Hall & Oates "Beauty on a Backstreet" was pretty much shunned by FM radio upon release in '77, hell - according to wikipedia - the duo themselves even dislike it...but you know what? If I could pick only one original studio recording out of their catalogue, this is it. Not only does it feature their "blue-eyed soul" in perfect patented form, it featuers a bare-bones band format - with the guitars frequently right up front and just a tad dirty and overdriven. The lead off track "Don't Change" was the first single and gets things off to a great start - nicely paced piano chording that gradually opens into a guitar driven funk-burner, but it's really the #2 track "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts" that's the unsung should've-been-a-hit. This has all the trademark hook qualities and smooth delivery that was to propelled the duo to the top of the charts a few years later, but here it has the fresh feeling of a sound just found. Even this smooth slice of soul has the room for a tasty six string solo. Now the party's rockin', and the volume and pace crescendo even more with "You Must Be Good For Something", a rocker that gives the pounding piano and near rockabilly guitar equal billing. The biting tone of the music perfectly fits the sarcasm directed directed at the songs protagonist...a matrialistic lady who "acts the only way that's even logical". John takes the lead on "The Empitness", which starts out as a sad-eyed ballad with a nice bubbly baseline....but with the chorus, back come the heavy and crunchy guitars pushing the song to some typically enjoyable 70's excess!! "Love Hurts(Love Heals)" has the duo doing some call and response vocal shenanigans and brings in some nice cutting Tom Scott sax lines. "There's a million like us so we're not alone, a million like us - though I can't think of one..." opens the inter-album pop continuity of "Bigger Than Both of Us" (that was the name of their previous lp), and actually reverts to the sound of that album, cramming in some nice synth and mellotron work as a break-up is turned over to the hands of fate. I personally love the construction of "Bad Habits and Infections", pairing a simple, single note bassline with sweet little injections of vocal magic; and an ending tonal crescendo built to give utter confidence in this medinal aid. So, did they step over the line with Zeppelin/Kashmir replicant of "Winged Bull"? I guess many critics thought so, but I find a lot more authentic Asian influence here and wonder if the sound is a direct rip-off; or more a side effect of the traditional musical forms of the regions. One of the ways I judge just how much I like a song is by assessing how fast it seems to go by...try that here. John steps back to the mic to close things up with "The Girl Who Used to Be", a ballad that functions sort of like a work out cool-down. Now, go have a cold one.

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