don't Wanna Lose You." The rest of the album is trash.